Now you can bake like a pro with these easy kitchen makeover ideas you can do yourself!

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If there is one room in modern homes that is central to family life, it is the kitchen. The kitchen is where we prepare, cook and eat the meals that bring the family together. For those of us who find cooking and baking to be more than just a means of refueling, the kitchen needs to be a room that not only looks good but also functions well. Fortunately, many existing kitchens only need some careful and clever upgrading to turn them into a dream.

* WHY UPGRADE AND NOT REMODEL? 

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Some might argue that creating a dream kitchen needs to start from scratch, but kitchens are expensive beasts. Even a small galley kitchen built from scratch could cost upwards of $10,000, and the framework of a kitchen is often still more than serviceable, even after a decade or more of use. It makes sense to save money wherever possible. After all, this will leave more in your budget to spend on all those tools, the best oven and other gadgets that will make your baking and cooking more fun, more professional, and more satisfying.

* START WITH STORAGE 

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When it comes to upgrading your kitchen, the first thing to do is determine which parts of it are still perfectly serviceable. There is a good chance that the elements that are constantly in use and on show are the parts that will be showing their age, such as the flooring and the cabinet frontages. However, if you take the doors off your kitchen cabinets, you will probably find that there is nothing wrong with the carcasses. In that case, all you need to do is replace the doors and handles to get an entirely new look for your kitchen. If this seems like too much expense, consider painting your existing doors. There are plenty of paints that are suitable for kitchen cabinets.

* ADDING STYLE

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What you put up at the windows will have a big impact on the look of your kitchen. Curtains are a poor choice for a kitchen as they can present a fire hazard and be unhygienic, collecting dust and retaining odors. Blinds are a better choice because they have a minimal physical presence but can be used to inject color and/or patterns. Venetian blinds are another good option, although these can be a tad annoying as they have a tendency to sway a little in the breeze. If you like the flexibility that Venetian blinds offer but are not a fan of their movement, a far better choice would be to install shutters that are fixed to the window frame. For even greater flexibility, opt for café style window shutters.

* EASY ELECTRICAL ACCESS

While you are getting the cabinetry up to date, you might want to consider enhancing your worktops by installing integrated plug sockets that are situated beneath the worktop and pop up when needed. These can be especially useful when using tools for baking like a handheld whisk and you have run out of wall-mounted plug sockets. You should also consider replacing your old wall-mounted plug sockets with ones that have USB ports built into them. These can really help if you regularly use your tablet to work from online recipes because you won’t need to worry about your tablet’s battery running low while you are in the middle of baking a cake.

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* APPLIANCES

If your kitchen upgrade includes buying new appliances, you should give particular consideration into buying which coffee maker and to the oven, especially if you are a regular baker. A single oven may not fulfill all your needs, so think about making room for double ovens instead of one unit that has a main fan oven and a smaller conventional oven. You should also think higher up for wall-mounted ovens instead of going for ovens that are at knee level as it can be a real pain to bend down all the time to see how your cake is rising. Convection ovens are also good choices for bakers as their fans recirculate heat to give cookies and pie crusts a lovely golden color, adding a nice crust to croissants and other pastries.

* LUXURY EXTRAS

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If your kitchen enhancement allows it, there are a few items that will make your baking better, like a standalone pastry table or workstation. A pastry table is usually a little lower than a standard worktop so it is easier to roll out pastry, and its cold, solid surface – usually marble – is great for keeping pastry at a manageable temperature.

Improving your kitchen can be achieved relatively inexpensively by working with what you already have, or you can spend a little bit more and invest in some tools and gadgets that will improve your cooking experience.