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Did you know that about 10% of homeowners remodeled their kitchen in the last year? Everyone wants a beautiful kitchen to entertain guests in, but with an average kitchen remodeling project costing almost $17,000, it can be daunting to think about how long it might take to save up enough money. However, thanks to these budget-saving tips, crafting the kitchen of your dreams can be easier than you think.

Preparation

Before you head to a kitchen design store or call a renovation expert, make sure you iron out exactly what you want. Having a plan can save you money from consultation fees. It can also prevent additional costs that come with waiting for a material that’s on backorder because you can order everything at the start of your project.

Cabinets

The secret to big savings on your cabinet space is to use what you already have. For example, painting your cabinets white can brighten up the space and give your kitchen a modern feel. Installing glass doors into your cabinets is also an inexpensive way to give your kitchen a unique look.

Floors

Cutting costs on your kitchen floor is another easy way to save money during your renovation. If you intend on keeping hard wood flooring, considering just having it refinished instead of replaced. If you want to replace your kitchen’s floor, cork is a cost-efficient option that is durable, fire-resistant, and more comfortable to walk on than hardwood or vinyl. It also has a significantly smaller impact on the environment.

Countertops

Quartz, marble, and granite countertops are some of the most popular options you’ll find in a kitchen design store for counters. If you want your new kitchen to wear one of these beautiful stone countertops, but don’t want to pay the high price attached to them, check out a countertop supply remnant yard. Remnants are pieces of leftover stone from other countertop projects and come at a discounted price.

Sink

With the average cost of moving your kitchen plumbing reaching $5,000, working with your existing plumbing layout is an obvious money-saving solution. If you can’t restore your current kitchen sink, consider going on a used kitchen supplies site to see if you can trade kitchen equipment and appliances, or buy used at a discounted rate.

Backsplash

Designing and installing your own backsplash can save you money in labor costs and give you more creative freedom over your kitchen’s aesthetic. You can also save money on materials by using stone tiles, or by using blank tiles and using stencils to paint a design or pattern.

Appliances

Kitchen appliances are an efficient way to add depth and continuity in your space, but buying new appliances from a kitchen design store can quickly rack up the price of your renovation project. Instead, consider looking online for used appliances that are still in good condition. Once you find used appliances, you can always buy whatever you may still be missing.

By using these tips, you can create the kitchen of your dreams without breaking the bank. Contact Supreme Stone today to start your kitchen remodeling journey.

Do you have a kitchen that is wedged into the middle of your house and only has one small window? Maybe the cupboards and flooring are really dark and it makes the whole room look drab? A dark kitchen can be uninspiring and even frustrating, especially when you’re trying to cook a big meal. With the wrong colors, designs, and lighting it can be hard to see what you’re doing and it can put you in the wrong mood for cooking. If you’re considering kitchen remodeling in the near future, you might want to take a look at these five ways that you can brighten up the space.

1. Pick the Right Countertops

Can’t decide between marble countertops or quartz countertops? It can be a tough choice, considering how beautiful they both look. Either way that you go, you want to pick a lighter color to brighten up your kitchen. Black or gray counters can make the room look darker than it is, especially if they are paired with dark shades of wood or tile. Choosing white, light brown, or even a pale pink can help to bring some light into the space. Quartz countertops also offer an extra bit of sparkle if that’s something you are looking for.

2. Brighten Up With Accessories

A nice way to add some extra color or vibrancy to a room is with the right accessories. Light-colored flowers, white or pale toned towels, and vibrant wall art can make a big difference. This is a great option for those who can’t afford a total overhaul of their kitchen, but still want to brighten it up. Picking a color scheme that matches throughout the room helps as well by drawing more attention to the colors you choose.

3. Give It a Paint Job

A relatively easy change that you can do all on your own is giving your cupboards and walls a paint job. If you have an older home with dark cabinets and a less-than-desirable wall color, change it up. Pick something vibrant that will bring life to the whole kitchen. Once again, pale shades are a nice option for this because you can add color while keeping things light. They also tend to look subtle and classic when paired with a quartz countertop.

4. New Lighting

Many older homes come with dim yellow lighting that can make any room look dark and unpleasant. Changing up the lighting in your kitchen can make a huge difference in how it looks, as well as make it easier for you to see what you’re doing when you’re chopping vegetables. LED lights tend to be brighter and give off a whiter light.

5. Light Wood Floors

There’s nothing wrong with tile or linoleum, but there’s something about a light wood floor that really makes a kitchen pop. It brightens up the whole space and gives it a clean look. They do take a little extra care, but they’re worth it.

If you want to get started on your bright kitchen remodel, be sure to work with experienced professionals. Contact Supreme Stone Inc today to learn more about the countertop options you have and how they can be incorporated in your new kitchen.

