Kitchen Archives - Brett King Builder-Contractor Inc.

08 Jul

A Sustainable Kitchen Remodel Can Actually Save You Money—Here’s How

Wouldn’t it be great if a home renovation project could essentially pay for itself? While that might seem like a pipe dream, the truth is that some renovations can add almost as much value to a home as they cost the homeowner to complete. According to the Remodeling 2023 Cost vs. Value Report, projects like a minor kitchen remodel can offer a return on investment (ROI) of more than 85 percent, which could benefit homeowners when it comes time to sell or refinance their homes.

But there’s another factor at play here. The Inflation Reduction Act can also help renovations pay their own way. The bill offers incentives and rebates for certain energy-saving upgrades, allowing homeowners to recoup some of the cash they put into their kitchens, while also saving money on utility bills every month.

If your kitchen has seen better days, now might be the perfect time for an upgrade. And choosing appliances, fixtures, and materials that are more sustainable than the ones you had previously can not only help the environment, it may even attract more buyers should you put your home on the market. According to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors, more than 50 percent of real estate professionals say their clients are interested in sustainability.

Keep reading to learn which sustainable kitchen projects are most worth focusing on this year.

Electric Stove

To improve home health and energy efficiency in the kitchen, there’s a push to move toward electric stoves. In fact, homeowners who upgrade to an induction range will benefit the most, as the technology uses less wattage than a conventional electric stove, and there’s less heat lost while cooking. That’s a win-win when it comes to stepping up sustainability.

In addition, homeowners can receive a rebate of up to $840 on the purchase of an electric stove, cooktop, range, or oven as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. While this upgrade can benefit both your home and your wallet, it’s imperative to consider all aspects of the project before purchasing a new appliance. The guides below will help you sort out whether a modern electric stove is right for your kitchen.

Water-Saving Fixtures

Upgrading to a more efficient faucet and dishwasher might be worth a homeowner’s effort, as well. Not only can these fixtures enhance the functionality and aesthetics of a kitchen, they can also help reduce household water use by 30 percent.

For instance, the average kitchen faucet flows at a rate of 2.2 gallons per minute. Swapping it out for a new low-flow model that uses just 1.5 gallons of water each minute can quickly add up to significant savings on monthly bills—not to mention it helps conserve an important natural resource for the earth’s sake. By the same token, installing an Energy Star-rated dishwasher can further efficiency in the kitchen.

Recycled Materials

Taking a material that has served its purpose and using it to produce a new material is one of the most sustainable things humans can do. Incorporating recycled materials into a kitchen renovation is easier than ever before, thanks to products like IceStone’s recycled glass countertops. The eco-friendly surface reuses what would otherwise be waste while creating an eye-catching, unique look in any kitchen.

In addition, highly renewable materials like linoleum or bamboo are great options for kitchen flooring. A leg up for the latter is that bamboo can achieve a similar look and feel to hardwood, which some real estate experts estimate has an ROI of 70 to 80 percent.

Eco-Friendly Finishes and Furnishings

One of the most rewarding parts of a kitchen renovation is adding final touches like wall color and decor. Luckily, there’s room to improve the sustainability of these features, too.

For instance, consider LED light bulbs. LED lighting may cost more upfront, but it uses less energy and lasts longer than other lighting systems. So not only does it save money on utility bills each month, it also saves time in terms of maintenance because LED bulbs don’t need to be replaced as often.

It’s also worth noting that low-VOC paints are more environmentally friendly than those that contain higher levels of VOCs. They’re also safer to use for the person doing the painting and the family living in the space.

Finally, when furnishing a newly remodeled kitchen, consider brands and products that use renewable or recycled materials and environmentally conscious production methods. For example, an FSC-certified stamp indicates that wood was harvested in a sustainable and ethical manner.

Responsible Disposal

As with any home project, it’s important to take care when disposing of refuse from a kitchen remodel. Taking appliances, cabinets, and other items that are no longer of use to the local reuse or recycling center can prevent them from ending up in a landfill. This alone can help renovators take a step in the direction of sustainability.

But, DIYers can also look to sell their used-but-good materials on classifieds and online marketplaces. Should they sell, the proceeds can be used toward the rest of the project, helping to pay for those new materials and fixtures. Plus, both methods avoid having to pay fees at the local dump.

05 Feb

4 Kitchen Renovation Trends for Investors To Consider in 2021

2020 brought about major changes to the way we live. So it’s not surprising we saw changes in kitchen design as well. After all, if you’re in lockdown, you start to notice what you like and dislike about the heart of the home. If you want to get the kitchen in your rental properties or flips on trend for 2021, here are some renovations to consider.

1. Touchless faucets

Hygiene was among the biggest changes Americans made around the house during COVID-19. Remember when you couldn’t find any retailer with disinfecting wipes?

