From Eliza: After spending two years trying to make the best of my yellowing, perpetually sticky rental kitchen, a change in housemate finally give me the kick in the butt I needed to create a bright, cheerful space that actually looked different once it was cleaned.

I threw some paint on the walls one Friday, then spent the weekend painting the cabinets. Most internet tutorials include a ton of steps to minimize wood grain and brush marks, but I found that just sanding, priming, and painting quickly with a brush produced a totally acceptable finish.

Originally I intended to just paint and call it a day, but then I discovered the world of vinyl plank flooring. I'd never installed any kind of flooring before, but I found some totally okay-looking peel & stick fake wood vinyl planks at Lowes for under $1/square foot and I decided to dive right in!

I cut each of the planks in half and put them down in a herringbone pattern, which was less annoying than I'd anticipated. After a liberal dose of glass cleaner, they adhered perfectly to my existing vinyl tiles. The planks were incredibly easy to cut with a utility knife, and the majority of the floor was down in one quick afternoon session. I also peeled up the ancient vinyl baseboards and replaced them with some basic 4" pine ones from Home Depot.

I love how bright and open the kitchen feels now! As an added bonus, dirt is actually visible now, which makes it much harder to put off cleaning!