Designer Kitchen Renovation Tips

Do you peruse magazines dreaming of one day having the means to design your own gourmet kitchen? We’ve all been there drooling over the newest got-to-have styles or that new colour kitchen sink you saw while flipping through shelter magazines. One of the great joys of my job as editor-in-chief of Home Trends Magazine is that I get a sneak peak of all the latest trends that are about to emerge into the marketplace. I take pride in knowing what product launches are coming up and knowing every detail of the new products.

One of the great challenges in design is keeping up with the trends. As everything else in the world, it is constantly changing. We must weed out the “one day wonders” and carefully select the more timeless and elegant trends.

During my pensive thoughts of the new trends for 2012, I had the pleasure of chatting with HGTV’s Andrew Pike. I had invited Andrew to stop by our studios and make a special appearance on the show. The agenda was clear and concise. I was to find out about the newest kitchen trends.

Kitchens are one of the most unique rooms in our homes. They are the ones that get the most wear and tear. On most days, by the time you make breakfast, get the kids off to school, pack up lunch and snacks for work and prepare your famous family recipe for dinner, you’ve spent more time in the kitchen than your living room. Therefore, why is it that we’ll spend five thousand dollars on a sofa and give our contractor an angry grin when he suggests spending a little more money on the tiles in the kitchen for durability. Now, I know what everyone is thinking now. “Well, kitchen renovations cost a lot of more money than living room renovations.”

As a matter of fact, there are kitchens for every budget. I’ve seen 150,000 dollar kitchen renovations and I’ve also seen 1,500 dollar kitchen renovations. Was one prettier than the other? Perhaps but in a matter of perspective. They both went along with the overall tone of the home. Again, like I always say, “It’s not how much you spend on a design project but what you do with it”

There are a few investment pieces in the kitchen that you can’t skimp out on: first and foremost, the kitchen sink. The poor thing gets exposed to so much wear and tear and you have to ensure that it is of utmost quality. Andrew showed me a few nice models from Blanco. They were exquisite. What really caught my attention was coloured sinks. Now, when we think colour, we think bright hues that would overwhelm the eye but Blanco put a little more thought in it than that. They went with nice taupes, caramels, blacks, whites and various other colours. I fell in love with these sinks instantly as they were well in tune with today’s need for consumers to invest in “permanent” fixtures that are neutral in colour as to be able to modify the look as the trends change. We looked at one of their neutral colours, truffle. I got to see this new colour first hand and I have to say, it is exquisite.

When it came time to look for faucets to go along with my new Truffle kitchen sink, Andrew guided me towards the new two tone Blanco faucets. These are faucets that have a colour base and a chromed neck. They were to die for; I love them.

When it came to adding in some back-splashes, we looked at a variation of products. The first being natural stone. It was the elegant choice but I wanted something a little more unique. He then showed me a glass and stone back-splash which went really well with the current trend of mixing and matching different materials to create a dynamic yet unified look.

Lastly, came the wall colours and flooring samples. Andrew believes that sinks are at the heart of every kitchen. He showed me how we can build an entire kitchen design based on our kitchen sink and faucet. What a delight!

Eric Lachance is the heart of Royal Renovations Ottawa. Eric has more than 25 years of experience in the contracting and remodeling/renovation industry. All of his projects are completed professionally, meticulously and with great pride which is demonstrated by his superior craftsmanship

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