28 Ways To Cover Up Ugly Things In Your Kitchen

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So you inherited a Formica countertop. There's something for that.

BuzzFeed Staff

Promising review: "I installed an expensive soft white tile (if there is such a thing) floor in the kitchen when I bought my house. At the time, it was a new product, and it was beautiful — that fuzzy, warm feeling changed the first time I dropped a fork. I have been so frustrated not wanting to rip up and put down replacement tiles. The grout pen made it look new again, I am thrilled with the results!" —K. Robles

Get it from Amazon for $8.99+ (available in two sizes and in three colors).

Yes, this is my kitchen cabinet and this trick helps me find the correct measuring cup so much faster than back when I used to stack them in a drawer! Just be sure to account for the cups' depth while arranging the cabinet's contents. Since I took this pic, my 1/2-cup met its doom in a tub of sugar so I swapped in some measuring cups with *engraved* measurements on the cups, which makes my setup even better!

Get a 10-pack of hooks from Amazon for $12.32.

Check out a TikTok of the cereal dispenser in action.

Promising review: "We have three kids and a very small kitchen with very little cabinet/counter space!!! We used to keep our cereal boxes on top of our refrigerator, but I've been trying to declutter and also come up with a solution for our kids to be able to get their own cereal in the mornings. THIS IS IT!!!! It looks great on our counter, and we have very little space, so it fits just right! This has been the perfect solution to giving our kids the independence they need to get their own breakfast! It has been a lifesaver!!! Love it!!!" —tenle

Get it from Amazon for $28.42.

Enhances the natural beauty and depth of grain on finished *and* unfinished wood. For use on antiques, dining tables, kitchen cabinets, wood doors and trim, etc.

Promising review: "Very impressed so far. Just tried this stuff on one of our kitchen cabinets and it really did a nice job. The cabinets are 15-year-old cherry-stained hard work cabinets (oak, maybe?) and are scratched deeply in certain parts from the previous owner's dogs. 20 minutes after applying this product and wiping it off, I can't complain at all about the results. It looks great in the picture, and even better in real life where you are not focusing on staring at imperfections. In addition to helping tremendously with the blemishes, it also leaves a nice glossy shine on the cabinets, making them look clean and fresh (not over the top glossy and fake). For the minimal price, I can't complain at all. Finally, I used about a 1/3 of an ounce to do the 36" double base cabinets and the 36" wide drawer, so I believe the 16-oz bottle will last quite a while." —Patrick Gallagher

Get it from Amazon for $8.98.

Promising review: "Rather than ditching furniture into a landfill, which is bad for the environment and one's pocketbook, this product allows you to give new life to existing furniture. Between the Soto touchup and new handles, my entertainment center looks like new....for less than $35. If you can use liquid paper, you can use this. I just ordered another bottle for porcelain. This is a fantastic product. You will love it!" —LexiNYC

Get it from Amazon for $18.95 (available in eight colors).

StoveShelf is a small business, and these shelves are built to last a lifetime.

Promising review: "This is an excellent buy. The shelf helped me declutter my cabinet, and it is an awesome storage space for my more often used spices. It is sturdy, easily installed, and attractive. I recommend this shelf." —Pamella R.

Get it from Amazon for $39.99 (available in six types and three sizes).

Promising review: "My partner and I recently bought a 140-year-old home with original wood floors and wood work throughout. We had the floors refinished to their original beauty, but the baseboards and stair risers were a challenge. They were pretty banged up over years of use, and, after the floors were redone, all the nicks and scratches just stood out that much more. My partner found these and showed them to me. To our delight the pens worked incredibly well. It's like a magic marker for wood. I'm still amazed how well they worked. The pens last a long time. Our painter came back to do some minor touch-ups, and I showed him what I used. He couldn't believe it. He said he was going to buy them to keep in his arsenal" —Kathleen W

Get a set of 25 from Amazon for $19.69.

