By now, you already know that most real estate buyers will first look at the kitchen and the bathroom. If they like what they see, the potential buyers will probably explore the house more thoroughly and place an offer.
A few kitchen upgrades can transform the old, shabby kitchen in a state-of-the-art place where culinary magic takes place. You don’t have to break the bank in order to upgrade the kitchen space. Consider some of the following suggestions and you’ll see a major change for the better.
Boost The Safety Of The Kitchen
The first and the most practical upgrade you should think of is increasing the safety of the kitchen space. Kitchen fires are a serious cause of household accidents and many buyers will be very concerned about the availability of safety features.
Good light and tactile floors that decrease the risk of slips are two excellent choices for a kitchen safety upgrade.
There should be clean surfaces around the stove. These decrease the risk of accidents happening because of oil spills. The height of the appliances should also be considered – make sure that these are out of the reach of children (particularly if you’re targeting young families).
Give The Old Cabinets A Facelift
This is probably one of the simplest kitchen upgrades that have a tremendous impact on the overall interior design.
Wood tends to fade and get darker as it ages. Re-facing the cabinets or doing a spray painting project will quickly solve the problem. Spray painting is a great possibility because it distributes a thin coat of paint and it guarantees a smooth finish. Turning all of the old kitchen cabinets white or beige will make the kitchen brighter and create the illusion of more space.
Alternatively – Remove Cabinet Doors
If you don’t want to renovate the old cabinets, you can opt for one very simple and innovative solution. Removing the cabinet doors will make the interior design minimalist and very modern. It will give your kitchen a trendy, upgraded appearance that most potential buyers will love.
There are two choices – going for glass cabinet doors or getting rid of the doors altogether. Paint the shelves and the back of the cabinets to make those more visually-pleasing. Choose a colour that will coordinate with the rest of the kitchen design. Open shelving makes the space “lighter.” The solution is particularly suitable for a small kitchen.
Don’t forget to do a bit of kitchen staging before showing the house to buyers. Placing labelled jars and organising plates in the open cabinets will add to the sophistication of the kitchen and highlight the functionality of the modification.
Add A Contemporary Backsplash
The backsplash has a very practical purpose but it can also be used to make an interior design statement. Opt for modern materials and the right colours.
The backsplash area is usually small, which means you will be free from having to spend a huge amount of money on the upgrade. This characteristic enables you to experiment with modern materials rather than choosing the traditional backsplash tiles.
A marble backsplash is characterised by inherent sophistication. The fact that it’s easy to clean and maintain in good condition is an added bonus. Having a mirrored backsplash can also be fun but it’s a bit more demanding in terms of maintenance. Other great backsplash material ideas include limestone, stainless steel, painted glass, a mosaic backsplash or even bare bricks.
Green And Sustainable
The use of eco materials and the boosted sustainability of the kitchen are becoming a main priority for many real estate buyers. It’s far from hard or expensive to turn your kitchen into the greenest room in the house.
A faucet that saves water is the first and probably the simplest upgrade in terms of boosting kitchen sustainability. Reclaimed wood flooring is another nice project you may consider executing before selling. Faucet filters will keep contaminants and chemicals out of the tap water and durable materials will decrease the need for replacing kitchen elements every few years.
Think about your target buyer and choose kitchen upgrades cleverly. Come up with a budget in advance, determine the biggest problem areas and start working. You’ll know that the effort was worth it, once you see the result.