How to give your kitchen a January refresh

When the festive period finally exhales and the crumbs settle, the kitchen can often feel like a bit of a bomb-site. Here are a few of our favourite quick and easy tips to get it back into tip-top shape.

1. Start With a ‘Clear the Decks’ Sweep

Gather every stray item; leftover tins, orphaned oven glove, rogue sprinkles and gather them together. This creates breathing room so you can see what actually needs attention and what needs to be put back in its home.

2. Nudge Appliances Back to Their Best

Oven & cooktop: After holiday roasting marathons, they deserve a spa day. If your oven has a self-cleaning function, now is the time.

Fridge: Give shelves a quick wipe, evict mystery containers and reorganise. You’ll never use that quarter of an onion your mother-in-law brought from her fridge… Just bin it.

Microwave: A mug of steaming water with lemon slices softens everything; wipe clean while it’s still warm.

3. Paint touch-ups

With dogs and children constantly crashing about, the occasional scuff and scratch is to be expected. Now is the time to touch these up and get your kitchen feeling brand new again.

4. Refresh the Sink Zone

‘Cif’ can be a miracle worker for marks and mess on and around the sink. Now is also the time to replace old sponges and dishcloths.

5. Inventory and Rehome

Sort through pantry items: spices you forgot you had, half bags of nuts, decorative sugars, the bag of crisps that went off in 2014. Donate unopened extras. Refill jars and rotate older items forward.

6. Tidy-By-Touch

As you put appliances, ornaments, jars and other bits back, give each item a quick wipe. Before you know it, the whole space feels renewed.

7. Add a Fresh Note

A tiny herb plant, a citrus candle or a bowl of bright fruit adds that ‘new chapter’ feeling and is the perfect finishing touch to your 2026 kitchen refresh.

 If you’re looking for a complete kitchen refresh, send us your project details here and a member of our design team will be in touch.

Images: Paul Craig