Promising review: "Great product for a great price. Very sturdy, but lightweight and small — under my bathroom sink is *very* small, and the metal frame is thin enough that it doesn't take up much space, and of course it allows me to utilize the empty vertical space instead of shoving things all the way to the back wall. I might rearrange the shelves, but it's just held with screws on each end so that's easy enough to do-comes with two supports for two shelves, but you can choose from four heights/positions. 👍🏻 Might need to order a second for under the kitchen sink..." —Jennifer Mowry

Get it from Amazon for $24.87 (available in two finishes).

Tbh, I need one of these. I make my mom give me all her plastic grocery bags because I use them for trash. My personal goal is to never have to buy garbage bin liners again! But I'm a weirdo like that.

Get three from Amazon for $7.50.

Want a sturdier option? Consider this cabinet door bag holder. Alternatively, you can stuff them in an empty facial tissue box!

3DHomeSolution is a Frisco, Texas–based Etsy shop that specializes in organization products.

Promising review: "Great product. Super easy to use! Currently using on my KitchenAid, my Instant Pot, my air fryer, as well as my toaster. Using these cleaned up my counter two-fold and made storing 100% easier. Thank you!!" —Suzanne Baker

Get it from 3DHomeSolution on Etsy for $8 (available in three colors).

And when you move or change your mind, you can easily remove or reposition it!

Promising review: "Amazing job at updating my wall oven. My old oven has always worked very well, so I couldn't really justify paying $2,000 to replace my working double wall oven only because of cosmetic reasons. Then it dawned on me that maybe if I updated the oven with this metal covering it would look like real stainless steel. So for literally the cost of $10 I updated my oven. The update is virtually unnoticeable unless you tell someone, and what's the best thing of all, it leaves no fingerprints. Best $10 I ever spent." —B. Lenj

Get an 18-inch x 6-foot roll from Amazon for $11.97.

Promising review: "Perfect! Exactly what I needed to organize my mop, broom, scoop, etc. Efficient and easy to use. A little hard to get my scoop into it but that’s cause it’s thicker than the rest of items. Love that there are hooks. Spray bottles and cleaning product bottles hang perfectly on there too." —Kavita Chandanie

Get it from Amazon for $13.99.

Check out a TikTok of the Command spray bottle hangers in action.

Promising review: "Love these! They have helped organize all my products underneath my kitchen sink. The Command hooks are strong and nothing has budged even with the weight of the spray bottles! Highly recommend." —Talayfor87

Get a set of two from Amazon for $9.61.

Promising review: "This is an amazing tool to organize, declutter, and gain accessibility. I used to have a shelf of boxed teas that I had to rummage through when I wanted to make a cup. Now I can see what I have, I save cabinet space, and it is easy to store along side my kettle. I loved it so much I ordered a second one for my office. I get many compliments." —D. Burks

Get it from Amazon for $12.93+ (available in three colors).

Promising review: "I used to have an ugly knife block that took up too much room, so I decided to get a magnetic knife strip. I've read that the cheaper metal ones scratch and dull knives, so I went with a wooden one. It took me all of 15 minutes to install (I have a drill and a torpedo level). The strip itself holds my knives very securely and frees up a bunch of counter space that my old knife block used to take up. The strip works extremely well throughout the length of the product." —Thomas

Get it from Amazon for $34.95+ (available in a variety of lengths and wood types).

macraYAYmacrame is an Indianapolis, Indiana-based shop that makes a variety of cool macrame accessories.