Kitchens are undoubtedly the heart of every home. Though it’s easy to think of your kitchen as merely the place where you prepare and eat food, they play a more significant role in homes.

A kitchen offers your family the opportunity to socialize and bond over meals, thus forming lasting memories and ties. In addition to being functional, kitchens must be welcoming and aesthetically appealing. This is why kitchen remodeling is the most common home remodeling project. Records indicate that every year there are over 10 million kitchens that are remodeled.

Kitchen remodeling can add value and functionality, but the process can, at times, be daunting without proper planning. However, having your granite counters installed or even redoing the whole kitchen does not have to be stressful. Here are some things you should consider to ensure the entire process goes without a hitch.

Have the Kitchen Island Designed to Suit The Space

Kitchen islands are a must-have in any modern kitchen. Whether your kitchen is big or small, there’s a suitable island for it. It can be a big island with enough seating to replace the dinner table or kitchen island carts. Kitchen islands offer the following benefits.

• Additional storage space.
• Extra outlets for appliances.
• An additional work station.
• Casual sitting space for family.

A kitchen island will inadvertently become the focal point of your kitchen. Therefore, you should use it to highlight the overall design style of your kitchen. As such, the countertop should be eye-catching and alluring. For this, granite and marble countertops are perfect.

Marble is a beautiful stone that can bring out the elegance and give your kitchen a timeless ambiance. Though the cost may vary depending on various aspects, marble is less expensive than quartz or granite.

If you want to give your kitchen design an exotic touch and give it a luxurious look, then granite is the best option. In addition to the aesthetic value, granite is more durable than other countertop materials and is dirt and bacteria resistant.

The Kitchen Work Triangle

A vital feature of the functionality of a kitchen is the work triangle. The work triangle is based on the premise that a person preparing a meal has three significant points of contact. These are the stove, sink, and refrigerator.

As such, the layout of your kitchen should allow the person who is preparing meals easy access to all these points. To ensure there are few interruptions, any kitchen seating should be strategically placed away from the work area.

By making all the components of the kitchen triangle easy to access and eliminating potential obstacles, your layout will be optimized for efficiency.

Lighting

Lighting plays a key role in making kitchens functional. In the least, you will need ambient lighting for performing general functions and task lighting for meal preparation and cooking. For task lighting, go for lights over the stove, countertops, and any part of your work station.

Be Strategic with Appliances

Many electrical appliances are used in kitchens. Some like the refrigerator and oven need to be plugged in at all times. Before kitchen remodeling begins, ensure that the design has factored in where each appliance will be positioned. This will help your contractor install them without leaving exposed wires.

Though microwaves are an essential kitchen appliance, they take up a lot of valuable counter space. Mounting your microwave on top of the stove is an excellent way of increasing counter space. Alternatively, you can have a custom shelf built above your kitchen island to place your microwave.

Bottom-Line

The primary goal of remodeling your kitchen should be more functional. First, you must work out a layout that will be convenient for the cook and also your family. From this point, you can now focus on the intricate details of the design that will give your kitchen its unique visual appeal and ambiance.

Kitchen trends are all over the map. This is partially a result of a real split in kitchen styles that has developed. More than half of home buyers place a high level of importance on the kitchen’s style. Minimalist kitchens, vintage kitchens, and modern kitchens are just a few of the styles that homeowners choose when designing or remodeling a kitchen.

However, one element that has not changed is the use of stone surfaces like quartz, marble, and granite. Regardless of the style, you can find a way to use quartz countertops, marble countertops, and granite countertops in your kitchen. Here are five examples of trends in kitchen design as they apply to stone surfaces:

Islands

If you have a lot of floor space in your kitchen, an island can expand the counter space and eating areas available. One recent trend is to incorporate stone material into both the countertop and the pedestal of the island. That is, a typical island is a countertop supported by a rectangular cabinet. The new trend this year is to place matching stone material along the exterior walls of the cabinet or to even have open shelving on the island made from the same stone material. The effect is that of a solid stone island with granite countertops supported by granite shelving and granite walls.

Island construction that repeats the same stone color and texture on the island countertop and the island pedestal unifies the two parts of the island. Moreover, this use of quartz, granite, or marble on the pedestal accents the island and distinguishes it from the kitchen cabinets.

Peninsulas

For those without enough space for an island, a peninsula can provide some extra counter space in the kitchen. The peninsula would have a countertop that matches the rest of the kitchen and extends out from a wall into the kitchen. The benefit of a peninsula is that it can separate the kitchen from other living spaces without walls. This creates an open appearance.

A trendy way to handle peninsulas is to support the end of the peninsula with legs rather than cabinets that run the length of the countertop. This provides open space underneath the countertop, reinforcing the open appearance. Moreover, the legroom created under the countertop allows it to be used as a dining table, bar, or other seating area. When supported this way, granite countertops appear to float above the floor.

