Category : Kitchen Renovations

10 Kitchen Renovation Mistakes to Avoid

There’s no better place to start renovations than your kitchen. Once you’ve decided to take the plunge to renovate though, it’s hard not to scream, “Cannonball!” and dive right in. Though that sort of enthusiasm is the spice of life, it pays off to think about the best way to reach the shore on the other end before your running jump.

Above all, avoid these 10 kitchen renovation mistakes:

Not buying appliances first

What a headache it is to find out at the very end that your appliances don’t fit between your countertops and cabinets! That’s a very expensive mistake to fix. At best, you only have to re-adjust one set of cabinets; at worst and most often, the domino effect of fixes forces you to re-do everything. You don’t want to have to go through that. So buy your appliances first. In fact, have them on-site to get regular and accurate measurements during renovations.

Not designing for kitchen workflow

Besides looking great, renovating your kitchen to makes it easier to work in. You want your workflow from refrigerator to countertop prep space to stove/oven to sink as efficient as possible while you’re cooking the meal that wows your family and friends. Think about your signature dishes and how you usually prepare them. Then figure out the best placement of appliances and kitchen elements to minimise the travel time between them all. One way is to place the element where you spend the most cooking time on in the middle and spread the other appliances/elements at equal distances around that central element.

Not protecting surrounding areas

You can’t avoid messes with renovations. So prepare for that reality by covering up appliances, furniture, walls, and floors in the hallway or room(s) that open into the kitchen. Plastic sheets, tarps, or large pieces of cloth work well as protective covers. For bonus points, you can even cover up the high traffic route from the entrance to the kitchen. This may be a lot of prep work, but it’ll make things that much easier to clean up post-renovation.

Not maximising kitchen storage space

With creativity, you can pack in a lot of storage space in the kitchen. By maximising storage at the start of your renovation plans, you’ll save money further down the road. Adding storage after the fact is much more expensive and won’t make full use of the space as efficiently.

Not increasing countertop space

Countertop space is always at a premium in the kitchen. So don’t let the size of the island or bottom cabinets stop you from extending your counters further out. First, make sure you’ve enough space in your kitchen and it won’t block traffic. You can then reinforce the extensions with proper supports and bracing, finished with the same look as your cabinets. Always check with professionals though to make sure the reinforcements are strong enough.

Not considering practical details

Is your kitchen bright enough to work in? Adequate lighting over your cooking areas is a must. You can also augment the working lights with some accent lighting to soften the brightness of the kitchen if you find it too harsh. Is there proper ventilation? Aromas are great while you’re cooking, but not so much after the meal is long done. Get rid of cooking smells with a range hood or, at the very least, a ceiling fan. Are there enough electrical sockets? If you depend on a lot of electric kitchen gadgets while cooking, install a bunch of sockets in several locations throughout the kitchen. They don’t even have to stand out in plain view because there are many hideaway designs of sockets built right into the kitchen counter or island. Where will the garbage and/or recycling bin go? Design a custom pull-out drawer for the bins so they don’t end up in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Not projecting the inter-effect of design features

Even if you’re excited about a certain feature, think about where it’ll go and whether it’ll be in the way of something else. Apply the same thought process to colour schemes and material choices, too. The last thing you want is to crush your open drawer with the oven door while the cutlery fall point first to mark up your laminate floor.

Not getting help from professionals

Even the most experienced DIY-er can miss details that a professional can spot right away and fix before they become bigger issues. It’s always a gamble going solo on renovation projects. Plus, you won’t get to enjoy the many advantages of working with professionals.

Not reviewing and/or reinforcing your budget

Of course you want to include everything on your wishlist. But if something doesn’t fit your budget, it needs to go. Review your budget throughout the renovation and put your foot down before it starts ballooning out of control. The best way to stay within budget and still get your essentials is to honestly divide your design features into two lists. The first is the top priority list. The second is the nice-to-have list you’ll sacrifice when the top priority items turn out to be more expensive than you planned.

Not focusing on the benefits

Finally, keep reminding yourself why you’re renovating your kitchen! It’s easy to forget the reasons and benefits when you’re so caught up in the renovation chaos. The constant reminders will go a long way in helping you and your family let go of frustrations and focus on how it’s all going to be worth it in the end.

7 Kitchen Cabinet Trends for 2017

Kitchen cabinets are so much more than just storage space in the kitchen: they’re where you get to play with what stays hidden, what gets revealed, and how you’re going to achieve both. Because kitchen cabinets have such a broad influence over the kitchen both in terms of function and style, they should really be the first design element you work on after you’ve decided on the appliances you need; the rest of the kitchen design will follow naturally once you’ve set the kitchen cabinet look and layout.

