The kitchen is undoubtedly the heart of a home; it’s the space where meals are made, memories are created, and people naturally gather.
However, if your kitchen looks worse for wear, it can impact your comfort and the pride you take in your home. Luckily, investing in a kitchen expansion can help improve the overall appearance and function of the space.
If you’re thinking about expanding your kitchen, you may not know when it’s the right time. Keep reading to learn when you’ll want to consider a home reno to update this space.
1. Feeling Cramped
Whether you enjoy cooking or view it as just another chore, ensuring that you have enough space to make meals is essential.
Ensuring you have enough counter space to prep ingredients and make meals is the best way to make this activity as simple and easy as possible. If you have to stop and constantly move appliances or kitchen tools, it can lengthen the process of cooking.
If you feel like you’re unable to move easily throughout your kitchen without having to constantly rearrange your countertops is a primary sign that it’s time to expand your kitchen.
Having enough counter space is crucial to make cooking more functional and enjoyable. With the ease of preparation, you can start expanding your meal repertoire and testing out new recipes.
Similarly, if your cabinet storage is less than stellar, it can be a pain to navigate your kitchen. When you remodel, you can invest in custom cabinetry for your needs, helping to maximize the amount of storage in your space and ensuring everything is organized.
2. Your Appliances Are Outdated
Is there anything worse than an oven that cooks unevenly or a fridge that constantly needs to be serviced? This can make cooking a pain, as you’ll never know how long you need to keep your meal in the oven.
If your kitchen appliances have you ordering takeout more often than not, investing in a kitchen reno is a great opportunity to install new appliances.
Plus, when you design your kitchen around your new appliances, it ensures you don’t have to worry about measuring your current fridge to find one the exact same size. Instead, you can shop for appliances and use those measurements for your kitchen layout.
Upgrading your kitchen to fit your new appliances also guarantees you can invest in things you may not have previously had space for. For example, if you’ve always wanted a wine cooler, you may not have had anywhere to put it. However, you can make its inclusion a non-negotiable in your new kitchen design.
3. The Lighting Is Less Than Stellar
One thing many take for granted is natural lighting in a home. Not only is natural light softer on the eyes, but it also helps make your kitchen look more inviting. Expanding your kitchen or moving it by building an addition can increase the opportunities for natural light.
Installing windows is a great way to increase the amount of natural light your space receives. You may also want to consider a skylight, especially if there’s nothing above your kitchen. This allows you to bring the light from above.
However, you’ll also need to consider how the artificial lighting in your kitchen affects functionality. When you remodel a kitchen, taking light into consideration is a must.
Ensuring you have enough light to illuminate your workspace is crucial to safety, as you don’t want to handle sharp tools in the dark.
One option many consider is installing lighting beneath the cabinets. This not only helps to light up the countertops below, but it also creates an aesthetically pleasing look when your kitchen is dimly lit by soft bulbs.
4. The Layout Isn’t Functional
Whether you moved into a home and never had the opportunity to remodel or your needs have changed, ensuring the functionality of your kitchen is up to par is crucial.
Often, the layout of your kitchen will vary based on your needs, typically utilizing the three major elements of your kitchen as the focal points.
For example, you may have a U-shaped space, with all of the appliances spread evenly around, or an L-shaped kitchen which places two appliances on the same wall, with the third on a smaller adjacent wall.
If your layout isn’t conducive to your needs, taking the time to change up the kitchen floorplans can make cooking and spending time in the kitchen all the more enjoyable
5. You Want a Change
Finally, one of the top signs you should invest in a remodel is because you want to! You don’t always need a tangible reason to invest money into your home.
Whether you’re growing bored of the current aesthetic of your kitchen or found inspiration online you can’t stop thinking about, updating your kitchen is a great way to improve the resale value of your home.
Plus, when you make your kitchen the space of your dreams, you’ll find that you are more comfortable and happier spending time in there.
Signs a Kitchen Expansion Is in Your Future
Though any kitchen reno can seem like a big undertaking, you’ll be surprised by how much happier you’ll feel when you can update your space. If any of these signs ring true for you, finding a contractor is the next step.
If you’re ready to invest in a kitchen expansion or remodel, thanks to the help of this guide, you’ll want to head over to other rest of our website. There, you can discover more of the best home and real estate tips and tricks.
