Remodel That Kitchen!

How many times have you thought about remodeling your kitchen but talked yourself out of it because it just seemed like a lot of work? This may come as a surprise, but remodeling your kitchen brings great rewards. Rewards to the tune of 80-100% return on your investment! It can seem overwhelming to remodel your kitchen. There seem to be so many things to consider that it can paralyze you from doing anything at all. But for your basic kitchen remodel there are really only five major items to consider. Your Appliances Set the Stage The first item to consider is your appliances. The look of your appliances really sets the stage for how the rest of the kitchen should look. Are you after an ultra-modern stainless steel feel for your kitchen? Or are you more of a homey white appliance kind of family? Perhaps you like the flare of jet black appliances. Give this a little thought and then get online or visit your favorite appliance store to see what's currently available. Selecting The Cabinets Once you've gotten your appliances and know the general feel you're going for, it's time to select the cabinets. If you're looking for ultra-modern, consider stainless steel cabinets. Glass doors can really give a modern edge to your kitchen as well. If you're after a more homey kitchen, then solid wood cabinets with a rich wood finish will do the trick. For the edgier black appliances, look to flat faced doors with sharp edges and less country flare. Now For The Counter Tops Selecting the right material for your countertops is of vital importance to your newly remodeled kitchen. The color, texture and look of the counters make a real statement in the kitchen. But even more important than that, the counters are the real work space of the kitchen and must be able to withstand what your family is going to put them through. Granite is a popular countertop material because it's very durable and has a great finish for almost any kitchen design. Faucets and Sinks While the faucets and sinks make up a relatively small portion of the kitchen space, they can really make a difference to the look and feel of your new kitchen. For a classy kitchen, rounded hardware with edges full of flare and a brass finish often do the trick. Again, ultra-modern design calls for stainless steel sinks and bold streamlined faucets. The homey look can be achieved with porcelain sinks and tall, rounded faucets. Spending a little extra money on those faucets can really add class to the whole remodel. Going cheap on the faucets and hardware can dull down even the most expensive cabinets and countertops. Finally, The Floors Finally, be careful not to overlook the flooring you're going to put into your newly remodeled kitchen. As with faucets, going cheap in this department will really lessen the look and feel of the entire kitchen. While grouted tile is not a necessity, if you go with linoleum be sure to find a quality pattern that isn't too busy. You don't want people staring at the floor the entire time they're in the kitchen. Hardwood floors (or great looking imitations) really add class as well. Now, that wasn't so hard was it? There are really only five things to consider for most kitchen remodels: appliances, cabinets, countertops, sinks and faucets and flooring. Start with the appliances to set the stage and follow through in the rest of your selections. Print out your selections from the web or clip them out of magazines and lay them out on a table to see how they look together. Getting a bird's eye view in this way will really help you get the pieces that fit best together.

The Latest Kitchen Remodeling Trend

According to the Washington Post's article on 'The Hot and the Not' in home remodeling, the hot stainless steel appliance trend is on the way out. The author of the book 1,001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home Mark Nash interviewed hundreds of real estate agents and the results were surprising. The remarks about stainless steel appliances stuck out the most with me. Besides wanting a granite countertop, the next most requested item for any kitchen remodel is usually the gleaming silver, industrial look from those appliances. There is apparently a negative backlash to the stainless steel surface from many potential homeowners. As much as people "love the look" of various additions to a remodeling project, it always seems to come back to function and maintenance. If it looks great but is hard to maintain, it can quickly fall out of favor. This may be what's happening with stainless steel. The surface is easily marred with fingerprints, especially in a heavily-used kitchen or a house with one or more children or even pets. Keeping something clean will eventually outweigh the value of the pure aesthetic appeal of almost any new product. The author received a lot of feedback from real estate agents, "I'm hearing people say, 'I'm tired of it,' " Nash said. "They say: 'I don't have time to polish it. I have kids. I have dogs. It's too high maintenance.' " While stainless steel appliances in the kitchen might still seem like a great idea for your kitchen renovation project, consider what the value of those items will mean to potential buyers in 5 to 10 years. Many of the those buyers may have already had steel appliances in their homes and are fed up with them. Think of some of the "hot" kitchen trends from as recently as the 90's -- many of those have fallen out of favor and are being replaced in today's modern kitchens. Many of the agents, however, did say that stainless steel appliances are still a big item. They provide a "wow" factor and can still sell homes. Many love the neutral look they give to any style of kitchen - whether it's a sleek Contemporary kitchen or a French Country kitchen. One agent said, "'People here walk in and see that stainless steel, and it dazzles them,'" I think it's important to weigh your options and your needs when it comes to deciding how best to renovate your kitchen. For you, having those gleaming steel appliance surfaces is worth a little extra elbow grease to keep them looking great.

