Kitchen Design Trends of 2021
When it comes to kitchens and baths for 2021, there are some new color trends out there and these color trends are in kind of the gray family. We are seeing a rise in colors like navy and matte finishes. We’re seeing a lot of matte finishes and also quartz countertops, there is definitely a movement in natural materials such as quartzite.
Lots of great new things, great new products available on the market, and lots of great reasons to consider renovating your kitchen.
- The first things are beauty and livability. Indeed, you never get a second chance to make a great first impression, and it’s awesome to be able to have people over to be able to entertain in the world that we’re living in, just even having our families at home, it’s great to be able to have this chance. There’s a lot to be said about the way that a space looks and the way that it functions. Beauty is really important, we all want to walk into a space that we can feel great about and also want it to function well, this is incredibly important. A lot of times the function of the kitchen is overlooked because of the materials, colors, and everything, it’s exciting to look at and start bringing it all together. But when it comes down to it, not only does it want to be a space that you enjoy being in because of how it looks, but also how it works.
- One other consideration is lifestyle. Remodeling your kitchen can significantly change how you live in the space, whether it means changing its function or merely its appearance. There are more people spending time at home these days, they’re taking a look around and they’re saying; ”Wow! Look at how this space looks, and then also how does it function?” We want to make sure that a space functions well and as you have a growing family or if you’re aging in place, the kitchen functions and even the way it looks can change over time. When you’re renovating you should consider those things and you should improve as much as you can to make it livable and personal for where you are in your age and stage in life.
- Efficiency is another remarkable reason. Again, that goes back to the livability and when you talk about how things should function. If you are a large family, it’s important that you have certain things in that kitchen. What functionality looks like and the way that you cook are very different, whether you’re a young family, you have kind of school-age children or maybe you’re an empty nester. Even the efficiency changes the way that we take a look at that, and that’s tight and a lot to lifestyle too. Because, if you’re the type of person that if you’re doing, shots and smoothies if you’re in your kitchen, is not set up for that type of cooking, then there’s going to be a lot of inefficient things where you’re walking across and you’re pulling things out there or maybe don’t have a place for everything. When there’s a lifestyle that you’re either currently living in a house or that maybe was the kitchen, it was the original kitchen in it, or if it’s a lifestyle change that you’re trying to make, that’s a huge opportunity to increase better efficiency in trying to achieve how you live. It’s amazing what a difference it can make, and there are so many products out there that are available today to really increase efficiency and livability. If you go online, there are lots of great things and they’re not for everybody, but for certain portions, and that’s part of what we really try and do is really helpful to understand what is it that you’re in need of and by listening, we can help to provide solutions that make the most sense for your life.
- Why not have an eco-friendly kitchen? Lately, there is a move for having greater energy efficiency in life and in everything we do. Appliances are one really big place where you can have greater efficiency. There are a lot of products out there that will give you that energy efficiency just in the way they’re built. It’s true that a green kitchen will perform better, it does use less energy and it certainly does save money.
- It’s not an expense; it is an investment. Talking a little bit about the fact that when you renovate a space, it is an investment and not an expense. It should change the way that you live, both in the way, that the space functions and the beauty of the space, It should give you a high return on your life, and it’s important to look at that investment, not just in the short term, what’s it going to cost you, what’s the out of pocket, but what is that return over the time that you’re going to be in the home and then also in resale. Because looking at the market, people prefer to have kitchen homes where they’ve already been renovated. Most people do not want to go in and look at renovating a space; they want to buy a home that’s done, that they can just move into. That often gets overlooked, at least when people are starting to look like the worst thing is to put in a kitchen in a high-value home, that is something that a future homeowner is going to want to just tear out because that’s just a wasted investment. So often when people think about a renovation, this is an investment in yourself, it’s an investment in your life and in the way you live.
Is kitchen remodeling worth it?
What is the cost of a kitchen remodel? This question might have you pulling out your hair in frustration. It can be difficult to answer because every project is unique and every space has different needs. But we can give you some broad-brush strokes to help understand what those costs could look like for a very generic, basic renovation in a home!
The average kitchen remodeling budget is around $30,000. That’s not too bad when you consider that a new home will cost at least the same amount, and often more!
A great first step in determining your own project costs is to contact a designer or contractor who can help determine what those needs are (and how much). They might be able to give you an estimate for your specific space—or they may just have some helpful suggestions on where to find resources elsewhere that could assist with estimating your renovation project costs.
