In Part 1 of ‘Top Kitchen Remodeling Trends’ we looked at five trends from a recently published survey by Houzz, the popular design and remodeling website. Here are more of the hottest kitchen design elements to consider for your kitchen…

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  • Stainless Steel: A majority of survey respondents, 65% favored stainless steel appliances. Only 12% favored white or color appliances.
     
  • Islands: Islands are popular but not a must have. The main reason is limited floor space availability. A successful kitchen layout requires the ability to move around the kitchen between workstations. The ideal layout forms a triangle between sink, refrigerator, and stove. Counter prep areas occur in between the primary stations. If an island fits into that pattern and allows plenty of movement it will be a success. If the island is too big for the floor space and interferes with the movement of your workflow you will end up unhappy.

The National Kitchen & Bath Association also conducted a survey recently and highlighted three additional trends in kitchen design…

  • Transitional style: This style is a blend of traditional and contemporary and has grown in popularity in recent years. It is a style that harkens back to tried and true traditional elements with modern convenience touches.
     
  • White cabinets: A surprising 73% of respondents favored white and off-white color schemes for their kitchens. This seems to have been a response to most people wanting their kitchens to be light and bright and clean looking.
     
  • Gray color schemes: Gray color schemes have been steadily gaining in popularity over the last three years, and are still trending that way.

If you’re thinking about remodeling your kitchen there are a lot things to think about. Your kitchen is an important workspace and gathering space in your home. Therefore, it should function well and reflect your lifestyle.

Mike Close, president of Spinnaker Development in Newport Beach, CA, offered good advice: “Always try to keep in mind you’re doing the work for yourself, but at some point, somebody else will be in the house. Don’t do something so radical…that in five years you’ll look at each other and say, ‘What were we thinking?’”