Low Maintenance Kitchen Designs Tips When Remodeling
Designing an Easy To Clean Low Maintenance Kitchen Remodel
Planning a new kitchen is an exciting project. You'll have so many fun choices to make, from sleek cabinetry, to beautiful stainless steel appliance, to elegant stone counter tops, all can help you to create the aesthetic vision you're looking for, but there's more to designing a kitchen than just style. You also need to consider functionality. Food preparation is the predominant function of the kitchen, and how you place your kitchen elements, is an important factor to consider.
Another consideration many homeowners overlook is maintaining and cleaning your kitchen space. Selecting low-maintenance materials and placing items where they're used as well as choosing storage solutions - all with an eye towards quick and easy clean-up also plays a major part in a functional kitchen design.
Here are some tips for choosing materials that are both aesthetically beautiful as well as easy to clean and maintain, and ways you can tweak your kitchen design to create the perfect balance between form and function.
Low Maintenance Countertops
There are plenty of low-maintenance products available that fit the bill for both form and function. Natural granite is beautiful and easy to keep clean, although it will require occasional resealing. Quartz is an engineered stone that is non-porous, stain resistant and comes in a variety of patterns and colors including very natural looking marble and granite.
Other easy to clean low maintenance countertop choices include stainless steel, Corian, and laminates. Another cost-effective solution is large format, color through porcelain tiles. The large size keeps grout lines to a minimum and that keep clean-up easy. If you do go the porcelain route, make sure to use an epoxy grout as it is extremely resistant to stains, and easier to keep clean.
Read How Quartz Countertop Material is Being Used in Unconventional Ways
Easy To Clean Backsplash Ideas
Keeping a traditional tile backsplash can be challenging, especially near the cooktop. Full-sheet materials like back pained glass, or full-sheet quartz eliminate the grout lines and can be easily cleaned with a simple wipe. Both of these are much easier to clean than mosaics of any kind. If you do choose tile, go with a larger format to reduce grout lines.
Flooring Choices
Luxury vinyl, sealed concrete, terrazzo, or any commercial grade flooring product including hardwood are all good choices. Focus on durability and color when choosing your flooring. When it comes to color, think contrast. Large format porcelain or quartz tile are also a good choice. Thanks to improved manufacturing technologies, porcelain tile is available in a wide variety of natural looking finishes like natural stone or wood. They resist stains, are easy to keep clean with just a damp mop, and their large size minimizes grout lines. Like tile countertops, use an epoxy grout to prevent staining.
Read About Cutting Edge Flooring Trends
Cabinet Designs
Unless you're style leans more towards traditional, or country, clean flat lines are a good choice. Ornate molding can take extra time to clean. Slab front or shaker are the easiest. Plus shaker style cabinets can blend into almost any design style from traditional to contemporary.
Consider adding accessories to help keep the clutter to a minimum making keeping countertops clear and minimizing cleaning. Customized storage options like pot, pan and lid pull-out storage in your lower cabinets placed near the cooking surface can help keep necessary cooking items close at hand and organized.
Learn More About Cabinet Door Styles
Appliance Storage To Minimize Clutter
Adding a large pantry cabinet that is set-up as both storage with a countertop can be an excellent way to keep appliances close at hand and ready to go, but completely out of sight. This keeps your kitchen countertops clutter free. Doors can hide all kinds of kitchen amenities like a walk in pantry, or even a home work station.
Appliances can also be build into cabinets for example installing the microwave in the island, or a hidden beverage center to keep the kids juice and your wine at the perfect temperature.
Other Low Maintenance Considerations to Cut Down on Cleaning Time....
• Self-cleaning ovens – this goes without saying!
• Stainless steel appliances – While stainless steel can be labor intensive to keep clean, there are options which help prevent finger prints from showing. Consider newer lower maintenance stainless steel appliances like GE Cleansteel Appliances.
• Glass cooktops – New induction technology cooktops are made of glass and heat the pot or pan instead of the cooktop surface. That means liquid spills don't burn and cleanup is easy.
• Under mount sinks – are seamless and if you have rounded corners, they're remarkably easy to keep clean.
Your kitchen designer or design-build contractor can help you to understand all of your options. Creating your dream kitchen can be a truly exciting project. Taking the time to consider all of the elements with an eye towards lower maintenance is a smart decision that means less time cleaning, and more time enjoying your new space!
This article was updated by Abe Degnan on 1/23/19.
If you're considering a kitchen remodeling project and you live in the Madison Wisconsin area, give the experts at Degnan Design-Build-Remodel a call. We can help you to design a low maintenance dream kitchen that can meet all of your functional needs and fulfills your creative vision!