What do you need before starting? A good rule of thumb is to plan for about 15% of the total job price as prep-work and contingency funds.
Every project is unique and every project costs different, but we can touch upon the kitchen remodeling budget to give an understanding of what those costs of renovations look like. This is considering a very generic, basic renovation in a home. This is a great way to look at the overall renovation because a lot of times when we’re looking at renovating we initially start getting some numbers in and we think; when you look at a project by the percentages it helps to kind of frame where we can we make that up or what can make a difference? Taking out walls, moving mechanical things like plumbing and stuff could drive prices or this is based on there are no walls, this is taking out what you have and putting back in exactly what you have there are no moves here too, no plumbing moves, no windows, no nothing like that.
On a very generic basis, installation costs 14%, the cabinet costs 32%. A complete redesign of the kitchen is very different, flip those two numbers from your installation costs could be the largest cost on more than the cabinetry cost, and it could impact all of your project budgets. By giving this round number we can awaken a sense of understanding what’s important and what your objectives are is getting this and spending your money wisely.
When it comes to cabinetry, what affects the cost of the cabinet is the door style. The cabinet construction, whether we’re doing all wood, if we’re doing particleboard, or if it is the flat panel, the raised panel, the slab, and the mullion door style, that certainly is something that affects the cost of the cabinetry. Whether you’re trying to do something traditional or contemporary or budget is certainly a big part of what drives.
If you look at all the finishes, materials, and different styles, it’s a lot to navigate through and almost limitless, that’s why it is important to work with a professional because we get that very much narrowed down for you.
How Much Does Kitchen Cabinets cost?
Cabinet construction can vary between a mortise and tenon construction to a production line cabinetry. Also, there’s face-framed cabinetry and frameless cabinetry and all of those different cabinet construction types all have different pluses and minuses to them. Production cabinetry is going to save you money versus complete custom cabinetry. Then the face frame versus the frameless, there’s a lot of considerations there, it could be significantly more storage space especially in a small space where it makes a lot of difference, a little bit of space makes a lot of difference.
Then there’s the partial overlay and full overlay. Partial overlay where you see more of the frame, and full overlay cabinets can cost more with having more material in the door. The partial overlay is a price point cabinet and that’s where cabinets usually start.
Also, we have finishes and it has different price points, styles, and materials for sure. For instance, a stain finish is going to be a lot more durable finish because of all the natural character of the wood and the color, it’s easy to touch up, especially if you have young children. As another style, stain/glaze gives it a lot more character or definition and it could kind of change how a space can look. We have paint finishes that are always great, they are less durable, they are more difficult to touch up over time. Then paint /glaze/ rub-thru, those are something that kind of gives that antique look or that charm or character of a more traditional space. A stain cabinet will be less than a stain & glaze, and then the paint will be less expensive than the paint with the rub-thru and the glaze.
Those are all really important considerations, working with a professional will help to navigate you through all of those choices, and those decisions can create nice accent pieces.
We have wood species as another selection option. We can touch upon the top 6 wood species that we work with. There are some woods that have much more color variation. For instance, the hickory or even the cherry and the knotty alder. The knotty alder is a character wood, knots are part of the beauty of what the wood is. Also, it’s really important to know that there are different grades of wood. There’s grade A and grade B. If you use a less expensive cabinet line more than likely they’re using an A grade. B grade means you will see even more of the color variation in it. If there are different grades of woods that all kind of builds up into the price point. You need to take a close look at these products, you can get an understanding because you may not necessarily see it just by kind of glancing or taking a quick look, especially if you’re excited about this and kitchens are very emotional. You need to make sure that you’re educated and you have an understanding of what it is that you’re truly looking at, exactly what you’re paying for. Because there are wide price differences when it comes to even the same wood species.
How to Pick Your Perfect Countertop?
Countertops have two major categories; natural versus engineered stone. Most people today are using engineered quartz because you can get a lot more consistency. There’re a lot of options when it comes to that natural stone, it really is right out just as it came out of the earth. What you see will vary from slab to slab, you could have a lot of veins and you could have color changes from one lot to the next thing. When it’s a natural stone, you do need to seal that natural stone, you are going to have more color variations. You will have pits and fissures, it’s just part of the nature of what that is and there are many price points when it comes to even natural stone. There is this misconception that natural stone is either more or less than an engineered quartz composite. But again, there’s this very wide range when it comes to natural stone because there are some very exotic stones and then there are some that are more common and that really does drive the price point of the natural stones.