So if you want to create a modern theme for your kitchen, start by getting the latest kitchen cabinet trends this year:

Tall cabinets

Kitchen cabinets are no longer restricted to only the wall space between the backsplash and the ceiling. Many people are now opting for taller cabinets that take up the entire backsplash-to-ceiling space or even mega cabinets that go from floor to ceiling. Tall cabinets give off the illusion of a bigger kitchen and backs that up with actual increased storage space.

White cabinets

Besides embodying a bright and clean ambiance, white cabinets also go very well with grey backsplashes that have been gaining popularity for the last couple of years. The way the white and grey set off each other will give your kitchen the contrasting shades that define the contemporary look.

Glass doors

Sometimes the truest form of beauty comes from the inside and that outlook can be applied to kitchen cabinets, too. If you have gorgeous sets of dishes you’d like to display, put in glass doors so that your dishes become the main attraction. You can even install small lamps inside the cabinets so that your dishes stand out in the spotlight. For a more elegant look, get doors of beveled glass.

Soft-lift doors

For anyone whose head ever got in the way of an open kitchen cabinet door, the struggle is real. Soft-lift doors help to alleviate the pain with hinges that gently lift the door upwards rather than outwards to the side. Plus, the hydraulic feel of effortlessly opening cabinet doors gives your kitchen a space-age touch.

Matte metal hardware

Chrome and stainless steel – once the standard materials in sci-fi imaginations – have now become “retro-futuristic”. In the kitchen, what’s hot these days is taking the shine out of cabinet hardware through matte finishes on metals that recall vintage styles; metals like copper, brass, and pewter in distinctive shapes will be all the rage this year.

Built-in tech functions

The underside of cabinets is often overlooked as usable space; that’s about to change though with this newest trend, where people are mounting charging stations for handheld devices, flip-down stands to hold tablets, and even wireless speakers for streaming music. However you use technology in the kitchen, find a way to integrate it with your cabinets.

Hidden appliances

This trend goes with the minimalist aesthetics that influence a lot of modern designs nowadays. By hiding appliances in floor-to-ceiling cabinets, it de-clutters the kitchen and gives it a seamless look that heightens the “wow” factor when people open one of the doors to unexpectedly find an appliance inside.

On top of incorporating the latest trends into your kitchen, it also requires a lot more finishing work to achieve the sleek, modern design. So don’t hesitate to give your local general contractor a shout if you want to get your modern kitchen just right!

9 Tips to Maximise Your Kitchen Space

You can have a kitchen that takes up more than half your house, but even all that space can easily go to waste if you don’t make efficient use of it; with a small kitchen, it’s even more important to find any way you can to make every inch count.

That being said, you don’t need to install a bunch of cleverly hidden secret compartments (although that would no doubt be pretty awesome!). The next time you feel like your kitchen has suddenly shrunk on you, think about these 9 creative tips to squeeze more space out of it:

Multiple slide-out shelving

It’s exactly what it sounds like: shelves you can slide out…lots of them! This idea allows you to put shelves in awkward places and still have easy access to their contents; no more straining your muscles just to reach the back of cabinets. It’s especially useful for that dreaded corner cabinet space under L-shaped countertops. Another idea for this corner space is to install a couple levels of “lazy susan” shelves that rotate on a centre axis so that you can reach contents in the back by just spinning the shelf.

Shelf under-racks

This won’t be an option if you have a lot dishes that stack to the very top of each shelf level; if you do have some empty space between your dishes and the shelf above though, you can mount a rack or wire basket to the underside of the top shelf and create an extra level to store light contents.

Cabinet bottom hooks

There’s actually a lot of unused space between the wall cabinets and the countertop that’s often overlooked. One way to make use of that space is to screw in hooks to the bottom of your cabinets so that you can hang your mugs on them. This will also add a whimsical feel to your kitchen, especially if you’re the kind of person who has a collection of colourful mugs with witty quotes.

Backsplash shelving

If you’re okay with covering up your backsplash a little more for the sake of taking advantage of that unused space, you can put up shelves either directly on the backsplash or anchored to the bottom of your top cabinets.

Hanging door organisers

What’s great about this idea is that you can find an unending selection of organisers with varying layouts and styles that can hang from the top of doors. Choose the ones that best fit your content needs and space requirements; the key here is that you’re making efficient use of the gap between your doors and your shelves. If they fit, they can be used for the doors of your cabinets, pantry, and under-sink cabinet. The area under the kitchen sink is a classic storage spot for household cleaners, but you can prevent them from descending into a jumbled chaos by using a hanging organiser.

Tilt-out sink drawers

Continuing with the kitchen sink area, how many times have you cursed at those faux drawers in front of the sink for being so fake? What if there actually is a way to turn them into usable drawers? Well, there is! Just install drawers that tilt out and you can store small kitchen odds and ends like steel wools, scrubbers, or brushes.

