If your kitchen has transformed from “oh, yea!” to “oh, no,” it’s time to renovate. Seriously.
We’ll be the first to say it -- remodeling your kitchen is a huge inconvenience. You know what’s an even bigger inconvenience? Having to stand around in a hot, cramped, poorly designed kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. It’s difficult to tell Big Ben to throw the ball when you’re tripping over a center island that’s three feet too far to the left and is so encrusted in decades worth of nacho cheese that if you put your beer down, you’re probably not getting it back.
Kitchens are meant to be lived in. Kitchens are meant to be awesome. And sure -- the word “renovation” often equals $$$$ and tears. But not always. We’re here to prove to you that renovating your kitchen doesn’t have to be a financial mess.
Renovating can be affordable. And renovating is necessary at some point. It is absolutely necessary if you read that description of a kitchen and thought to yourself, “you know, Joe was nagging last week about bruising his shin on my nacho-encrusted island. Again.”
Don’t believe me? Here are five reasons that will motivate you and get you to realize that a new, shiny, awesome kitchen will make all your real friends happy (and all your friends who are Ravens fans drool with envy. You should probably just drop those friends, though, to be honest.)
Your kitchen is held together by spit and daydreams.
No one wants to eat, sit, walk through, or otherwise exist in a kitchen that is falling apart. That's nasty and possibly dangerous. No one wants to walk across your kitchen floor barefoot and accidentally pick up a floor tile with their heel. No one wants floor tile feet. Also, in case you were wondering, missing cabinet doors are a downer. Instructions to “just jiggle the sink handle a bit” make people uncomfortable. Rust in places that rust should not be makes the kitchen a hard place to party hard.
Do everyone a favor and give your kitchen a new look. If you’re wondering what that means, but you’re too lazy to Google it, here’s the gist. White cabinets are out and dark woods are in. Copper is definitely in. Pots, pans, spoons. Meanwhile, rugs are out. We’re not sure why they were there in the first place (so many stains). If the thought of figuring out what to buy overwhelms you, don’t worry -- you can hire someone who knows about hardwood floors to do stuff with hardwood floors.
You want to trick someone into buying your home.
Maybe you don’t care if you have a bad kitchen. You’re allowed to live your life. But the potential new owner of your lovely abode probably doesn’t want to walk into your kitchen during a house showing and realize that your counters are more bacon grease than quartz. And do you want to have to admit to your real estate agent that, no, you’re not really sure where one of the light fixtures went? No, you don’t. People don’t buy homes from people who say their light fixtures have gone “somewhere.”
Renovating your kitchen costs $$$, sure, but a renovated kitchen equals $$$. In short, kitchens sell. If you doubt me, ask your friendly neighborhood realtor. They’ll tell you that renovating the kitchen is one of the best ways to increase your home’s market value. That’s kind of important if you’re trying to, you know, sell your home. And if the rest of your place looks anything like the current space in which you cook, consume, and entertain, your renovated kitchen is going to have to do some heavy lifting to get your house sold.
You care about the planet.
Keeping old kitchen stuff around essentially means you’re helping kill the planet. Stop. Get a new oven. New ovens don’t need to preheat. No preheating means less electricity, and less electricity means shrinking your carbon footprint. Oh yeah!
If you’re really feeling green, check out reclaimed materials for countertops. They’re cheaper than new materials and good for the planet. If you’re not feeling the reclaimed materials approach, Google “green countertops.” We won’t spoil the surprise for you, but we will say two words: recycled aluminum. This stuff is great -- you and your friends can now spend hours staring at your new countertops and fighting over the right way to say the word “aluminium.”
You care about your bank account.
Maybe a plea for Mother Earth doesn’t move you. A plea to line your own pockets probably will. New kitchen appliances mean smaller bills for you. Repeat after me: new stuff for your kitchen, more money for you.
A massive fridge from a time before there was such a thing as Energy Star ratings is a relic, sure. Also a waste of money. You might as well just throw some hundred dollar bills down the toilet. Remember that new oven that doesn’t need to preheat? That’s gonna save you money, too.
Finally, get rid of high-maintenance lighting projects. No more cutting holes in your ceiling. No more wondering if you can do the wiring yourself, since electrocuting yourself is a better financial option than paying someone to install recessed lighting. Track lighting is simple, good looking in its own way, and cheaper than recessed lighting (although if you still think recessed lighting is nice, we can do that for you too.)
You eat more than takeout and frozen meals.
This seems too obvious to mention, but if you like to actually, you know, cook in a kitchen (instead of stand around and watch other people cook), you want a kitchen that works. You want appliances that function efficiently and cost as little per month as possible. You also want fancy stuff that will make all your other friends who cook jealous.
There’s nothing more satisfying than the sweet satisfaction of aesthetics, function, and finances coming together. And then bragging about it. You don’t cook? Probably because your kitchen isn't nice. It’s hard to feel inspired by Julia Child or Gordon Ramsey when you’re wondering if turning on your ancient stovetop will cause the house to explode.
Do yourself a favor because you deserve good things. You deserve a new kitchen, one that’s fancy. And we’re here to help you create it.
