5 kitchen decor ideas you can do FAST with just a paint tester pot (or two)

If you're looking for kitchen decor ideas to pep up your space (we're thinking: Sunday, when it's raining), search no further. These ones have a lot going for them: they're easy, they're quick, you don't need any DIY experience and, honestly, none will take much more paint than a tester pot or two. All that said, their impact will be IMMENSE.

So, go ahead and get inspired – and find tons more kitchen ideas in our super-sized inspiration gallery.

• Find more kitchen paint ideas in our gallery

1. Fake yourself a tiled kitchen splashback with paint

This GENIUS idea is so easy(ish) to create but adds instant colour and character to a kitchen. So, you've got a plain painted wall instead of a splashback and it's looking, well, plain? Then paint it. We like this geometric pattern and the shocking colours used, with some masking tape, to create a unique look, but you can keep it way simpler, or use stencils to create a wallpapered effect. Our only advice? Use paint that will stand up to splashes and wiping, or add a coat of varnish to a matt painted wall to toughen it up.

2. Use toning paint shades to add interest behind shelves

LOVE this idea by Dulux! And it's simple, too, yet will create subtle interest in your kitchen decor. How to do it? Simply use a slightly different, but toning, tester pot to pick out a section of wall in a kitchen so that it's just noticeably darker (or lighter) than the other parts of the wall. Perhaps you have tester pots left over from when you were picking our your kitchen paint colour? Go raid that DIY cupboard and get painting...

3. Use paint to highlight a part of your kitchen

This idea by Dulux is so easy to achieve and can create real impact. Use it behind a splashback to unite it with the wall shelves above or paint a square just off centre behind a piece of free-standing furniture to create a quirky 'frame' for it. Our advice? Pick soothing colours if you're going to do this – it's a bold statement to make decoratively and bold shades might be just that bit too jarring. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

4. Pick out an alcove or inside kitchen cabinets with paint

Here, an alcove has been given a dramatic treatment with paint – but you can use this trick inside kitchen cabinets with (or, of course, without) to create a bold backdrop. You don't need to choose a dark colour, but doing so does mean that ANYTHING you put on the shelves will have its shapes, shades and textures immediately thrown into relief. 

5. Paint the underside of a kitchen island

Is your kitchen island plain old white? Well, there's nothing wrong with that, but if the material it's made from will take paint, it's an easy, easy option for a quick but effective update. A word of warning here: the paint does need to be tough enough to be wiped down but, more than that, to take the kicking it'll inevitably get beneath any breakfast bar you've installed above. For more kitchen island ideas, don't miss our dedicated article.

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