A Kitchen Remodel Provides one of the Best Returns on Investment when it comes to Major Home Improvement Projects
By Mark J. Donovan
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If you’re debating on remodeling your kitchen keep in mind several important facts as you make your decision. First, today’s homebuyer highly values a modern kitchen, and thus a kitchen remodel can increase the value of an older home. Second the kitchen is where most families spend the better time of the day in the home, when they’re home. Third, today’s busy family is looking for modern features in a kitchen that make it more amenable for having multiple cooks in the kitchen at any one time.
With most woman working today there are usually at least two people in the kitchen in the evening preparing meals and cleaning up dishes, thus a kitchen needs extra space for at least two people to comfortably work in. |
So what do all these facts mean? Well, if you have an older home with an outdated kitchen it’s a smart idea for both your own sake, as well as a future home buyer, that you invest in remodeling your kitchen.
| Moreover, when designing your kitchen remodel, it’s a wise idea to meet with a kitchen designer to help you design your new kitchen, and to see what new kitchen amenities you should include in it.
When coming up with your new kitchen design there are three key topics you should think about, work triangle, storage, and traffic zones. In regards to the work triangle it’s always best to design a kitchen so that when you’re standing at the kitchen sink you have the refrigerator and the stove off to your left and right, and typically slightly behind you. A triangle is often formed when developing a kitchen floor plan that accommodates this type of layout, particularly if there is a center island included in the kitchen design plans. |
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Adequate storage space is another major area of interest when designing a kitchen. Today’s modern kitchen needs added space for all the various “fast food” preparation products, be it a blender, microwave, toaster, toaster-oven, or what. Also plenty of cabinet storage space is also essential, so make sure your kitchen designer and you utilize the latest kitchen cabinetry features to maximize the cabinet storage space.
| Well thought out traffic zones in a kitchen are also highly important. Again, with two people commonly working in a kitchen nowadays, it’s vital that there be plenty of maneuverability room for the two cooks. Ensuring sufficiently wide traffic zones can be tough if there’s a kitchen island involved in the kitchen design. If the kitchen footprint is somewhat limited in square feet, a breakfast bar off to one side of the kitchen might be a more efficient option over a kitchen island. If you do decide to include a kitchen island in your plans, also think about integrating the sink or stove/oven into the kitchen island.
Integrating the stove/oven into the kitchen island can often be more easily accommodated, as plumbing pipes do not need to be installed into the island. |
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Finally, make sure to include plenty of new lighting in your kitchen remodel.
| There are all types of kitchen lighting products on the market today that can really help to make you kitchen look beautiful and to better light it. Think spot workspace lighting and general overhead lighting when developing your kitchen lighting plans.
Again, a kitchen remodel will certainly increase the value of your home and will also allow you to better enjoy and utilize your kitchen. So stop debating and begin planning your new kitchen today! |
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For help on your kitchen remodeling project, see my Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet. The Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet provides a request for quote checklist section that you can provide to prospective kitchen remodeling contractors. It also includes a comprehensive kitchen remodeling cost breakdown table, in Microsoft Excel format, that allows the contractor to include his projected remodeling costs for every phase of the project.
Related Information
Additional Kitchen Remodeling Design Resources
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