Guest Author - Lisa Shea

Your kitchen is where you make your food, where you hang out and drink wine while you munch on chunks of cheese. In many homes your kitchen is the center of all activity.

First, try to keep it light. Find inexpensive lighting and add it in - under the counter, over the island, over the stove. The more light you have, the better the food looks and the easier it is to do your cooking.

I highly recommend getting a motion sensing light switch. Often when you are walking into the kitchen you have your hands full of bags and things. By having a light that turns on for you, you save a lot of grief. It's also perfect for late night visits. It can save you a great deal of electricity for not a lot of cost!

The theme of lightness also carries over with the paint and cupboards. Try to paint your walls in a light color, maybe with a contrasting border. Keep the cupboards light, too. They will all help to add to the general lightness of the kitchen.

For a super simple facelift, find a new style of cupboard knobs and pulls for your cupboards. They can really give a fresh new look to the room.

Redoing an entire flooring can be expensive - but look into small throw rugs to put by the sink. These can be great for catching spilled water, and you can rotate a new color each season to give a different look to the room.

A main key in the kitchen is to keep it as open as possible. Many people tend to clutter the counters with a plethora of equipment that they rarely if ever use. They cover the fridge with 80 thousand reminders which they never look at. Pull everything out of the kitchen then only put back in what you really use daily. Find homes for the rest of the items. You might be surprised how clean the area looks - and how much more useful it becomes!

Finally, remember a key here is food safety. The cleaner things are, the less likely food is to get contaminated with dirt and grime. Do your best to keep all counters clean and easy to sweep up, so that you can keep your food safe and healthy.