Kitchens are the places that bring out the essence of your home. And while the food is a big part of it, the overall ambience of the place also contributes to the atmosphere of your house. Being the master room of the house per se, redoing the kitchen might need some detailed consideration, especially when you want minor upgrades.

Whether it is the shiny backsplash or the spotless flooring, you would want all your bases covered. And as we know, you would probably remodel your kitchen or house only once in a while. Thus, it would require some smart decisions to avoid regrets in future.

If this sounds intimidating, it is not! With a few simple things in your mind, you can do great with your kitchens! Here are 6 kitchen features that will retain their beauty, marketability, and value for a long.

Stay With White

However you try, kitchens witness constant spills and stains. This may lead to concerns over the white colour, as the colour shows more marks than other colours. However, you would be glad to know that white is still a safe colour for kitchens! It’s a bright colour that reflects a lot of light, meaning that even if the kitchen is smaller, it will appear spacious due to light reflection. Whether it is the entire space to be done up in white or mixing it with other colours, ensure that you keep white as the dominant shade for the space. It’s been shown time and again that adding a dash of white to any house space immensely enhances its value of timelessness.

Subway Tile for the Backsplash

Way back in the early 1900s, subway tiles got their name and popularity due to their extensive usage on the walls of New York City’s subway stations. They are essentially 3-inch-by-6-inch rectangles that later became quite a thing in American households in kitchens and baths and have stuck around ever since. If you team the subway tile backsplash with a marble top counter, you will have a ‘classic’ winner there!

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is indeed a sight for the eyes, especially when the room is dipping in a white or any single colour. If you have gone for extravagant colours, you can always get the hardwood that balances it. Some of the popular hardwood floorings are made out of honey oak, mahogany, and cherry wood. However, maintaining natural wood is pretty impractical as they absorb moisture and require considerable maintenance. In such cases, you can go for the wood tile flooring that gives you the exact same feel with excellent strength. Their durability and longevity are significantly better than actual wooden flooring and are pretty handy to maintain.

Marble or Granite Countertops

In keeping with the ongoing white theme for the kitchen, it would be a good idea to invest in a high-quality marble or granite countertop for the kitchen – simply because they are durable, visually appealing, and can withstand heat, scratches and spills. Go for sealed marble stones with endless vein designs that will only add to its existing aesthetic and appeal. And if you find natural marble challenging to deal with, you can always find options in Granalt tiles. Besides availability in marble appearance, these tiles are exceptionally solid and perfect for countertops.

Open Shelving For More Storage

You can make or break with the style and kind of cabinets you choose for the kitchen. After all, they add up for a major contributing role in making your kitchen either simple and neat or tiny and messy. The open shelving concept works well for working individuals and those who don’t prefer to spend much time looking for things around the kitchen. That way, you also get to show off your expensive bone China or your ancestral tea set. Remember Monica Geller’s open plan kitchen? You’ll get even more than that with such shelving!

Smart Storage Options

Does kitchen storage bring cabinets and drawers to your mind? Or, better yet, does it also bring secluded pantries and back-of-the-house utility rooms that used to be a thing back in the day? Fortunately, you don’t have to look for a house with two separate spaces dedicated to functioning your kitchen alone.

With time, the décor space has advanced. Nowadays, there are plenty of smart storage options out there to leave you spellbound. Think shelves and compartments that unfold, turn, extend and slide. And while storage capacity is necessary, it is now also about doing it smartly. For instance, you can always fit in lower cabinet spaces that could double up as your wine cooling stations and under-the-counter for small refrigerators and other such appliances.

Kitchens are fun and fulfilling at the same time if you remodel it the way you want it. With the sheer options out there today regarding wall or floor tiling, cabinet design, countertops and backsplashes, etc., it’s actually difficult to make it mundane! So get on the 2022 remodel spin and go all out with your space to personalise it.

Author Bio:

Isha Tandon has worked within the architecture and interior design industry as a flooring consultant expert - specializing in tiles, stones, and terrazzo. She has worked with Orientbell Limited, a leading tile manufacturer in India, as a product development manager in the design team and has recently joined the marketing team as their digital content expert. Her experience comes in handy in understanding the audience as she creates value-driven functional & informational content for the readers. She creates lifestyle pieces that focus on interior design products, trends, and processes. She loves to travel to historic places with rich architecture.