kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the whole house. Whether its for preparing home made delicious meals to serve the family or for entertaining friends, Kitchen need to be functional and beautiful for whoever sees it.
When renovating your kitchen to make it more functional for your life style or even just to give it a face lift to cope with the changing world of colors around you, it is very important to consider these points before investing thousand of dollars on a new kitchen.
Number #1: Following Trendy Colors
Unless this is your absolute favorite color of all times, Don’t fall for the mistake of painting your kitchen a trendy color like navy blue or sage green and then regretting it the year after when the trend is over. A pro tip is to paint your kitchen any color you want if only that is your forever home and you love it. If not and you are planning to sell it in the future, it is always better to stick with neutral colors like whites that will not push potential buyers away . Another win win situation is to consider adding your favorite color in the island only while leaving a neutral color on the rest of the cupboards.
Number #2: Incorporating storage organization tools
Very simple addition to your kitchen like a pull out cupboard for your garbage bin or storage organization kit for your pots, pans, and plates can make your kitchen organized and save you lots of time cleaning up and getting your meals ready.
Number #3: Adding an Island or peninsula
Lots of people ask whether it is worth it opening up the wall separating the dinning room and the kitchen to add a peninsula or an island. The answer is absolutely yes. not only they open up the space and make it feel more spacious and pulled together, but also makes the kitchen look updated. The addition of bar stools for those breakfasts on the go without having to carry the mess to the dinning room can be very tempting too. Just make sure you have enough clearance from any adjacent walls or cupboards (36″ min and 48″ is ideal) so it serves its purpose and not to be an added obstacle.
Number #4: Changing the Countertop
There was a myth saying that you need to spend a fortune to change those laminate countertop and get something that gives this wow effect on your visitors. In a world of new technologies and new materials going popular every day, people now have the option to choose a countertop material that not only give you the value of your money, but also still be as resistant to those hot pots or messy stains as top dollar high end materials. Examples of those new materials are Solid Surface and Soap Stone that come in thousands of colors and textures including the Granite feel and look without the Granite price tag.
Number #5: Adding layers of light
Let’s face it, we spend in our kitchen lots of our time cooking, cleaning, and entertaining. It would have been so nice to have different layers of lights for multiple functions so we don’t put too much stress on our eyes from those glare causing recessed lighting. The designer’s absolute favorite lighting feature is the undercabinet LED lights. They are very popular in new kitchens now as they conserve energy, very handy to quickly prepare meals, and for turning it on during the night to find your way to the fridge for those mid-night snacks. Also consider having multiple switches for different lights in your kitchen to have more control over the amount of light you need for the task performed.
To sum up, before renovating your kitchen, see what you really need for your kitchen to function for you not for other people. Do your research and ask lots of people about new ideas and tools you can add in terms of spacing, lighting and new materials coming up. Best of all, hire a designer that can take the stress of your back and make your dream kitchen come true and do it right from the first time without wasting your time or energy.
ES Interiors inc. 