Because of food prep, the kitchen should be the cleanest room in the house, and the biggest hygienic tech advance for home kitchens has got to be the touchless faucet. After working with raw chicken, for example, most cooks wash their hands before moving onto prepping something else. But that entails touching the faucet while your hands are still contaminated (or awkwardly trying to turn on the faucet with your elbow). Handwashing using a touchless faucet means everything, including the faucet, stays clean.

For savvy real estate investors, the best thing about this new trend is that a brand-new touchless faucet is attractive and makes for a cheap upgrade, as little as a couple hundred dollars.

You’ve no doubt used touchless faucets before, probably in public restrooms. You wave your hands in front of a sensor, and the water activates. You can also get a voice-activated faucet if you choose; not only will that device turn on the water when you tell it to, it will dispense a particular amount as well.

2. Large kitchen islands

With more people at home all day during the pandemic, flex space has become important. With people in the kitchen much of the day working or doing homework besides cooking and eating, the oversized kitchen island (which has been popular for a few years now) is more important than ever.

By oversized, we’re talking an island large enough to seat at least four people. With an island this big, not only can the home chef enjoy a surface large enough to prepare food, people can eat at the island and, when it’s not mealtime, can comfortably work or do homework there as well.

3. Warm colors

If you have a white kitchen, there’s no need to change it. White kitchens remain a perennial favorite. People tend to keep a white space cleaner because they can better see those spills and smudges. (See the hygienic trend above.)

But because people have been home more, a warm and cozy kitchen, to match the comfort food prepared there, is also appealing. If you want to add color to the kitchen, the 2021 trends are practically limitless. You can work with shades of green, blue, red, and yellow and make them work with your existing color palatte.

4. More storage

With more people preparing food at home, storage space is becoming even more important than usual. People want a dedicated pantry and clever spots to store all the new must-have appliances they’ve been amassing: the air fryer, Panini maker, toaster oven, juicer, bread maker, and Instapot.

The Millionacres bottom line

The kitchen can make or break a house sale, as it can be a huge turn on or turn off to buyers and renters. Everyone scrutinizes, or at least notices, the kitchen. If yours needs an update, it’s probably a good choice of your investment dollars to do so. And while you’re renovating, why not stay on trend? It will make a difference.

05 Aug

5 Trade-Offs to Consider When Remodeling Your Kitchen

A kitchen designer asks big-picture questions to help you decide where to invest and where to compromise in your remodel

It would be great to have an unlimited budget for a kitchen renovation. But the fact is most of us do not. And that’s OK. Compromises of one form or another are part of the process, even for the rare homeowner who enjoys a bottomless budget and expansive square footage.

But how, exactly, do you decide between two compelling options with different pros and cons? The most critical tool to have on hand to help you make tough choices is a clear picture of your remodel goals. To get clarity on what matters most to you, read about some key trade-offs you and your kitchen designer will consider during your project.

How Will You Use Your Kitchen?

When planning a kitchen remodel, you want to be very clear on how you want to use your new kitchen. Here is one example: I want to have people over more often. I want to feel relaxed when I entertain. In order to feel relaxed, I need to make sure that no one is in my way while I cook. I also want my kitchen to stay neat during the cooking process and be laid out so that cleaning up will be efficient.

Clear goals can help homeowners make decisions and, as the budget nears its limit, ultimately choose the options that will best support their goals. What matters most to you in a kitchen?

1. Daily Use vs. Special Events

This area of consideration has to do with how many people your kitchen will serve. From refrigerator storage to seats at the dining table, the number of people you want to accommodate will affect your design choices. You’ll want to consider not only how many people live in the home now, but — if this is your forever home — how many will live in it 10 years from now. Also, how often do you entertain and for how many people?

I had a client who was retired and cooked only for herself and her husband most days. She entertained just four times a year, on holidays. At first, I was a bit baffled by her choice of a 36-inch range, double ovens and a 48-inch-wide refrigerator. But for her, these choices made sense.

As the matriarch of a large family, on those four holidays she cooked for 25 to 30 people and had at least two or three people helping her in the kitchen. It was important to her that we designed a flexible space that worked just as well when cooking for two as for 30.

That approach is a good one: Whenever possible, I recommend that clients design with their maximum capacity needs in mind.

2. Cost vs. Value

As you may have discovered if you’re considering a remodel (or in the midst of one), everything from cabinets to sinks to appliances comes at a variety of price points. How do you decide when it’s worth it to splurge for a high-quality item and when it’s best to save your dollars? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Will the investment improve your everyday life?
Will the product solve a pet peeve?
Will the addition of this element make your house feel like a home?
Will the purchase increase the value of your home?

In each of these cases, you may decide that the cost of a feature for your new kitchen is worth it because of the value it brings. For example, a better dishwasher might eliminate the need to prerinse dishes.

