Do you know why the kitchen is the most important of your rental home? It’s where your tenants start their day and socialize. It’s where food that nourishes the body is prepared.

As a landlord, it makes good business sense to maintain the beauty and functionality of your rental kitchen to keep your tenants healthy and happy and attract new tenants.

In this article, Landlord Prep will be showing you the signs for an upgrade and some ways to do it.

1. A lack of storage

Maybe your rental kitchen looks like a mad scientist’s lab. There are cooking tools and appliances and bottles sitting on top of the kitchen counter. To solve this mess, you could get a kitchen cart or a hanging pot rack.

2. Ugly flooring

Replacing the floors to get rid of unsightly marks may sound like the best solution but it’s not the most practical and cost-effective for landlords. You can deal with the ugliness by placing a beautifully printed area rug over it. Add a non-skid pad underneath to prevent accidents.

3. Kitchen mold

Notice musky odors and black discolorations on the walls? Mold isn’t just ugly and unappetizing, it also causes health issues. Consider contacting mold removal services. If you have more time to remove mold yourself, you can simply spray bleach mixture, allow it to penetrate, and scrub off the mold covered surface.

4. Peeling and chipped paint

If the paint on the walls of your rental kitchen has peeled away, it’s time to repaint it. Painting is a messy and time-consuming job, which is why I recommend that you seek expert services. The fun part is that you get to choose a new color -- yellow, blue, and green are great options.

5. Grease splatters

There’s no way to avoid it -- cooking can be truly messy. However, grease splatters ruin your paint and might start to affect the walls, causing mold and mildew buildup. Invest in a backsplash that complements your wall color and is easy to clean.

6. Dark kitchen

Got a dark and dreary rental kitchen? No problem. The easiest solution is to change your lighting. Hanging a large mirror is another effective trick because its reflective surface bounces off light. If you have heavy kitchen curtains, replace them with lighter translucent shades.

7. Old and inefficient appliances

Unfortunately, all kitchen appliances don’t last forever. Unless you maintained these appliances through regular inspections and tune-ups, you’ll have to replace them -- especially those that are less energy-efficient.

Make these necessary upgrades and your rental kitchen will look like new again. Remember that your kitchen helps boost the value of your rental, entice new tenants, and keep the ones you have happy. Here’s a bonus tip: Add some plants or succulents by the window for a touch of green! 

If you’re ready, make Landlord Prep your go-to resource for landlording education. Here, we offer a complete DIY landlording course to get you on the right track. Join our academy today. If you want, you can check out Flavia’s real estate investing webinar first!