Two-Tone

One trend for selecting colors is the two-tone color scheme. Although there is some flexibility in which colors are applied where, typically this includes one color for the countertops and backsplash and a different, contrasting color for the cabinets. For example, two-tone color schemes for a kitchen remodel could include black granite countertops and white cabinets or white marble countertops and dark red or blue cabinets.

Another way to carry out a two-tone color scheme is to have different color countertops for different elements. For example, black granite countertops around the perimeter of the kitchen and white granite countertops for an island would create a contrast that highlights the island.

High Backsplashes

Regardless of the exact style, a trend in kitchen design is the ceiling-high backsplash. Rather than running the backsplash from the countertops to the bottom of the cabinets, these modern backsplashes run all the way to the ceiling. These backsplashes create a very clean look, as they eliminate the wall above the backsplash.

The ceiling-high backsplash may use the same material as the countertops or a contrasting material. For example, the look of white marble countertops could be repeated with a white marble backsplash that extends to the ceiling.

Rustic Materials

One stylistic trend in kitchen design is the vintage or rustic look. This trend has been fueled by a focus among millennials on sustainability and re-use. Stone surfaces, such as granite countertops, can last forever and are viewed as infinitely reusable. Natural-looking granite countertops combined with vintage appliances and refinished wood antique cabinets provide style but also portray a commitment to the environment.

Stone surfaces never go out of style. However, they are being used in new and exciting ways, such as solid stone islands, “floating” stone peninsulas, ceiling-high backsplashes, contrasting two-tone countertops and cabinets, and sustainable and rustic stone countertops.

Stone surfaces, such as marble, granite, and quartz, can be used for much more than kitchen countertops. These surfaces have many properties that make them well suited for other uses both inside and outside the home. Here are five examples of uses for stone surfaces:

Kitchen Counters

Stone surfaces can, of course, be used in the kitchen. Due to their appearance, durability, heat resistance, and water resistance, stone can provide all the functionality needed for kitchen countertops and backsplashes.

You may not have heard as much about quartz, but according to a recent study by Consumer Reports, quartz outperformed all other countertop materials for resistance to stains, cuts, heat, scratches, and impacts. Quartz is not a natural stone product when it’s used in your kitchen. Rather, this stone is a combination of natural quartz stone and a resin binder. Quartz can also include metal or glass flakes and dyes to give it almost any appearance.

Granite countertops are shaped from a stone slab. Granite gives a natural look and feel because it is a natural stone product. Granite is durable and easily maintained as long as it is periodically sealed against its natural porosity.

Marble countertops are also natural stone products. Marble is softer than granite but it provides a classy and upscale look right out of a bakery or candy shop. It’s common in these locations since marble does not stick to dough, molten sugar, or melted chocolate. Moreover, marble has high thermal conductivity. This means that marble will absorb heat and warm up from hot candy poured onto the marble surface. This allows the candy to cool evenly. Ironically, candy solidifies faster on a warm marble surface because slow, even cooling allows crystals to form in the candy.

Outdoor Grill Counters

Many homes now include an outdoor kitchen and grill for entertaining. Stone surfaces like granite, marble, and quartz are durable even in extreme conditions, which means they can be used to make outdoor countertops Boston MA weather will not destroy. They are heavy, so you should not need to worry about stone countertops blowing away like metal or wood surfaces. These stone surfaces also resist bacteria and microbes that can cause foodborne illnesses.

Bathroom Counters

About 10% of homeowners remodel a kitchen or bathroom every year. Granite, marble, and quartz can provide a solid and durable surface for bathroom countertops and vanity surfaces. When used in bathrooms, they provide a sophisticated look. Moreover, most sealed stone surfaces are waterproof and easy to clean.

A design trend in bathroom remodels is the use of a floating, wall mounted, or cantilevered vanity. Using a stone product like granite, marble, or quartz can provide the naturalistic image of a ledge of rock sticking out into your bathroom.

Bathroom Walls

Remodeling a bathroom may also provide an opportunity to use marble, granite, and quartz for walls, showers, and tub surrounds. Moreover, a marble bathroom can create a classic look. Not classic in the sense of something enduring and of timeless quality, but in the sense of Greek and Roman classics. Roman baths included marble and granite walls for a few reasons:

• They are fireproof, so the wood-burning furnaces were less likely to cause fires
• They have a high thermal conductivity, which means that they warm up rather than remaining cold like other stone surfaces
• Romans associated marble and granite with the prestige of Greek civilization

Fireplace Surrounds

These stones are also popular for fireplaces because they’re fire-proof and easily cleaned. More importantly, granite, marble, and quartz are thermal conductors, which means that they absorb heat from the fireplace and readily dissipate that heat into a room without heating up themselves.

When you’re ready to invest in the best stone surfaces for your home, rely on the experience of Supreme Stone Inc. today.