Tax season can be a scary time for even the most frugal, but it can also be rewarding if you know your way around a W2 form. The average tax return is between $2,800 and $3,000, begging the question: what should you buy with all that extra cash? It’s no surprise that the design experts at Laurel & Wolf think you should spend it on your home. But instead of squandering your dough on short term trends, they think investing in more substantial home-improvements is the way to go.
Laurel & Wolf designer Kimberly Winthrop took the suggestion to heart, and decided to give her kitchen a tax-refund-sponsored $3,000 makeover.
Before:
After:
Kimberly decided to devote a third of her budget to replacing the fronts of the cabinets and removing the ones on the left side to create more space. She reasoned that such an investment will increase the cabinets’ lifespans and the house’s resale value.
The next step was painting the upper cabinets white to create an open airy feel while painting the lower ones navy blue for visual interest. “It’s amazing how a fresh coat of paint and switching the pulls and handles on cabinetry can change the entire look of a kitchen,” she says, as she went with chrome hardware for the cabinets to compliment the kitchen’s appliances. The paint and new handles only cost around $200 each, a number she kept so low by doing it herself.
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Francisco Kitchen Hardware Drawer 3″ Handle Pull, Wayfair, $10.99 / Minted 4″ Centre Bar Pull, Wayfair, $7.16
After the cabinets came the countertops. “Previously, the countertops were this shabby, plastic material called corona, and they had to go,” says Kimberly. “So we replaced them with butcher block, which is affordable, good-looking, and creates some color variety and texture.” Though a bit of a splurge at $500, butcher block is a highly durable and super functional material that serves as one big cutting board so it was completely worth it.
Unless you want to slice your fingers every time you make avocado toast, proper lighting is imperative in a kitchen. Kimberly decided on an industrial pendant for above the sink, and a roman shade for the neighboring window to let natural light in.
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After the bones and structure of the kitchen were complete, then came the fun part: decor. Kimberly explains how “when you add decor to your kitchen, it makes it feel more like a cohesive part of the home, a room you actually want to spend time in.” To offer more space for such objects, Kimberly included an open-shelved kitchen island where she placed bowls, books and a vase with flowers.
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Not too shabby for $3,000! So, how would you spend your tax return dollars in your home?