August 2002 - Kitchen Remodeling 

4 Great Kitchen Design Ideas

For most people, the kitchen has become the social and entertaining hub of the home. Busy families find themselves passing each other while grabbing a quick meal during their busy lives. As a result, kitchen remodeling is one of the most popular remodeling projects each year.

Here are a few ideas for making your kitchen more appealing, livable, and easier to live with.


Increase your space

One of the most common reasons for kitchen remodeling is to simply get more space. The average size of American kitchens has been increasing dramatically since the 1950’s as we do more and more gathering there. Think about moving a few walls around and opening your kitchen up to other living areas to bring the family together more.

Make It Easy to Clean

 When designing your kitchen remodel, be sure and consider how easy your choices will make it to keep your space clean. Consider flat cabinet doors with a glossy finish over intricate, stained cabinets. High gloss will show dirt more, but is much easier to clean and keep in top shape. Use solid surface countertops instead of tile, and curve it up the wall to create an easy-to-clean backsplash.

Make Your Kitchen Kid-Friendly

We could have a great debate over who makes the bigger messes in the kitchen – the kids or the parents, but there’s no doubt that making your kitchen easy to use for the shorter ones can go along way to preventing spills, falls, and allow them to serve themselves more often. Consider building in some low storage for snacks, dishes and utensils to reduce unnecessary climbing. Microwaves can be built into your center island at a height accessible to your 7-year old for warming up his own mac-and-cheese.

Use Smart Design For Your ‘Work Triangle’

The work triangle defines the distance between critical appliances like the refrigerator, the range, and the sink in your kitchen. Keeping the distance between these items smaller makes food preparation and cleaning easier, reduces your travel time between appliances, and minimizes spills.