The kitchen is the heart of any home no matter how big or small it is. This is where you cook, eat, gather, talk, and just hang out. When someone is looking at homes to buy it is the kitchen that really seems to make the most difference. You can change any of the other rooms pretty easy, but the kitchen has a lot of major components that cost big money and time to change, so people want the kitchen to be pretty close to perfect before they will consider buying. For example, there is not much to a bedroom or living room that would be hard to change. On the other hand, the kitchen has cabinets, major appliances, lighting, and counters that all would cost quite a bit to change if necessary. In fact, the average kitchen renovation is about $20,000. So you want it to be pretty close to perfect before you put it up for sale. Here are five tips on how to make it perfect.
1. Cabinets
Make sure the cabinets are modern and match the style of the kitchen. You do not want the rest of the kitchen to look great and then have the cabinets look shabby because the cabinets make up more than half of the kitchen space in most cases. If they are not in bad shape structurally you can get away with just refinishing or refacing them rather than putting in new ones.
2. Counter Tops
If your counter tops look bad or they do not go well with the cabinets, change the color. If the cabinets are a dark color you should have lighter colored counter tops and vice versa. Some surfaces that are popular are granite or tile, but it is best if you keep it in the same style as the rest of the kitchen.
3. Flooring
Choose the right flooring for the kitchen that looks good and is also easy to clean. Although some people like to have shiny white floors in their kitchen, it is usually not practical, which means it will not be the popular choice for most home buyers. Try a darker color or even hard wood floors that will not get dirty five seconds after the kids get home.
4. Lighting
Sometimes it is nice and romantic to eat by candlelight, but you do not want to cook with it. Make sure the kitchen lighting is bright enough in all the right places; such as over the counters, stove, and kitchen island if applicable. Then if they want candlelight they can turn out the lights after they cook.
5. Appliances
This is a big part of choosing a home because the appliances are the brains of the kitchen. If your kitchen has old worn out appliances, you need to upgrade them immediately. This is the first thing the homeowner who cooks will be looking at in the kitchen so you have to get it right. Of course you cannot please everyone with all the appliances, but even if the stove or dishwasher is not what they want, the other appliances better be awesome! Nobody wants to move into a new home and then have to buy all new appliances so choose whatever is popular at the time and you cannot go wrong.
