Make Your Kitchen Look Bigger with these Easy DYIs

You see it on home improvement shows and magazines – those swanky kitchens that look absolutely spectacular. Pondering on how you can make your own kitchen look as fancy as those, you realize one thing: you only have a small one opposite to those others which look like they could fit two living rooms.

Ideas for a Kitchen Remodeling Project

The kitchen is a place where families store and cook their food. It is also usually the most decorated portion of a house because this is the place where people naturally feel at home. Due to the integral purpose of kitchens and the heavy use they encounter, they are also one of the more occasionally renovated parts of a home.

The Indispensable Role of Expert Remodelers

Most homeowners opt to renovate their kitchen for two reasons: to improve the home’s interior aesthetics and to make cooking experience comfortable and worthwhile. During renovation, homeowners can choose which kitchen elements to replace and what elements should be added to achieve maximum functionality. Oftentimes, this is done with the help of kitchen remodeling contractors since it involves many crucial factors, apart from just the design and function.

Sanitation and safety are factors that both share the highest priority. This can be addressed by installing non-absorbent materials on the tables and islands. Space is also a huge consideration because it determines the overall efficiency of the kitchen at preparing meals, which can be fixed by coming up with an optimum kitchen layout.

Inexperienced designers may fail to keep these factors in mind for the sake of creating the most stylish and beautiful kitchen. A company that handles kitchen remodeling projects is more likely to have a better grasp of building requirements for kitchens than homeowners, especially when it comes to adhering to the state’s guidelines for electrical and plumbing installation.

It’s not that it’s wrong to take kitchen renovation as a weekend DIY project; it’s that the best course of action is to hire professionals who can help out. This is especially true for homeowners who plan to sell their houses. A well-designed kitchen usually means an easier sell to future buyers, who may be considering kitchen renovation of their own.

Kitchen Remodeling with a Cape Cod Twist

Baltimore, Maryland is not defined by a single architectural style but rather boasts of a wide range of styles ranging from Federal to Dutch Colonial Revival. Some homes are inspired by Cape Cod architecture, which is generally defined by symmetry, balance, and multi-paned windows that let in abundant natural light.

If you’d like to have your kitchen remodeled in the same manner, you might want to keep a few things in mind. Cape Cod-style kitchens are spacious and neatly organized yet far from ornate, with a few nautical design elements here and there reminiscent of New England beach houses. Choose cupboards and drawers in neutral tones for that bright and airy feel, and go for knobs and handles in basic metal.

For that truly authentic Cape Cod feel, you certainly can’t go wrong with a wide granite or a marble countertop. These materials should blend in rather easily with other kitchen design features and provide ample space for meal preparation. Add subtle lighting fixtures and kitchen appliances made of brushed or stainless steel to create a clean, uniform look that will be the envy of other households. Meanwhile, you can break the monotony by adding some accent pieces in royal blue.

Kitchen Remodeling: Where to Splurge and Where to Save

Kitchen remodeling is a big investment no matter its extent, and you might be tempted to try and save as much money as you can. While being choosy in terms of the price of items to be installed, there are a few things that you should splurge on in order to save more in the long run:

Kitchens need to be “homey” and bright, which is why many people tend to buy great-looking but expensive light fixtures. A great alternative would be to splurge on the installation of windows. While more expensive upfront, windows are a great light source during the day, decreasing your electrical bill and saving you thousands of dollars in the long run.

For complete kitchen remodels, try to design a floor plan that keeps the kitchen sink in place. Moving plumbing is expensive, with the cost of moving a sink at roughly $2,000, so work with where your sink currently is as much as possible.

If you’re replacing your sink and faucet, it might be better to splurge on the sink than the faucet. Due to the number of faucets a house will generally use, you can find quality faucets at lower prices. Sinks, on the other hand, are expensive to buy and expensive to replace. As such, spending now can prevent having to spend even more later on.