Kitchen Design – What to Plan For

Before you begin designing or remodeling your kitchen, there are a few things you need to think about. When it comes to your kitchen design, it’s important to thoroughly assess your own needs and wants (as well as your family’s) before investing your time and money into this important project.

First of all, you need to think about the size of your family. Do you have a large family with many children? Are you single? How many people are going to be actively using the kitchen on a daily basis? This will determine what you need in terms of size and accessibility.

If two or more cooks are going to be using the kitchen at the same time, you may need to add more counter space. It’s also important to leave enough “wiggle room” so that your family isn’t bumping into each other all the time.

Second of all, ask yourself if you or your family have any special needs. You may need to tailor your kitchen design online a certain way depending on factors such as being tall, short, disabled, etc. Assess your family’s needs before making any major changes.

Lastly, entertainment can factor into your kitchen design. Do you do a lot of entertaining? If so, it’s probably a good idea to take down a wall or two to open up the kitchen into the living room. You also may consider adding a bar or a kitchen island (or both!).

A kitchen is a great room to be used as the “social hub” of the home. Of course, you have to design it accordingly.

So now that you’ve assessed your needs and made your plans, how do you go about the actual design and remodeling process? Chances are, your pockets are probably hurting due to the recession. It can be pretty hard to finance anything these days.

Add Value to Your Home With a Kitchen Remodeling Job

Every year, various Realtor groups poll home improvement stores and other Realtors to come up with a list of home improvements that actually add value to your house. Year after year, the top results are the same. Kitchen remodeling is the home improvement job that adds the most value to your house. In fact, you’ll recover 80-90% of your kitchen remodeling costs in the added value to your house – more if you’re handy enough to do the work yourself. At least as important as the added monetary value of kitchen remodeling is the more subtle benefit – a newly remodeled kitchen is more likely to sell your house than virtually any other home improvement you can make. The kitchen is the heart of the home for most people, and a welcoming, warm and modern kitchen is an overwhelming factor in the decision to buy one house over another. But kitchen remodeling is an awfully broad term, and some kitchen remodels are more valuable than others in a buyer’s eyes. Which kitchen remodeling jobs should you tackle if your primary intent is to make your home more appealing to prospective buyers? The Realtors have the answer for that question as well. In general, the recommendations are for cosmetic changes rather than major changes to structure. The top five kitchen remodeling jobs recommended by Realtors are painting, cabinet re-facing, new countertops, new floors and a modern cook-top range. Painting is the easiest and most affordable kitchen remodeling job on the list – and it’s also the one most likely to be an effective selling tool for your house. Fresh, clean walls in a neutral color are best. Warm neutrals make everyone look and feel their best, and go with just about any décor. Don’t choose an offbeat or unusual color no matter how much you like it. The more distinctive the color, the more likely that prospective buyers will be wondering how hard it will be to paint over. Re-facing your old cabinets to give them a fresh new look is the second most popular and effective kitchen remodeling project. If there’s plenty of cabinet space in your kitchen and the cabinets are structurally sound, putting a new face on them is a far more affordable option than replacing your kitchen cabinets. New countertops can spruce up your kitchen and make it more appealing. Opt for ‘natural’ feeling materials like faux stone or one of the new wood composites. Tiled countertops are another option, but many women are going to be looking at all those little grooves and imagining all the time they’ll have to spend cleaning between the tiles. A new floor can change the entire feel of your old kitchen. There are thousands of options available, but two of your best options are natural wood or a solid color linoleum. A new cook-top range is one of the few appliance purchases that will actually make a difference in selling your house. It’s an instant update kitchen remodeling job that will make your entire kitchen appear more modern. More extensive kitchen remodeling jobs like adding windows or a cooking island are iffy propositions if your main intent is to add value to your house. Stick with kitchen remodeling jobs that are most likely to appeal to the broadest range of buyers.

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An Introduction To Kitchen Cabinets

One of the most common things that you see in the kitchen is the kitchen cabinet. In most homes, the kitchen cabinets reflect the personality of the homeowner. Actually, these are the ones that have the greatest impact on the overall look of the kitchen. That is why it is necessary to have them in your kitchen.

Kitchen cabinets come in different shapes, sizes, designs, colors where you can choose one that will best complement your kitchen. You can also go either for framed cabinets or frameless types. Aside from these, you can also choose from stock kitchen cabinets, semi-custom or built-to-order cabinets, and custom cabinets.

Stock cabinets are constructed in standard sizes which are often available off the shelf or within days. These are referred to as the most affordable fully assembled cabinets. The semi-custom or built-to-order cabinets, on the other hand, give you better options since these are made to order within standard specifications and may even include accessory items for a more customized look. Meanwhile, custom cabinets offer you more advantages since you can have them built according to your desired specifications in order to best go with your kitchen’s looks.

With the many options available for kitchen cabinets these days, finding one is not a difficult process. But before purchasing, make sure that you look for important qualities of the cabinets that you choose such as conversion varnish, high solid sealers for protection of the wood, hand-rubbed stains, ultra violet inhibitors to prevent from over exposure to damaging light, and sanding procedures between finish steps to produce smooth surfaces.

Kitchen cabinets can be easily purchased from your local shopping centers. However, if you don’t have time to visit one, you can always go online and check online sites that offer quality kitchen cabinets at affordable prices.

Kitchens provides detailed information on Kitchens, Kitchen Cabinets, Kitchen Remodeling, Kitchen Designs and more. Kitchens is affiliated with Free Floor Plans [http://www.FloorPlans-Web.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Romando

www.LKNcabinets.com          

Kitchens provides detailed information on Kitchens, Kitchen Cabinets, Kitchen Remodeling, Kitchen Designs and more. Kitchens is affiliated with Free Floor Plans [http://www.FloorPlans-Web.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Romando

www.LKNcabinets.com