8 Kitchen Design Mistakes That Can Impact Your Home's Value
I'm going to be talking about kitchen design mistakes and dated kitchen designs and how they can negatively impact your home's value. The kitchen can make up a good percentage of your home's value. Make sure you aren't devaluing your investment with these mistakes.
Kitchen design mistakes
1. Melamine cabinets with wood trim
Do you have melamine cabinets with wood trim in your kitchen? If so, the 80s called, and they want their kitchen back. These cabinets were so popular in the 80s that the cabinet makers even offered color options. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this trend did not last long.
So, if you have these cabinets in your kitchen, they will hurt the value of your property. Kitchens sell homes, and buyers will see this kitchen as a complete gut job.
The fix here is if you can't afford to replace them all right now, to paint them until you can replace them.
2. Hanging pot racks
Do you have a hanging pot rack in your kitchen right now? You can typically find a hanging pot rack above an island, a peninsula, or against a wall. They were popular once upon a time because they provided convenient access to your pots and pans and freed up much-needed storage space in your cabinets.
The problem came when pots and pans went from looking like new to looking old and worn.
Now, pot racks have become these visual eyesores that hurt your kitchen's design, not to mention someone inevitably adds something to the pot rack that doesn't belong. Is that a purse hanging up there? The good news here is that this is a simple fix.
Just take the pot rack down, patch and paint those holes, and your home's value will remain intact.
3. Countertop kitchen sink
Do you have a kitchen sink that sits on top of the counter in your kitchen? These sinks actually rest on top of the counter and are usually glued down using silicone.
They tend to be a low-cost option that doesn't function very well. Crumbs and dirt usually get trapped around the perimeter, or worse, water gets up underneath the sink's edge and begins to rot the counter up underneath.
The fix is to install an undermount sink in your kitchen. This way, you can wipe the crumbs down into the sink, and it also minimizes the chances of water damage.
4. Mismatched appliances
Do all of the appliances in your kitchen match? Mismatched appliances in a kitchen stick out like a sore thumb. A stainless steel stove, a white sink, and a black dishwasher are not a good mix.
In order to maintain your home's value, you need to make sure your kitchen appliances all have the same finish. They don't necessarily all have to be stainless steel, but just make sure they have the same finish.
With the exception of wood paneling on the refrigerator and dishwasher that match the cabinetry, your appliances should match.
Even if you can't afford top-of-the-line appliances, the fix is to replace them and make sure they have the same finish.
5. Tiled countertops
Did you use tile to make your kitchen countertops? If your kitchen countertops are made with tile, all anyone can think of is the dirt, the grime, and possibly the bacteria that live in the grout.
Most homebuyers today see this as a project they'll have to tackle as soon as they move in.
What does this mean? It means that they will deduct the cost of this project from the price they're willing to pay for your home.
The fix? Replace the countertops with something like quartz, and then ask for top dollar for your home.
6. 12 X 12 kitchen floor tiles
Do you have 12 by 12 tiles on your kitchen floor? I hate to tell you this, but the 12 by 12 floor tiles look very dated. Typically made out of porcelain or ceramic, these tiles were the industry standard for decades. Now, not so much. Someone will see this as an eventual project that is costly and time-consuming.
The fix: update the look with 12 by 20 floor tile or tile flooring that looks like wood.
7. Linoleum flooring
Let's stick with flooring for another minute. Do you have linoleum on your floor in the kitchen? Linoleum flooring is a resilient floor covering that is designed for high-traffic areas. These sheets of linoleum were popular for decades. I mean, it's still affordable and easy to install and maintain.
Unfortunately, even though the designs have improved over the years, the flooring still tends to look plastic and cheap. It screams dated, and it will hurt your property value.
The fix, believe it or not, is wood.
The way wood floors are engineered today is a great option for your kitchen, and wood floors are a good investment that will increase your property value.
8. Fluorescent lighting
Do you have a fluorescent light in your kitchen? I think everyone's grandma or auntie had one of these light fixtures in their kitchen. Do you remember when you hit the switch and you had to wait for the light to power on, and then inevitably, over the years, the light would grow dimmer and dimmer and dimmer, and then it had to be replaced?
Well, when someone sees this fixture in your kitchen, all of those memories will come flooding back, and not in a good way.
The fix is to go with recessed or pendant LED lights. They last longer, and they turn right on.
Kitchen design mistakes
Those are the kitchen design mistakes that can hurt the value of your home. Do you have any of these mistakes in your kitchen? Are you planning to fix them? Share your ideas and projects in the comments below.
Comments
Join the conversation