Think back to the first place you lived in as a grown-up. For most of us, it was a small apartment or even a studio. It probably had very little furniture that didn’t come from an alley, decor that could best be described as “record store chic,” and a virtually non-existent kitchen—just a cheap stove, a few cabinets, and about three square feet of counter space. Back then, that was fine. Cooking involved heating up food in the microwave, or boiling water for pasta if you were having a date over. Things change, of course, and now for many people their kitchen is their favorite room in the house, and a perfect place to use a hard money loan in order to get your fix-and-flip house on the market.
Homebuyers are looking for a kitchen where they can prepare great meals and entertain company. We’ve talked about some more expensive, big-ticket items for kitchen remodeling, but there are also smaller projects you can take on that can make the room more accessible and appealing to potential buyers. Everyone is looking to remodel their kitchens now, as cooking has gone from merely utilitarian to the grandly artisanal. Buyers will be very impressed and pleased if the house, especially the kitchen, is already ready for them.
Remember, a lot of possible buyers will be first-time home owners, who might not want to break the bank, but are looking for something that lives up to the vision they had of ownership. These kitchen remodeling trends will help you sell your house more quickly without paying too much to do it.
The Convenient Mini-Fridge
You might think of mini-fridges as being specifically designed to store beer in a dorm room, or possibly a garage, but not as an item for a modern, elegant kitchen. Think about a typical refrigerator, though. It is jam-packed with condiments, leftovers, jars of…something. We’ll look later. It’s packed and can make it hard to get to the stuff you use more frequently.
Mini-fridges, also called “point of use refrigerators,” solve that. These are small fridges that are for milk, water, juice, maybe butter—the things you use more often. They can also act as extended crispers for fruits and veggies, in a drawer under where you prepare food. Having smaller fridges right where you need them saves time and energy. The best part is that they can be concealed in drawers or cabinets, blending seamlessly in with the rest of the kitchen. This is a growing trend, and not a bad one to be on top of.
The Serving Window
Some families eat in the kitchen, others the dining room, and others in the TV room. The trick is always to have a central spot for serving that doesn’t get too crowded. To fix this, many families are beginning to use a serving counter, allowing for a kind of buffet-style delivery that still lets people eat together. A serving counter is usually an extended shelf built off of a wall. You’ll generally want it to match the other countertops, of course.
What’s neat about this is that you can put it virtually anywhere, and play with it. If there is a thick enough wall separating the kitchen from the dining room, cutting a hole in it and putting in a counter not only frees up space in the kitchen, but opens up the whole house and forms connective tissue. Don’t forget to make sure the wall can handle being opened like that, but as long as you aren’t taking down any supports, you’ll be fine. It’s a great way to create openness and a friendly sense of fun.
Ceiling Storage and Pot Racks
This is one that can be done even by non-contractors, but it is still a very nice touch. Hanging important items from the ceiling has become extremely trendy. For one thing, it saves space in cabinets and drawers. More importantly, though, people just like the look. It is both industrial and homey at the same time, and while it adds to clutter in space, it is an intentional, wholesome sort of clutter.
As a professional, you can hang these easily, and even incorporate them into the lighting/fan scheme you have in the kitchen. Don’t worry about it limiting a home’s sales potential—this isn’t adding a pool, which might turn away buyers. You are adding value to the house without breaking the bank. There are a lot of people who would want something like this, but are not sure about how to install. When they see it there, they’ll light up.
Kitchen remodeling isn’t always easy. There are some projects that are extremely expensive but don’t add much value to the house. The projects above won’t all add enormous monetary value, but they can help you sell the house faster without costing you much at all. They make it seem more like a home. They are a great use of your residential rehab loan from Socotra. Smaller, more efficient kitchen remodeling trends can in many ways be just as effective as gutting the place.