My colleague Jenae Sitzes owns and loves this:

"I recently picked up this macrame basket (in the Cactus shade) and *highly* recommend it if you're looking to add a cozy touch to your kitchen. As someone with a relatively small NYC kitchen, I need every bit of counter space I can get, and this lets me keep produce out without having to take up space with a fruit basket or banana stand. I'm a big fan of utilizing vertical space as storage, and this does just that; plus, it allows for ventilation to help your fruit stay fresh for longer. I'm constantly cooking with onions or grabbing an apple as a mid-day snack, and having them right there at an arm's reach is sooo nice. BTW, these come with hooks that screw directly into a cabinet, but if you (like me) want to avoid that damage, I recommend using Command hooks — I'm using four of these small toggle hooks and they've held up the basket *with* produce in it wonderfully."

Get it from macraYAYmacrame on Etsy for $32.

Promising review: "This product does exactly what it's supposed to and does it well. In under 15 minutes I took my nightmare lid drawer and turned it into a functional, convenient storage space. The dividers were simple to install and provided flexibility. Slowly but surely I am getting my tiny, chaotic kitchen under control, and this got me a huge leap closer." —S. Hawthorn

Get it from Amazon for $13.49+ (available in three sizes and multipacks).

Promising review: "This is the rug I never knew I needed! I took a chance as it was on sale and am so happy I did — it has great cushion, is easy to clean, and looks fantastic!" —Kelly K

Get it from Food52 for $34.99+ (available in two sizes and eight color combos).

Promising review: "This organizer is so useful! I recently moved and ended up with a much smaller kitchen, so I've been doing everything I can to make sure there's a place for everything and no wasted space. Luckily, I have pretty wide cabinets, so this works out perfectly. I have one holding my cutting boards (four standard plastic boards) and another holding my foil, cling wrap, and parchment paper boxes. The organizer is super easy to assemble and it's completely versatile. Hang it over the cabinet door or attach it to the wall/cabinet door, which means it's great for renters and owners." —Kerry

Get it from Amazon for $17.97.

Check out a TikTok of the plastic bag dispenser in action. Psst — these come with optional sticker labels so you know which size bag you're grabbing!

YouCopia is a woman-owned small business that specializes in home storage solutions.

Promising review: "I like it very much. Not so large. Lightweight. Would look nice on top of the counter. What I like is that you do not have to wrangle the box into the slots. Simply pick up the roll of bags from their packaging and put them in the designated slot." —Amazon Customer

Get it from Amazon for $19.99+ (available in three-, four-, or five-slot models).

Promising review: "I have been blown away with how great they look and every person who has seen them after I put them up doesn’t know they are not real tile. They are shiny like tile and have the texture of tile as well. They are easy to clean and relatively easy to install. It took me two afternoons only because I hadn’t ordered enough and needed one more package (a total of three packages completed my L-shaped back splash area)." —Kyle & Noelle

Get 10 sheets from Amazon for $25.99+ (available in 10 styles).

The kit includes a 10-ounce bottle of Cerama Bryte Cooktop Cleaner, one cleaning pad, and one scraper to make it a quick and easy job.

Promising review: This really worked! I I had been using a soft scrub type of cleanser on my glass cooktop. I didn’t think this stuff would do much better but I wanted to try it because of all the good reviews. It really works well. I was impressed at the improvement to the look of my cooktop and it definitely works better than just a abrasive cleanser soft scrub type of thing. Will buy again." —Krista Taylor

Get it from Amazon for $10.95+ (available in two styles).

Promising review: "My oven had five years of baked on grease and pizza cheese on the sides and bottom. I sprayed Easy-Off professional oven cleaner all over the inside, even on the racks, closed the door, and forgot about it until the next day. Surprisingly the gunk wiped off easily on almost all of the surfaces. It left a little baked-on grease on the glass door but the rest of the oven turned out amazing. I would buy this again." —Amber Bowman

Get it from Amazon for $6.44 (for a 24 oz can).

Humble Suds is a small cleaning brand run by two moms — Holli Schuab and Jennifer Parnell — in Evergreen, Colorado. All of their products are made from powerful, plant-based ingredients and packaged with recyclable materials. They recommend applying a tablespoon of their scouring paste to a cloth and then scrubbing in a circular motion.

