Top Reasons for Renovating Your Kitchen
The kitchen is probably the area in the house which endures the highest amount of traffic, the largest range of chemicals, the greatest variations in heat and has the most services connected to it. No wonder, then, that kitchens are liable to age more quickly than other sections of the house, and often get to the point where quick fixes and cover-ups cost so much time and money that you’re just better off renovating your kitchen entirely.
An old, haggardly kitchen in its death throes is not, of course, the only reason to want to completely change your kitchen. A carefully considered kitchen design can give a new look to the entire living area of the house and reflect the personalities and tastes of the owners. The very fact the a kitchen consists of cabinets, appliances, tables, chairs and bench tops means that any number of materials, colours, patterns and styles can be used to create a marvelously unique look that can greatly revive your house pride and win a lot of praise from visiting friends and family.
Yet another perfectly good reason to do away with your old kitchen is to improve the way the spaces are used and generally make for a more efficient kitchen and user friendly area. If you’ve had your old kitchen for a long time, there’s probably quite a few layout and design changes you could think of that would make a marked difference to the way the entire space is used. You might wish the dishwasher was closer to the sink or the bench top weren’t so small or far away from the stove, for instance. The real expert in these situations is you, and while you can and should get the advice of professional kitchen builders, interior designers and architects regarding design improvements, remember that you are the one who has used the area hundreds if not thousands of times and can therefore provide the best input for the cleverest solutions.
Nothing ever stays the same, and that is very true for families. The old kitchen may have serviced your needs well enough when there was only one or two of you, but what happens when that figure becomes four? Your kitchen may not be able to meet the demands of a growing family, and a bigger fridge may not really solve the problem. When the children are still young, the problem may not be so obvious; although any conscientious parent should think very carefully indeed about the potential hazards in the kitchen, and there are many. As the kids get older, however, the kitchen gets very busy indeed. You really need to ask yourself if your kitchen is up to the task of handling all members of the family running busily around the kitchen, hurriedly preparing breakfast as they are late for school and work. Heaven forbid they invite friends to sleep over!
You can renovate your kitchen cheaply; it is not necessarily an expensive endeavour, and it will add value to your home. So if you’re planning on selling your house, ask yourself whether the kitchen is doing it any justice. A dank kitchen will only put buyers off and drive the price of the house down, but a bright, new kitchen will spark the imagination of buyers and help you get the sale at the price you were aiming for. Relatively small investments in these cases can really pay themselves back handsomely, and make you very glad indeed that you had the foresight to do it.
