7 Inexpensive Ideas to Renovate Your Malaysian kitchen
For most Malaysian homes, the kitchen might not be the largest space in the house, but it definitely is the busiest.
It’s like a battlefield. You have to strategize where you store supplies and equipment. You have to make the most out of a small space. Not to mention, you have to clean it rigorously after use.
In this article, we are going to share with you some ideas on how to improve your kitchen without spending too much.
Whether you’re living the bujang life eating Maggi as a staple, or you’re the assigned chef of a family of five each with their own preference and allergies, we hope you find something useful!
1. Choose the right material for kitchen countertops
The kitchen countertop is your warzone. This is where you do the chopping, the weighing, and the screaming to anyone who even dares to encroach your territory.
As such, you need to choose a kitchen countertop material that won’t easily be scratched or marred in the long run.
The most popular type of kitchen countertops out there is solid surface, due to its affordability. However, if you feel like giving a more distinct look to your kitchen, you can also consider other materials such as stone, quartz and granite.
2. Add life into your kitchen with backsplashes
Image: Pinterest
Kitchen backsplashes can serve many functions.
First and foremost, they protect the wall from oil, food, water, and all your cooking shenanigans. Secondly, it also serves as the key design element for the kitchen. With thoughtful planning and the right kitchen backsplash tiles, you can even take it as a relatively low-cost DIY project.
You can also go a step further by adding practical decorations on your backsplashes, such as a chalkboard for your grocery list or a pegboard to hang your tools and utensils.
3. Use creative ways to store spices
Image: Spices rack from IKEA
We Malaysians swear by our spices. Even though we only use a handful of them regularly, we still have to keep the other 20 bottles. Maybe, maybe one day that garam masala will actually be needed.
There’s a lot of ways to keep your spices organised while also keeping aesthetics in check. For the neat freaks, a life hack would be to transfer all of your spices from their individual bottles or packets to standardised containers. These containers can be test tubes, glass jars, or even Tic Tac containers.
Another common practice to organise your spices is to have them in a pull-out drawer. Quick tip, make sure you label them so you can easily find what you’re looking for.
4. Divide your cabinets into sections
It’s really easy for your drawers to get out of hand. Cutleries, plates, bottle openers, takeaway containers and not to mention your mom’s Tupperware collection that you should never, ever touch (she knows). To avoid them getting into a mess, simply section your drawers using dividers.
5. Utilise vertical space for extra storage
Image: Pinterest
Avoid stacking your plates or mugs too high. Not only will it be harder for you to access the ones that you want, but it is also more accident-prone. To fix this, you can create extra storage space using shelf inserts or cabinet risers.
Another useful tip to utilise vertical space is to hang your mugs, pots and pans by adding hooks to the bottom of open shelving or kitchen cabinets. And speaking of mugs…
6. Pick durable and inexpensive flooring
Choosing the right tiles for your kitchen flooring will save you a lot of money in the upcoming years.
A good material should be able to handle spills, moisture, frequent cleaning, and heavy traffic, among other things.
The most common choices for Malaysian homes are ceramic and vinyl, but you can also consider alternatives such as hardwood and concrete. Just make sure you take into account the ease of installation should you decided to make it as a DIY project.
7. Sell/donate unused mugs and home appliances
Image: Snappy Goat
How many mugs have you received from birthdays, Christmas gatherings, and your child’s Hari Sukan? While you can repurpose some of the extras as storage containers (e.g., toothbrush holders), the others are just taking up precious kitchen real estate and gathering dust.
Save yourself time and space by giving them away to people whom you know, or you can just list them on local groups such as the Buy Nothing Project on Facebook.
This also goes for your unused kitchen appliances. That mini rice cooker you’ve not used since your college days might be better off in the hands of a new friend.