My Shopping team colleague Danielle Healy is a fan (she took the photos above!), saying:

"I recently moved into a new apartment, so lately I've been cleaning A LOT. Shortly after moving in, my partner and I went to store something on the top of the kitchen cabinets only to find them caked in a thick layer of grime 🤢. After going at it with regular multipurpose cleaner (with little success) we broke out the scour paste as a last-ditch effort and OH BOY did this miracle product deliver (pics above). If it can handle that grossness, it's going to have no problem with day-to-day messes like soap scum and burnt-on food. Plus, it smells delightful and comes in minimal, low-waste packaging!"

Get it from Humble Suds on Etsy for $14.35+ (originally $15.95+; available in two sizes).

Promising review: "Works exactly as it says it does. I have small hands and trouble gripping things. This makes opening jars extremely easy and it opens in seconds just by twisting the jar counterclockwise. I'm so glad I ordered two so I can give one to a family member who has trouble with opening jars as well. I would definitely buy this again!" —H.T.

Get it from Amazon for $23.47.

Psst, as you can see above, this set also comes with a crumb catcher where your stove top meets your countertop!

Promising review: "I've been using the foil ones and while they do the job, they're not so nice to look at. I like that this is black so it matches the original color of the appliances, but more importantly I like that this has a larger surface area to catch the drips that the foil ones never could before. They're also trim to fit, so they get right up into each burner without leaving gaps where drips can burn where it's hardest to clean. Time will tell if they're as durable/reusable as they claim. If they are, then I'll try to trim two of the spares to fit the center large burner. Overall recommended." —Michael

Get an 8-pack from Amazon for $10.99 (also available in silver).

Promising review: "This review is for folks who want to know how well this paper holds up — in my experience: amazingly well!

I applied the paper to my Formica kitchen countertops (see before and after pics) over two years ago. Since then, the paper has not peeled or stained — it looks like when I applied it. Honestly, I'm shocked. I thought the edges would pop up at some point, but nope, everything has stayed stuck. These counters are pretty high-traffic since my kitchen is tiny. To keep the paper nice, I just make sure of a few obvious things: 1) I don't put anything hot directly on it; 2) I wipe it regularly; 3) I keep sharp things away (don't cut stuff on it, duh). The last point I was actually a bit lax on, so I have some superficial scuffs where I dragged a coffeemaker back and forth every day for like a year before I realized I was scratching the paper.

The bottom line is, the paper was only meant to be a temporary glow-up until I remodeled my kitchen, but it's held up so well, I'm fine with keeping it and continuing to save money!" —Juliet Bui

Get it from Amazon for $10.99.

The kit comes with two cans of cabinet paint, a roller arm, two roller covers, and an angled paint brush; it requires no stripping, priming, or top coat or sealer, and there's no need to remove your cabinet doors.

Promising review: "Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! Did take more than one coat though. My cabinets were bare wood and I still needed a couple of coats. (Five to be exact, but that was just me being extra.) My kitchen is medium-sized, not too big, and it only took up one can. But I still went over a couple more times just to get a nice coating. I also let it sit for some days and saw the wood was sucking up the paint in some areas so I went over it again. The project ideally does take one day like the promotion video says, but one day as in 24 hours. This took my kitchen from looking like a cheap rental apartment kitchen to a high-quality kitchen with just this paint and new knobs. The paint is perfect for cabinets — it's not too thick, so you still see the wood grains. It comes with EVERYTHING you need. I didn't have to buy a thing. The project is super easy, paint dries fast, and I did it at first by removing the cabinets but it wasn't necessary at all. Just make sure you don't leave any dripping because it would make your cabinets look cheap. I would recommend EVERYONE to purchase this and give your cabinets a chance before making a big investment in new cabinets. Wood is wood and it can be refinished." —Brandon Moronta

Get it from Amazon for $79.22 (also available in gray, deep brown, and black)

Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.