Kitchen Reno Must-Haves That Are Often Forgotten

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The kitchen is a truly unique space in your home. You spend countless hours there cooking and entertaining with friends and family and it easily sees the most action throughout the life of a house. However, it’s also the one room that you’ll notice even the smallest forgotten detail at the end of a renovation.

 

As your comprehensive team for design, function and construction, we know that it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a reno and completely forget your wish list. And while our team will do everything we can to make the kitchen of your dreams a reality, nobody knows your family and its needs more than you do. That’s why we’ve taken the time to outline some must-have features and details commonly forgotten by homeowners during their kitchen renovations. Our goal is to make sure that even the smallest of details don't get overlooked and ensure that you love your kitchen years later as much as you do when the renovation is completed.

 

As we mentioned above, nobody knows your family and its needs quite like you, that is why we by no means think everyone’s kitchen renovation should include all of the things listed below. This list is intended to serve as an inspiration and a reminder to homeowners and we recommend working with your CHART project manager to narrow down the list of features and details that are right for your family and fit within your budget.

Kitchen Reno Must-Haves That Are Often Forgotten

Double Ovens

This one is for the homeowners that enjoy entertaining large groups of people. While a single oven is plenty of cook space for a single-family, having the ability to cook twice as much at once will reduce the amount of time you spend in the kitchen at your next party and increase the amount of time you spend hanging out with your friends and family.

Induction Cooktop

For those of you unfamiliar with induction cooktops, they work by transferring heat from the cooktop to your pot or pan using a magnetic connection.  And because they only transfer heat through a magnetic field, the cooktop itself never gets hot and there’s no risk of burning your hand or anything else if you accidentally put it down on the cooktop. For that reason, this is a kitchen must-have for families with young kids or homeowners expecting to start a family in the future.

Kitchen Island

Depending on the size of your kitchen, a kitchen island can be big or small. Regardless of the size though, kitchen islands offer homeowners additional storage, extra counter and prep space and in some cases, another place for families to sit down and enjoy a family meal. The latest trend of interior design also sees homeowners incorporating everything from dishwashers and sinks to microwaves, ice makers and ranges into their kitchen islands.

 

 

If you’re planning on including a kitchen island in your kitchen renovation, consider adding one or some of the following things into yours to free up space for additional cabinetry or counter space.

• Prep Sink
• Cooktop/Oven
• Microwave
• Dishwasher
• Trash bin/Recycling bin storage

Pot Filler

You’ve seen them on your favourite home renovation shows, so why not include a pot filler in your next renovation? Pot fillers are great for larger kitchens— they allow homeowners to fill their pots right from the cooktop and eliminate the need to carry heavy pots of water across your kitchen. They're perfect for ageing homeowners who may struggle to gather the strength to carry heavy pots or for those who simply want the most convenient and efficient solution.

Trash and Recycling Bin Storage

It’s easy to forget about the garbage during your kitchen renovation, but having a clean solution for those dirty trash and recycling bins could be the icing on the cake when it comes to your dream kitchen. Rather than sticking ugly containers in the corner of your beautiful kitchen, work with your project manager to incorporate a drawer, cabinet or some other form of storage into your kitchen blueprint to hide those unsightly bins and ensure your kitchen remains streamlined.

Access to the Outdoors

This is one of the larger must-haves on our list and is not suited for every home. It does require a lot of structural work and can be quite costly depending on the age and layout of your home. With that being said, having direct access to the outdoors from your kitchen is great for entertaining during the summer months. It keeps people in the kitchen close to the party and makes it much easier to transport trays of food and drinks from indoors to outdoors. Not to mention, it's also a great selling feature should you decide to sell your home.  

 

 

Undercabinet Lighting

Natural light works wonders for making a kitchen feel spacious and bright, but no matter how much natural light your kitchen has, wall-mounted cabinetry can create dark spaces on your countertop. For that reason, we recommend considering adding undercabinet lighting to your kitchen. These lights take up no space when it comes to storage and counter space, brighten up dark areas on your counter and also provide additional lighting that is beneficial for meal prep and cleaning. If you wish to have these lights hardwired into a light switch on the wall, it is something you should consider doing during your renovation, but some homeowners have added individual battery-powered lights after the fact that merely attach to the bottom of your cabinets and are turned on and off individually.

 

 

Ample Storage

All too often we find homeowners sacrifice storage space and function for aesthetics and design, but our team of designers recommends you value function above all else. It’s easy to make storage space look beautiful, but you can’t always make something beautiful functional. We recommend considering everything you need or may want to store in your kitchen during the planning process to ensure you have plenty of storage space once your kitchen is completed. On top of the obvious food and dinnerware, consider where you’ll store countertop appliances, kitchen linens, special dishware and serveware, coffee makers, wine and anything else you can think of.

Additional Outlets

By law, outlets must be placed at specific intervals throughout your kitchen, but more often than not, we find homeowners wish they had included more power outlets in their kitchen. The mandatory outlets tend to be continuously used by toasters, coffee makers and other appliances that are used on a regular basis, but it doesn't leave much space for appliances you may use once and a while— appliances like mixers and blenders. So, before you accept the inconvenience of unplugging and putting away appliances as soon as you’re done using them, consider adding additional outlets underneath wall-mounted cabinets or in other places where they will be hidden when not in use. This way, you don’t end up with a backsplash covered in outlets, but you still have more than enough power supply.

 

Now before you go adding all or some of these features and details to your kitchen renovation wish list, it’s important to keep in mind that they each have their own associated costs and may not fit every budget. Working with our team of designers and project managers, we can figure out what additions fit within your original budget and which ones may require an additional budget or cut back on other areas of your renovation. It is our goal to make sure you love your kitchen every day that you spend in your home and we strive to exceed all of your expectations from start to finish.

 

If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned above, their associated costs or would like to schedule a consultation with our team, we would be more than happy to help you and encourage you to reach out to us by phone or email.