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Kitchens are losing their image as just a place for cooking. They’ve also become a place to gather with family, entertain, and even work, which is influencing how buyers are perceiving the possibilities of the space. As such, more home owners are trying to make it feel less like a kitchen and more as an almost second living room.
For example, some home owners are opting to hide their appliances, such as with undercounter refrigerator drawers and dishwashers-in-a-drawer, a trend that the National Kitchen & Bath Association noted earlier this year.
Another trend catching on: Fewer upper cabinets. A kitchen filled with cabinetry is a hard look, says Susan Serra, a home designer in Huntington, N.Y., who specializes in kitchens. Less kitchen cabinets make a kitchen feel more open and allow the walls, windows, and light to show through.
In 2003, Serra began her own kitchen home renovation, seeking to add more comfort into her kitchen. She added a sofa near a window nook (raising the sofa up so it was proper dining height) and a 36-inch, recessed television in the breakfast area. She also removed the wall kitchen cabinets, keeping only doorless, base cabinets that she hid with a long skirt on a curtain rod.
“Putting comfort into the kitchen was amazing,” Serra says. “It encouraged socialization, people wanted to hang out in the kitchen, look out the window, and watch media.”
Serra and interior design expert Ashley Whittenberger, founder and owner of Interiority Complex, provided tips in REALTOR® Magazine this month on how you can stage a home for sale using this cozy kitchen trend, such as how to use kitchen islands and lighting to create the look. (To read their tips, read Buyers Want Cozy, Connected Kitchens.)
Have you noticed any cozy kitchen trends popping up in kitchens in your area lately?