Kitchen Design Ideas

When you're building a new home or even remodeling your current kitchen space, you need to consider the design layout. You can make changes or set your new kitchen area up based on how much room you have to work with. The size of the kitchen will dictate the choices you make - for example, you may not be able to install a horseshoe, peninsula, or "U" shaped kitchen if there is limited space. Many really want to have a kitchen island in there home, but if it prevents clear travel through the kitchen -- it's probably not going to work for you. Most new homes have plenty of room in the kitchen area and the sky is the limit when designing your kitchen or remodeling it. Layout Options in Kitchen Designs: Linear - in a very narrow kitchen, you can sometimes only have kitchen cabinets on one or two sides of the room (with no room for a peninsula counter or island.) The Linear design shape is where you go with a single set of cabinets on one wall only. You may have room for a 2nd set of cabinets on the other wall, but if it prevents a free flow of movement or the ability to do all the work needed in the kitchen, it can be best to limit to one row of cabinets. When you have only one wall of cabinets, it can be a good idea to make sure the cabinets go floor to ceiling for maximum storage. Also, you might consider raising the ceiling height to accomodate more cabinets and to open up the room. Galley - the Galley Kitchen Design is similar to the Linear. You've got a narrow kitchen space and need to have as much cabinet space as possible. In a Galley design, you'll have cabinets on both walls, with entrances on one or both sides. There is room to move, turn, clean, and cook with both sets of cabinets on either side. This is a great arrangement when the kitchen is wider than the area in a Linear room, but not quite as long. Floor to ceiling cabinets and increased ceiling space can also help with storage space. It's important to have adequate task lighting and accent lighting in the Galley or Linear kitchen - the area is small and enclosed. Also, there is usually only room for one window at best. Increased lighting will help "open up" the kitchen. Peninsula - in wider kitchen rooms, you can pull countertop cabinet space out from the walls to form a peninsula or attached island area. It's a nice option to add additional counter space, additional cabinet or appliance storage, and you can even add an eating area. If the kitchen is wide enough, an island can be added to run parallel with the longest part of the kitchen wall. If there is not enough room for people to pass comfortably with an island in place, it is not recommended to have one installed. Corner or "L" - to open up a room or if the kitchen is more square-shaped, an "L" shape set of kitchen cabinets can be installed. Similar to the Peninsula, the Corner kitchen excludes an attached cabinet and usually has cabinets that extend out on one side (usually against a perpendicular kitchen wall.) When the L-shaped kitchen is installed, it usually leaves room for a stand-alone island. This open design allows the kitchen to extend into the dining room or family room. Horseshoe or "U" - the largest kitchens usually can have a Horseshoe design, allowing cabinets on three out of the four walls. The fourth wall usually opens up into the dining room or family room. There is sometimes another entrance on the opposite wall. With larger rooms, the kitchen should easily hold a center island. With such large rooms, it's important to vary the heights on all your cabinets and to install a variety of cabinets (wine rack, spice storage, and perhaps some translucent cabinet doors) to break up all the straight and uniform lines in the room. It gives the room more depth and character. With nearly all these kitchen styles, a great way to open up the room further and give more light is to install an overhead skylight or two.