If someone asked you about which room is the center of action for your home, what would your answer be? If you are like many homeowners the answer is the kitchen, where you work your culinary magic and entertain close friends and family members.
Because of its importance to homeowners, the kitchen is often the room that undergoes the most renovations. Benefits of remodeling your kitchen include an increase in home value, as well as more space to work and store accessories.
At some point during the time you live in your home, you can expect to perform a kitchen remodeling project, whether you do it yourself or hire a licensed and experienced independent contractor. The question is not whether to remodel your home, but what five things you need to keep in mind when remodeling your kitchen.
First Things First: The Kitchen Remodeling Budget
For any kitchen remodeling project, you will need to draft a budget that acts as the road map for the project. The final cost of a kitchen remodeling project can take money away from other home improvement projects, such as repairing the roof and adding a garden near the back entrance. Devise a budget based on the important criteria you want for the new kitchen, including the floor, cabinets, and countertop. After selecting the major expenses, round out the budget with affordable accessory and equipment additions.
Know Your Countertops
Any kitchen remodeling project should expand the amount of room you have to work freely and comfortably. Installing a new countertop is an excellent strategy for giving you more kitchen space, without requiring you to knock out one or more walls to increase the square footage of the kitchen.
One of the first things to keep in mind when remodeling your kitchen involves deciding on the right countertop material.
Let’s review the advantages and disadvantages of five popular kitchen countertop materials.
Granite
At between $60 and $100 for every square foot, granite represents a material that sits on the high end of the price scale. However, the price is worth it, as granite perennially sits in the top 10 lists of preferred countertop materials. Granite is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica that form a surface resisting dents and scratches. Long lasting durability in a frequently used kitchen makes the material ideal for a countertop.
Available only in natural colors, granite countertops store can clash with kitchen designs that include bold and bright colors. Maintenance is higher for granite than most other materials because you need to apply a sealant to prevent surface shipping. You also must take care not to drop heavy objects on a granite countertop.
Marble
Considered by many home improvement experts as the Taj Mahal of countertop materials, marble can run as much as $150 per square foot. Extracted directly from the ground, marble presents a shiny surface that does a great job of reflecting both natural and artificial light. The polished appearance works well with stainless steel appliances, as well as blends seamlessly with virtually every style of kitchen décor.
The porous surface of marble makes the stone a high maintenance countertop material. Maintenance includes an annual sealing of the small openings, as well as constant cleaning to eliminate stains. Marble can ship easily and a small bracelet can put a decent size scratch into the surface of the material.
Laminate
Homeowners operating on tight kitchen remodeling budgets love laminate countertops. The affordable material sometimes goes by the name Formica, which is actually more of a brand name than countertop material name. A combination of paper and resin bind together with the application of tremendous heat and pressure.
You get what you pay for with a laminate countertop. The easy to dent and scratch material has one of the shortest lifespans of any other kitchen countertop material.
Wood
Also referred to as butcher block, wood countertops offer homeowners an effective material to transform a kitchen into a rustic setting for friends and family members. By using a renewable material for a countertop, you make an eco-friendly statement for guests to see.
However, wood requires plenty of maintenance, from regular sealing to an eventual replacement of the large sections of the countertop. Mold and bacteria can take a significant toll on an untreated butcher block countertop. Frequent maintenance lowers the resale value of a wood countertop after just a couple of years.
Quartz
At $75 to $100 for each square foot, quartz used to make a large kitchen countertop can take a huge chunk out of your home improvement budget. As engineered stone, quartz offers homeowners a wide variety of color themes that fit in with all kitchen designs. You can find a quartz stone that balances louder colors, as well as a quartz stone that fits in well with a more back to nature approach for a kitchen design. Requiring less maintenance than natural stone, quartz is stain resistant, as well as resistant to dents and scratches.
The major flaw of quartz is the material’s inability to resist high heat sources. This can come from a roaring stove flame or a searing hot pot placed directly on the surface of a quartz countertop.
Do You Need More Storage?
Storage represents one of the most important factors in deciding how to renovate a kitchen. You can install cabinets in convenient locations to add more room for storing plates, glasses, and even small appliances. You have many style options for cabinetry, from varnished wood cabinets to rugged laminate cabinets that remain in pristine condition for years to come. You can also add cabinets below the sink and along the sides of a new kitchen countertop.
What is the Layout of the New Kitchen?
It is not just a question of how much space to add to your new kitchen. You also have to decide about the layout of the new kitchen. The first question to answer is what is the primary way you plan to use the new kitchen. It might be cooking or entertaining guests. You want to keep an open path between the sink, countertop, and refrigerator in a design that many home improvement experts refer to as the “Triangle Theory.” The triangle theory stipulates the distance between each of the three kitchen accessories should range between 12 and 23 feet.
The Important Role of Flooring
Kitchen floors absorb a tremendous amount of punishment, which means you have to place a priority on installing a material that can handle prolonged exposure to abuse. However, you do not want to sacrifice aesthetic appeal by going with flooring material that is unsightly. Wood floors exude natural panache, but wood does not handle punishment as well as tile floors. Moreover, tile offer you the opportunity to get creative with flooring design.
