Top interior designers are taking advantage of the new products that technology has brought into the market, using them to create kitchens that range from sleek ultra-modern to warm contemporary farmhouse.
Finding the Right Style for Your Home
More than anything else, a kitchen must fit with the style of the home in which it exists. A farmhouse kitchen would be out of place in a home that is minimalist contemporary, farmhouse style would work better in more a traditional home. While the hard edges of IKEA-modern cabinetry would be equally incongruent in a grand Italianate home.
Cabinetry is the single largest investment in a kitchen; thinking in advance about both design and usage of it will save money and hours of headache.
Flow is equally important when planning kitchen workspaces. Can you get to cookware easily? Is storage near the stove? Where are the eating spaces? Are dishes, glassware, and silverware easy to access from dining?
When there are a number of small children in the house, it is important to think about softer edges, location of hot tops, and easy-clean surfaces.
Two of the major considerations when thinking of cleaning are countertops and back splashes. Today’s homebuyers are not willing to give up style to get easy care; that is why tile is the material of choice for most backsplashes.
White Tiles Not Just Same Old Subway
A key component in kitchens for the last several years has been white subway tile back splashes, but with the increased interest in adding texture to interior design, white tile that makes a statement is becoming more popular.
City Tile in Murfreesboro carries an assortment of tile that is far from standard subway tile. Choices range from iridescent glass tiles (we’ll call them whitish) to tiles that are more like pieces of art that will make your backsplash stand out from the crowd.
Surface Arabesque White Tile and Fabrica Café Wave Tile are two of these art-like tiles featured on the City Tile website. They can be used in everything from an ultra-modern kitchen with shiny acrylic cabinets, to homes with more traditional farmhouse styling, and with all contemporary styles in between.
Another tile option being used in kitchens is white marble tiles, or porcelain tiles that look like fine Carrera marble. White marble is clean and elegant, making any kitchen look like a million bucks.
All of these tiling options are easy care, and work well with popular countertop options, like granite and quartz.
Light or Dark Wood Floors
Designers are showing light to medium wood floors in most modern white kitchens. Wood floors with a grey wash are also popular.
While many are putting actual wood floors into the kitchen, others are choosing to put in tile floors that look like wood. These faux-wood floors are so realistic that you can’t tell the difference.
Choosing wood-look tile floors for a kitchen insures that they stand up to moisture over time. Wood floors are more susceptible to damage from moisture.
Wood or wood-look floors offer a rich canvas upon which to build the rest of the kitchen, whether it be casual or formal.
Adding a Splash of Color
An all-white kitchen can be dressed up or down. It can be monochromatic, or have accents of color; from subtle blue-gray accents to pops of vibrant blue are the best choices. While any color can be used as an accent color, CNBC recently ran a story about what wall colors are more likely to increase the sale price of a home, and using shades of blue in the kitchen can add almost $2,000 to your sale price according to the article.
White kitchens complimented by stainless steel appliances are currently the most popular, white kitchens can look great with colored appliances. The use of colored appliances is coming back into vogue, especially in reproductions of mid-century modern stoves and refrigerators.
Kitchen As an Investment
A new kitchen can be a $60,000 investment. An all-white kitchen is more likely to weather the hands of time.
One thing that an all-white kitchen has always said to those who see it is — clean. All-white kitchens make one think of the sterile surfaces of a laboratory. And when preparing food of your friends and family, clean is what it is all about.
Come to City Tile’s showroom in Murfreesboro to see all of the subway, glass, and art-like tiles that they carry to give your kitchen that “wow factor,” and make it an investment that will pay dividends when it is time to sell. And don’t forget to look at the variety of wood and wood-look flooring options.
According to HGTV, white kitchens remain the kitchens of choice. If you are ready to remodel, start building yours today.