Perhaps you hate scrubbing dishes, can afford an upgrade and would cherish any minute of spare time away from the sink. Or perhaps you feel quite the opposite: You don’t mind scrubbing dishes at all, and this investment wouldn’t be worth the pennies spent.

Framing your choices as cost vs. value — in terms of your experience in your kitchen, and possibly the resale value of your home — can help you get clarity on what’s worth the extra money.

One helpful way to prioritize your desires is to analyze the frequency and duration of a given task. Tasks you do frequently or spend more time on should get more weight as you consider what is worth investing in.

For example, most people use the burners to cook 80 percent of the time, the oven 20 percent of the time. If this applies to you, I recommend prioritizing the cooktop as opposed to the wall oven, both in terms of placement in your kitchen and quality of product. You wouldn’t want to give up a great burner feature to get a fancier oven.

On the other hand, if you are a frequent baker but rarely use the stovetop, you may prefer to invest in wall ovens rather than spend your budget on a fancy range. For you, it would be better to make sure that reaching into the oven is more ergonomic — done while standing upright, rather than bending over.

3. Function vs. Aesthetics

Ideally a kitchen redesign brings both beauty and function, but when we are dealing with limited funds, trade-offs between functionality and aesthetics may be necessary. By function, I mean not only the kinds of bells and whistles you get with high-end appliances, but also the kitchen’s layout and the choice of whether to have one sink or two.

Aesthetics, of course, are the expensive but gorgeous finishes and customized detailing that bring a high-end look to a kitchen. Quite often, a budget may force you to make choices on what matters most to you — the functionality or the look.

This area of trade-off is deeply personal and has a lot to do with your lifestyle. When weighing aesthetics vs. function, you’ll want to consider everything I mentioned before: how many people you cook for daily, how often you entertain, the kind of entertaining you do (backyard barbecues vs. sit-down dinners), the style of cooking you prefer and how many people work in the kitchen at one time.

For example, a client who doesn’t do a lot of cooking and is more concerned with the kitchen’s look than its function might really want a beautiful built-in fridge with custom panels but be willing to use a less expensive range or counter material to have that pricey, beautiful fridge.

On the other hand, I have had several clients (including the owners of the kitchen in this photo) who chose a free-standing fridge and put their budget into the plumbing and construction work required to add a second sink. To me, this is a significant functional improvement and, for those who enjoy cooking and entertaining, worth scaling back on some of the aesthetic details.

There are many ways you can cut back on aesthetics to create room in your budget for what’s important to you functionally. You might consider a simpler, less expensive door style on the cabinets, or a ceramic backsplash tile instead of glass, or quartz counters instead of granite.

I even had one client use a very inexpensive laminate counter so that she could put more money into the remodel work necessary to get the layout just right. Since she was in her forever home, she replaced the laminate with a beautiful stone two years later when finances allowed.

4. Speed vs. Patience

Any home improvement project takes time — that’s just part of the process. And once the kitchen is demolished and construction is underway, any delay can be difficult, particularly if you are living in the home and dealing with the mess. When you are in that situation, the risk is that you will be tempted to say yes to anything just to get the project done and your home back to normal.

This happened with one of my clients, who decided to use a second-choice backsplash because it was in stock, whereas her first choice had a month lead time. On the other hand, a different client had trouble finding a backsplash tile she liked, so she finished her kitchen and skipped the backsplash altogether. Three months later, she found the perfect tile and brought the tile installer back. I am sure you can guess which homeowner was more happy with her kitchen remodel.

When making a large financial investment that you are going to live with a long time, I recommend that you go slowly, taking the time to find the right people to help and weighing your decisions carefully.

That being said, speed can be a necessary evil. Perhaps you are remodeling for a special event, such as a backyard wedding. Or maybe you are planning to sell the house and just want a quick face-lift to get the most out of your investment.

As a guide when weighing the need for speed vs. the need to exercise your patience muscles, I recommend you consider how long you plan to live in your home. If you’re going to sell within five years, keep in mind that everything doesn’t have to be perfect — you simply want to be sure you will get your investment back when you sell. However, if you plan to live in the home for 10 years or more, it’s worth slowing down and investing in your quality of life. Take the time to find the right solution, not the quick one.

5. The Ideal Me vs. the Real Me

This one isn’t so much a trade-off as a reality check. It’s worth mentioning that some clients have fantasies that a remodel can change their habits — or even their personalities. But my observation has been that if you are already a messy cook, the chances of a new kitchen transforming you into a clean-as-you-go type are pretty slim.

Rather than plan a kitchen for the person you wish you were, focus on solutions that take your true habits into account. For example, a messy cook who is embarrassed when guests are around might want to add a separate cleanup sink where he can hide dirty dishes while making a meal.

Or, if clutter is a constant problem, a homeowner might want to create a hidden drop zone for papers, cellphones, pens and other detritus that kitchen counters tend to attract.

Tag Archives: Kitchen