8 Great Tips - Make Your Custom Kitchen Remodel in Buffalo NY Feel like Home

8 Great Tips to Make Your Custom Kitchen Remodel in Buffalo NY Feel like Home

So you are planning on investing in a kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY. You have scrolled through kitchen makeover photos online for months, but you aren’t sure exactly what will make your new kitchen feel… like home. These tips are designed with you in mind to make sure you don’t purchase a kitchen renovation that feels like a cookie-cutter showroom model.

1. Design practically for how you use the kitchen

You can’t model completely after photos of someone else’s kitchen from a blog or magazine if you want your kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY to feel like home. The truth is you use your kitchen differently. You have different meals, different traffic patterns, and different people in the house. Your first step when kitchen remodeling should be to make a list of the ways you use your kitchen that are unique to your family. For example, are little kids handling low cabinets? A darker colored paint on lower cabinets may cover up a multitude of sins. Do you have dogs? More durable flooring options will resist scratches and wear. Who is cooking on a regular basis? What customizations would make their life easier? Maybe a rack for wok dishes, or a modern sensor-activated faucet. How much pantry space do you think will serve your family’s size? A home contractor or interior designer can help you build clever storage solutions for your needs. Are you an entertainer? A central island space for buffets, a coffee niche, and a wine rack could be helpful improvements.

2. Tell the story of your family

Instead of picking a common theme (modern farmhouse, rustic, etc.), your kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY can be guided by the story of your family. This is far more complex and nuanced to you. Some stories weave in elements of ancestral heritage, family recipes, and places they have been. Other stories could include the common desires you focus on during your day—your sense of humor, your desire for peace, the joy you get from gardening, or your love for sports. Your story carries out in the details of the design. Round bubble chandeliers add a sense of fun, while longer sconces are elegant and sophisticated. Open shelving can make way to display unique pieces of you. Or your cabinetry is closed, think of what finishes, colors, and architectural details can be added that indicate your personality. Think, casual taupe cabinets and a penny tile backsplash, vs dramatic dark green with moonbeam tiles. Want to bring all the gang together over meals? A wraparound breakfast nook could create the cozy atmosphere you are looking for. Want to encourage healthy eating and living? A corkboard wall for meal planning, calendars, and organization can be functional and stylish.

Hummingbirds wallpaper in green by Milton and King, styled by Casa Watkins Living

3. Leave room for non-food functions

Eating and cooking isn’t the only thing that happens in the kitchen. The kitchen is a regular work horse room for conversation, homework, working, and planning other parts of our days. Keeping this in mind, today’s kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY calls for a variety of spaces to place chairs, stools, devices, and the things we carry with us, like bags, books, and chargers. If you work from home, or just like watching the news while you cook, you may even want a built-in computer desk or TV niche. Make sure outlets are accessible from every work area. Decide on your focal points for the room – the table, stovetop, or bar counter are obvious options. Then maximize custom storage areas around these key areas. Having room for all the ways you use your kitchen can really help make your new kitchen feel like home!

4. Update your kitchen lighting and hardware

Installing cheap hardware in your beautiful new kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY just doesn’t feel thoughtful and updated. One way to add lots of character to your kitchen is in your choice of light fixtures, doorknobs, and even light switches. Many people forget hardware in their budgets and leave it for last. Hardware is fairly inexpensive. Every square inch of your kitchen can feel personalized, for relatively little cost. But lighting fixtures may be one area of your kitchen makeover to splurge a little, since it has such great potential for making a statement. The lighting and hardware just may be your favorite part of your kitchen remodel! If you are looking to create a kitchen remodel with character, stray away from often-frequented style ideas. Browse for unique pieces that speak to you but that you have not seen before. Or alternately, try a new twist on a common style.
Bine modern ceramic hanging pendant light at Guild Manor, and Bay Isle Home™ Whitmire 3 – Light Dimmable Drum Chandelier at Wayfair Read our other article on kitchen lighting tips. 5. Design in your favorite color scheme You may think the white kitchen renovations online and in home improvement magazines are gorgeous. But appreciating someone else’s kitchen makeover doesn’t necessarily mean you will like to live in it. Look to your current purchases to see what color schemes you already naturally gravitate to. What colors do you like to wear? What colors are your curtains? Kitchen plates? Notebooks? Wall art? Phone case? The colors you have already purchased are good clues into what color schemes you find beautiful and comforting. Also, think back to favorite memories, such as where you frequent on vacation, or what you like to do with your family. Choosing colors that you think of in relation to those memories can be a good foundation for a kitchen renovation with character. Transfer these colors into choices for tiles, floor boards, cabinetry, paint, countertops, and more.
Glazed thin brick light green tile 2.5″x8″ by Clay Imports, and Hygge & West wallpaper from Hygge & West Home: Design for a Cozy Life

6. Add unique art pieces

Do away with decals and signage containing generic phrases. For maximum character, add unique art pieces that reflect your favorite parts of you. Do you love Seinfeld reruns? Are you drawn to the coast? Do you love modern art? Place reminders of what you love all around your kitchen. After all, the kitchen is the heart of your home. Some ideas we love include framing old recipes, finding unique prints from artists on Etsy, framing a map or painting of your hometown, or keeping an area for kids’ art. Also, don’t discount the beauty of a mosaic using colored tile. This art can even go behind the stove, since it is easy to wipe down! You will want to display your art in places where the least grease will build up. That means staying away from the stove, sink, and anywhere where steam and food splatter gathers. Also, choose artwork for your kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY that is easy to clean. (Acrylic or metal prints, or a frame with glass, vs stretched canvas.)
Limited edition original art prints and unique paintings and canvases from murus.art

7. Mix it up

There is no need to choose only one color, finish, or type of art to guide your kitchen design choices. Play with patterns, colors, and textures for a depth of personality. Layering pieces together that fill you with positive emotions can help to make the kitchen feel like home. We know that mixing different patterns and finishes can feel intimidating to some homeowners. That is why we recommend working with an interior designer for your kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY.

8. Work with a kitchen remodeling team that has an on-staff interior designer

Our last suggestion is very practical. If you are planning your kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY to be done by a pro kitchen contractor, look specifically for a remodel team that has an interior designer already on staff. Working with a kitchen contracting company that can take care of both the design and build will reduce miscommunication and make it seem easy and seamless to get a result that is stylistically just right for you. A good interior designer can help you coordinate all the pieces that will help your kitchen remodel feel like home. They are experts at artistry and have the good eye that makes the difference between “almost looked right” and a custom magazine-worthy design that can’t be found anywhere else. An interior designer near you will have a good idea of what materials are actually available on the market and what their prices are right now. On a sensible note, they can also help you to choose materials that hold up to wear. If you are thinking of having a kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY, we hope you will consider TBrothers Renovations! Check out our photos of amazing kitchen remodels that we have completed for your friends and neighbors in Western New York, as well as our reviews and features in GC Magazine and Expertise.com. Then head over to our contact page and get on the calendar to meet with us to talk about your very own kitchen remodel in Buffalo NY. We can’t wait to transform your kitchen, so your house feels like your home.