Kitchen Confidential

If your pocketbook isn’t up to a kitchen renovation, some of the simplest touches can enliven your space's look. After all, it’s fall, a time of reinvention (if not renovation). San Francisco interior designer Kristi Witt presents easy ideas for a more elegant kitchen.

New hue.

In the kitchen, paint offers the most bang for a hard-earned buck. Since cabinetry takes up wall space you’d otherwise need to paint, a small amount makes a big impact. Try a focal wall or, under your cabinets, go with a dash of color that coordinates with your backsplash tile.

Art and soul.

Why reserve art for your living room? A salon arrangement of photos or a solo statement piece gives your kitchen soul. If your ceilings are high, use the empty space above your cabinetry to draw the eye upward.

Bowled over.

Those gorgeous bowls and cake pedestals—usually reserved for entertaining—are notorious space hogs. But when arranged above your cabinetry at varying heights, they become showpieces.

Spring cleaning.

Be honest about those dusty cookbooks and dented pots. Are these never-used eyesores adding to your quality of life? Let them go for an instantly sleeker kitchen.