Rack for pots and pans

Pots and pans are usually placed in the bottom drawers beneath countertops because of their larger storage space. You can free up all the space for other stuff though if you simply mount a rack to hang up your pots and pans. It can be a rack that goes on an unused section of your wall or it can hang from the ceiling above your kitchen island. With the ceiling rack version, you can even wire the rack with lamps to turn it into a dual-purpose fixture.

Flatware drawer organisers

These are always must-haves in the kitchen because there’s nothing more frustrating than digging through drawer after drawer for that one elusive utensil. If you don’t have enough drawers to separate cooking utensils from flatware, a creative trick is to create cascading double-layer drawers. The idea is to make the top layer a flatware organiser that sits neatly on the drawer’s top edge and only takes up a little more than half the drawer depth. So when you pull out the drawer part-way, you get the flatware on top; when you pull out the drawer all the way though, the back edge of the flatware organiser will catch on pegs that stop it from extending out any further, which exposes the bottom layer for cooking utensils.

Knife storage

Rather than having a clunky knife block taking up valuable space on your kitchen counter, you can get a custom-made knife rack drawer that slides into the cabinetry beneath the countertop. Another much simpler option – again, only if you’re comfortable covering up your backsplash – would be to attach a strong magnetic strip to your backsplash and just stick your knives flat against the wall.

So you see, there’s always more space if you set your mind to it. With enough practice, you may even want to try your hand at becoming a Tetris world champion one day! Before that though, let’s start with your kitchen. Keep in mind that some of these tips above may require some expert cabinet wizardry skills so give us a shout when you’re ready to maximise your kitchen space.

Are Kitchen Renovations Worth It?

Think about all the parties you’ve ever been to or hosted where you felt it was the best party ever at the time. Besides the friends you love, what’s the one common factor that made each of them great? If you’re like me, that would be the good food and drinks.

I like to hang out around the source of food and drinks whenever I’m at a party and if it’s inside a house, that would mean spending much of my time in the kitchen. Call me a glutton, but there’s actually a method to my munchiness: the kitchen is the place where I’ll get the most chance to chat with everyone because all the hungry people will gravitate there and even the non-hungry people will follow eventually. It’s not only at parties where the kitchen gets the most foot traffic – the same goes for our everyday lives. Cooking and eating is still a big part of our daily routine; it just makes sense to do all that in a nice, comfortable kitchen.

Having a renovated kitchen customised to your lifestyle means that you get to enjoy these benefits:

Fresh, “new house” feeling

This is usually the main reason many people dive into kitchen renovations. With the kitchen being the most popular area in the house, who wouldn’t want to show it off to friends and family in the best light possible? That could mean replacing old appliances, refacing cabinets with new hardware, changing the paint colour scheme, getting a general contractor to do a full service remodeling, or a combination of all these. Whatever changes you make, you will definitely notice their effect from your friends’ gushing and most importantly, from that warm fuzzy feeling you get inside yourself that you haven’t felt since you first bought the house; recapturing that “new house” feeling is priceless.

Inspires healthier, cost-effective eating habits

It’s a well-known phenomenon these days that we are spending less and less time in the kitchen preparing meals. When we do cook in the kitchen, it often means warming up processed food so that we can quickly eat and get on with our busy lives. The beauty of a renovated kitchen is that the new changes make you want to linger in there longer. You’ll want to make use of its every reimagined square inch and in the kitchen, that means getting re-inspired to cook again. Whether it’s making a simple pasta dish or preparing a gourmet three-course meal, you’ll save a lot of money and headaches about health issues in the long run by cooking more often at home. All it takes is a little time and planning, which you’ll find creative ways to fit in once you’ve got the spark to liven up the kitchen again.

Increased home value

You’re not the only one who wants an updated kitchen – it’s usually a top priority for many buyers as well. This is why renovating the kitchen is often a sure-fire way to attract buyers who’ll pay a higher value for your house. If you are renovating your kitchen before selling your house though, make sure to find out from experts (i.e. real estate agents, general contractors, etc.) what the current kitchen renovation trends are in your neighbourhood and don’t go overboard from there. You want the most bang for your buck so you don’t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars only to bump up your home value by a few thousand. It’s best to focus on the must-have features first and not spend too much on high-end stuff that are not on top of people’s wish list in your area.

These are all crucial benefits that offer a return on your money and time; for that, I’d say kitchen renovations are definitely worth it. Of course, you can argue that the costs and time it takes to put up with the renovations are a big factor to consider. But like any investment, you have to put in a little to get returns and if you have a limited budget for home improvement, then the smart move would be to reap several dividend-paying benefits at the same time by renovating the kitchen first.

What are some of the must-have features in your area? Share your thoughts and see how different each area is from one another.