Cooking up the Perfect Kitchen
If you’re building a new home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina – congratulations! As you create your new home there are countless decisions you must make, both small and large. But none seem to be as crucial as those required to design a new kitchen. For many, the kitchen is the heart and soul of the home. Gathering in the morning before heading out for the day, coming together at dinner, or spending weekends entertaining friends and family.
You want a kitchen that is beautiful, functional and creative, but with so many choices it’s hard to know where to begin. Here are some recent kitchen trends that will help create the perfect kitchen for your new Outer Banks home:
Colors:
Instead of focusing on just one color, one of the hottest kitchen color trends this year is a different approach to two-tone, not just with the walls but with the cabinets and fixtures themselves. Beautiful combinations of natural neutrals like gray and oak can be artfully paired with warm earth-tone colors like soft orange or intense splashes of dark plum and navy blue to create a warm and cozy atmosphere. Gray is now the new white, with appealing variations such as ash, charcoal, and smoke, or mix it up with beige to create stunning “greige” accents.
Cabinets:
Remove upper wall cabinets to create large, bright Outer Banks kitchens. Counter-to-ceiling cabinetry can feel confining, and top shelves are hard to reach. Use open shelves, slim plate racks, or a hanging grate so pots and pans can be stored within easy reach. Under-the-counter cabinets should be selected with top-notch storage solutions in mind. Find a place to hide small appliances, while still keeping them accessible, so your kitchen doesn’t come down with a dreaded case of “counter clutter”.
Countertop Options:
For countertops, it’s hard to beat the appeal of quartz. It looks great, lasts forever, is easy to maintain, and comes in more colors and patterns than ever before. Granite also looks great but needs a little more maintenance. Give a nod to some of the muted neutral colors which work extremely well in southern homes. A soft gray, taupe, or cream countertop can be accented by dark appliance choices or pastel wall colors to provide a clean, open feel. If you’re going with a fabricated countertop, think about having your sink created out of the same material, to create a more uniform appearance.
Flooring:
When it comes to flooring choices for the kitchen, consider kitchen flooring that will stand up to lots of traffic. Both hardwood and ceramic tile flooring are durable, and come in a wide variety of designs, colors and styles. One great option with tile is that they now come in a much wider variety of sizes. Custom-cut tiles can be used to create stunning floor patterns, and you can even get ceramic tiles that look like hardwood! Another way to go is vinyl plank floors, which combine the visual appeal of hardwood with long-lasting durability.
Once some of the bigger pieces come together, you’ll start to create a “personality” for your new kitchen that suits you just perfectly. From there, the rest of the decision making should come more easily (lighting, hardware, faucets and other accessories).
What are you waiting for? Get out there and get cooking on creating the kitchen of your dreams! For best results, always consult with a kitchen design professional to help you put your ideas into ac