Call Golden I Construction
A trend is safe to follow in the parts of a kitchen that are cheap to change, and risky in the parts that are not. That one test sorts almost every idea you will see in a magazine or a showroom. Paint, hardware, lights and stools can be changed in a weekend. Cabinets, counters, the floor and the position of the sink and range will be with you for as long as you own the kitchen. Put the fashion in the first group and the money in the second.
Below are five subjects from our own earlier list of kitchen trends, each sorted the same way.
Color
Color is where a small budget goes furthest. A change of palette can remake a kitchen without touching an appliance. Soft grays and other mid-tones are easier on the eye than bright white and show marks less. Pairs with contrast, black and white or gray with warm wood, hold up because neither half depends on fashion.
The lasting way to use a strong color is on a surface you can repaint: the walls, an island, a run of doors made to be painted. Keep it off the surfaces you cannot redo, such as the counter and the floor. And look at every sample in your own kitchen before you decide. Many New York kitchens have one small window or none, and a color chosen under showroom lights can go flat in them.
The sink
A colored sink in place of white or stainless steel can lift a plain kitchen. It is also cut into the counter, which puts it among the hard things to change. So decide in this order: the size the cabinet can take, one bowl or two, the way it mounts to the counter, the material, and only then the color. In a short run of counter a single deep bowl usually works harder than two small ones.
Mixed materials
Two materials set against each other give a kitchen more life than one used everywhere: a wood counter on gray cabinets, a stone top beside a wood one. Hold the mix to two or three, and give each the place where it performs. Wood is at its best away from the sink and needs oiling or sealing through its life. Marble marks where acids such as lemon juice sit on it, so it suits a baking corner better than the stretch beside the range. If the look of a material matters more to you than the material itself, see the section on look-alikes below.
Storage
Storage never goes out of fashion, and in a city kitchen it earns its keep every day. It is also built into the cabinets, so it has to be decided before they are ordered. The fittings worth asking about are deep drawers in the base cabinets in place of shelves, slotted storage for trays, pull-out recycling bins, plate racks, cutlery dividers, a drawer for spices and lift-up shelves for a mixer. Taking the wall cabinets to the ceiling adds a shelf of space that most kitchens leave to dust. Our page on custom cabinets in NYC explains how cabinets are made to fit a room.
Look-alike materials
A look-alike can save real money. Laminate counters come in patterns that read as granite at a fraction of its price. Porcelain and engineered quartz are made to look like marble without marble’s upkeep. Cabinet boxes faced in melamine sit unseen behind wood or painted doors in a great many good kitchens.
The honest way to use one is to know what you give up. Laminate does not take heat or knife cuts the way stone does, and a damaged top is replaced, not repaired. A printed pattern repeats where natural stone does not. Ask to see a full slab or a whole door, never a small chip.
A test for any idea
- How long will I own this kitchen, and will I still want to see this every morning at the end of that time?
- Can it be changed later with a brush or a screwdriver, or does it take a contractor?
- Is it easy to keep clean in a room that is used every day?
- Does it suit the rest of the apartment and the building it is in?
Finished rooms tell you more than any list, so look through our kitchen gallery with these questions in mind. For how the work itself is planned and built, see our page on kitchen renovation in NYC. A companion article, popular kitchen features and what they ask of you, covers the upkeep of individual features.
Planning a kitchen and not sure which ideas to keep? Call us and we will go through them with you.
Questions people ask
Which kitchen choices date the fastest?
A strong color or pattern on a surface that is expensive to replace: the counter, the floor, the cabinet finish. The same color on a wall or a painted island can be changed in a weekend, so it never becomes a problem.
Is laminate a bad choice for a kitchen counter?
No. It costs far less than stone and comes in a wide range of patterns. It does not take heat or knife cuts the way stone does, and a damaged top is replaced, not repaired, so it suits a careful cook or a kitchen you plan to redo again.
Should the kitchen match the age of the building?
It does not have to copy it, but it should not fight it. A pre-war apartment with deep moldings takes a framed or inset cabinet door easily. A flat modern door can work too if the rest of the room is kept simple. Look at the kitchen from the next room before deciding.