10 smart ways to update a kitchen
From the cabinets to the appliances, find out how to ensure a successful renovation. Renovating your kitchen will add ease to your lifestyle and value to your home. Here are the 10 most important things to consider when you're updating your kitchen.
1. Use quality materials
Quality drawer slides and hinges mean cabinet doors will stay closed and drawers won't stick. If you are planning a kitchen renovation, or a new installation, take a look at Blum fittings for your new kitchen.
2. Determine cabinet heights
If you have two-metre ceilings, choose cabinets that go to the ceiling. They offer more storage, enabling you to use extra wall space for even more storage or open shelves.
3. Decide whether to paint or stain
Though stained-wood cabinetry is forgiving, most finishes date quickly and aren't easily altered. Brush-painted cabinets can lend a unique personality.
4. Select an elegant countertop
PG Bison offer a wide range of Formica LifeSeal Worktops finishes that add functional style to any kitchen style. Surrino solid surfaces provide a spectrum of tones and shades, blending and texture to create a three-dimensional product. CaesarStone manufactures natural high-tech quartz surfaces that offer ideal solutions for kitchen countertops.
5. Install an island that works
Beware of placing a bulky cube in the middle of the room. We like islands that have an open, airy look. Ideally, an island should be unencumbered by appliances, but if you want it to house a dishwasher-sink combo or a cooktop, try to maintain the light look of a leggy harvest table.
6. Don't overdo the details
Design accents such as pediments over stoves and plaster mouldings on cabinet fronts can represent decorative excess and easily become outdated. Remember that the style of your kitchen should be compatible with the rest of your home.
7. Avoid maintenance nightmares
Natural surfaces with inherent texture - slate, terra-cotta, brick and tumbled marble - are more difficult to clean but camouflage the odd crumb. Smooth surfaces in light colours, such as white Formica LifeSeal Worktops or ceramic floors, are easy to clean but show everything. And as much as we love stainless steel, it's not easy to keep smudge-free.
8. Stick to basic appliances
Instead of lots of appliances and gadgets, consider selecting a few reliable basics. For example, a commercial-quality stainless-steel range makes an interesting focal point and takes up less space than separate wall ovens and a cooktop.
9. Plan for plenty of lighting
As the room where a multitude of chores take place, there should be sufficient lighting to accommodate individual tasks throughout the room. A central ceiling fixture will provide adequate general lighting but don't forget about down lighting for particular areas such as, over the preparation area, above the wash area, around the cooking area, and over a breakfast or kitchen island.
10. Add interest
Your kitchen should reflect your personality - not look like a showroom. Before designing the space, search for a piece of unique furniture or accessory and use it as inspiration when planning your design - a room full of floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall kitchen cabinets looks boring and uninspired.