Post by Stacey Walker. Stacey mostly works behind the scenes for Greenbrook Design, managing day to day operations, marketing, sourcing product and keeping the showroom beautifully designed. Stacey also does interior design & home styling for a select number of clients. Find out more about Stacey here.
Questions about your Kitchen Remodel: What you didn’t know you needed to know!
When choosing to do a kitchen remodel there are several areas where certain decisions are obvious. Painted or stained cabinets? Complete renovation or section remodel? Traditional or modern style? Quartz or granite countertops? While these are important questions to consider when planning a project, there are small details that also need attention. We will discuss some of these areas, things you need to know.
Selecting the finishes of your fixtures:
In this photo, black and satin nickel are mixed in the kitchen lighting and hardware.
Traditionally there have been rules of everything needing to have “an exact match” but are now being bent to make room for newer designs. Designers and clients are now mixing and matching finishes in and amongst their hardware, plumbing fixtures, and lighting. This opens a world of choices and the possibilities are endless for your kitchen remodel. Practical usage is also a factor in choosing the right fixtures for a project, ones that go above and beyond the basics of being aesthetically pleasing. While polished fixtures look clean and shiny, brushed finishes hide smudges and droplets.
Hardware:
Large oversized hardware can add flair to your kitchen, but it’s not always practical if you don’t have enough drawers.
Functionality and beauty are two things to consider when choosing hardware. This is another area in which mixing and matching are allowed, but the sheer number of styles and finishes available for decorative hardware can be overwhelming. Size is a major consideration, and it is not uncommon to use 3-5 varying lengths within a single kitchen project. You want to make sure that the handle to drawer/door proportion looks and feels correct. No tiny handles on huge drawers. It can be helpful to have a designer assist in this process. At Greenbrook Design it is our pleasure to help our clients choose hardware that is perfectly suited to their needs, take a quick peek at our resource page to see what might be just the right fit for your kitchen remodel.
Type of sink and mounting style:
Farmhouse sinks are very popular in today’s designs.
The farm sink of today is not your grandmother’s farm sink. Deciding the type of sink you’d like is the first step: under-mount, drop in (self-rimming), triple/chef styles, and farm sinks are among the most popular choices. Think about how much you use your sink and what it is used for primarily. If you are a heavy duty scrubber and are very rough on your sink, then the ceramic ones may not be for you. Houzz shares a few more thoughts on choosing the right sink for you. The other consideration about the sink is how to mount it. If you are planning to have laminate countertops the sink will need to be dropped in and cannot be under-mounted, due to contact of water and the wooden sublayer of the top. Mounting a farm sink can be tricky too and can pose a water damage threat to the front of the cabinet if not protected. This is why we, at Greenbrook Design, recommend sitting any farm sink with an exposed front on a piece of your selected stone countertop. We also always request your specific sink at our shop during construction to ensure a proper fit.
Finishes and edges of your stone surfaces:
Finding a light colored granite is not easy, people are turning to quartz options to find the perfect shade of white.
The basic materials of the countertops and tile you select are important, however, the texture that you choose to finish them in can change the entire look. Polished stone or tile will give more of a modern or transitional look to your kitchen. Whereas, tumbled, textured, or honed stone surfaces can lend to a traditional old-world feeling. Along that same line, you will need to consider the edge profile for your countertops. The straight line of an eased, squared, or pencil edge lends to a clean and modern style. While either a bullnose edge or an ogee offers a touch of softness blending more with the classical elements of a classic look.
As you can see there are many things to consider when beginning to plan the details of your kitchen remodel. You can rest assured knowing that our design staff will assist you with any and all of these decisions that you wish. Click here to see a gallery of kitchen styles.
If you are only in the dreaming stage of beginning to plan for a new kitchen? We would love to talk to you and work with you to fine-tune your very own remodel plan. If you’re ready to be further from dreaming and closer to construction, call Greenbrook Design today to schedule a design meeting 980.404.9600.
Visit Us
Greenbrook Design, a kitchen, and bath home center is only an hour from Hickory, Asheville, Charlotte, and Greenville SC. Call or stop by our showroom to find out more about the different offerings available in our showroom. Our ability to design your space with several cabinet options is like no other experience in the kitchen and bath industry. We design cabinets from Charlotte to Boone, Greenville to Asheville and everywhere in between.
Having our own local cabinet shop offers a great advantage to the endless options to have a great design that stays within your budget. If you are just in the planning phases of your project our showroom is a great place to start. We have monthly events that can give you an environment to explore our showroom in a very casual evening. Our staff is always on hand to answer any questions you may have.
If you are visiting nearby, Uptown Shelby has a lot to offer in shopping, food, and entertainment. Our Uptown district is quaint and we have some really unique and friendly places to visit. Come visit us and our charming small town with restaurants, stores, and entertainment that are sure to not disappoint.
Leave a comment, let us know what you think!
That’s good to know that brushed finishes will hide smudges more than shiny one would. I would think that would make your kitchen look cleaner with less effort then it would take to get all the shin surfaces clean looking. I’ll have to make sure to get a brushed finish on my hardware if I remodel my kitchen next summer.
My partner and I are going to use our tax-return this year to try and renovate the kitchen in our home. It’s starting to look old so we want to install new features that look modern and are more functional. I really appreciate you talking about how you need to keep functionality a priority over something that’s just aesthetically pleasing.
Thanks for the feedback, always good to know that we are giving beneficial information!
Thank you for pointing out the type of sink that is wanted in the kitchen is extremely important. My husband does most of the dishes and really doesn’t like how shallow our sink is. I think that we should reach out to a kitchen remodeling professional who can help us create the type of kitchen we are looking for.
My parents are thinking about renovating their kitchen soon to reinvest in their homes. I love that you talked about not forgetting about functionality when you buy new appliances. You can make the kitchen look fantastic, but if it’s not functional then it’s a waste of money.
I never knew that the type of sink you install in your kitchen remodel is so important to the general aesthetic! My wife and I were planning on keeping our old sink as we remodel our kitchen. Now that we know it makes a big difference, we’ll be sure to start looking for a service that can help us with our remodel!