If you’re looking to increase the value of your home, the best place to start is the kitchen. After all, it’s one of the most-used rooms in any house and quite often, the room that needs the most updating before you sell. Even if you can’t do an entire remodel, consider updating your kitchen throughout the years to increase the value of your home.
Table of Contents
Lighting
One of the first things to look at in your kitchen is the lighting. Old fluorescents not only don’t look the best, but they also provide really poor lighting and efficiency. There are a number of lighting options to explore:
- Recessed Lighting. This type of lighting is perfect for ambient or general kitchen lighting, and adds a much cleaner look than traditional lighting. Use LED bulbs for long life, economy, and lighting that is better for the
- Pendant Lights. Pendant LIghts make great task lighting for islands or dining areas, and add a look of luxury as well.
- Chandeliers. These also add a feel of luxury and a light touch of elegance to your kitchen or dining areas. Go simple, and don’t choose anything too large for your area that will detract from the other décor.
- Island Lights. These are lights specifically designed to light island areas, and can often be chosen to fit the size, shape, and location of your island. Just be sure they match the other fixtures in your kitchen.
- Under Cabinet Lights. These lights provide great task lighting to specific counter areas, and can add a nice touch to the look and feel of your home.
- Track Lighting. Track lighting is another great way to provide light to general or specific areas, depending on how the lights are directed and how many there are.
Updating the lighting in your kitchen is a great first step, but then you need to look around at what, exactly it is lighting up.
Cabinets
Cabinets are one of the most important parts of a kitchen remodel. There are several options surrounding how to refresh cabinets and change the look of your kitchen.
- Replace doors, drawer fronts, and handles: Of the rest of your cabinets are in good shape, you can change the whole look of your kitchen simply by replacing doors, drawer fronts, and handles. Just be sure to account for them in your budget, because if you have a lot of doors and drawers, the hardware needed can add up.
- Paint: Adding a fresh coat of paint can change the look of your kitchen, and even painting only parts of the cabinets, or painting half of them a different color can give you a great look of contrast.
- Replace Cabinets: if your cabinets are old, too shallow or too deep, replacing them with new ones may be the best option.
The most important aspects of cabinets is that they are functional and allow you do to the things that you need to do in your kitchen. Practical considerations should be combined with cosmetic ones to allow you to make the best choices
Countertops
Another improvement to your kitchen is countertops. Old materials that are chipped or scratched may not only be an eyesore, but they can also be very unsanitary. They may absorb germs you are then re-exposing yourself and your family to. You may not be able to fully sanitize them anymore.
Replacing them with granite or Corian gives you a surface that is durable, scratch resistant, can be polished and resurfaced a number of times, and remains sanitary for years to come. This can also be a good time to update sinks. While you are doing countertops, you should also look at backsplashes, and replace or refresh them as well.
Appliances
Appliances not only add a certain look to your kitchen, but they also add a level of efficiency to your home overall if you select the right ones. Replacing old appliances is one of the most vital steps to refreshing your kitchen.
- Replace appliances to match old ones. Whether that is in brand or color, make sure that yor appliances match for a clean look.
- Look at Energy Star Ratings. How efficient your appliances are matters not only to you, but to the environment. Choose earth friendly appliances that use less energy than their counterparts.
- Get the features you want. Stoves and refrigerators have come a long way from just a simple top and oven and a freezer and doors to specific locations for veggies and dairy, adjustable temperature zones, and adjustable humidity. Double ovens and convection options are also available.
Whether you are replacing one appliance or several, be sure that you match the look and feel for the best additions to your kitchen, but also be sure that look and feel coincides with the other fixtures you have already selected.
Remodeling your kitchen can be a great project for the overall value of your home, but also to make it a more fun place to cook and spend time together. Prioritizing is important, because budget will always play a role.
When planning your remodel, you can get help financing it in a variety of ways. For example, Hearth is a company that offers not only financing, but renovation guides and budget planning for homeowners. Whatever you do, make sure you have your budget, goals, and game plan outlined before you start tearing into the kitchen.
