It’s true, we have never spent more time at home than we did in the last year. For those who have not worked in a remote industry before and had the option to work right from home, the transition was somewhat difficult. Typing on your laptop from the coffee table on the couch proves fun for the first ten minutes. Your next best choice? The family kitchen.

     Just a little shy of one year of complete lockdown, the kitchen became the hottest place to hang out in the house. The counter often saw a busy schedule of breakfast, early AM Zoom meetings, spread out homework packets, puzzles, sourdough bread kneading, grocery sanitizing, more Zoom meetings, and finally gourmet dinners from Hello Fresh we finally decided to try, because we only had time on our hands. Like a recent article from Realtor.com states, “...this room endured plenty of wear and tear. And that means it might just be the room that's most in need of a refresh.” Here are their top 8 tips and places to focus on to give your kitchen the uplift it needs for the new year! Find the link to the full article below.

1. Larger kitchen islands - the kitchen island has become more of the central meeting hub of the house! Bigger islands offer more room for prep work and more seating for sitters to work, eat, and play.
2. Less open layouts - with the hubbub of everyone staying home, a quiet and private workplace was hard to come by at home. The big open layout doesn’t work so well anymore, offering the idea of more nooks with actual barriers to separate the main room from cooking, dining, and living and leaving that smaller space to the wanted privacy.
3. A revival of wood finishes - the best way to bring a little spark of nature back into the home is to allow those wooden features in! Natural wood grain is beautiful and can be stained about 1,000 different ways to help give your kitchen that homage to vintage 1970’s beauty.
4. Handleless cabinetry - with sanitizing on the mind, cabinets with a smooth open surface are by far the easiest to clean. The latest trend of going without hardware on your cabinet doors offers a sleek and clean look to your kitchen that modernizes with clean lines.
5. Darker hues - white kitchens are beautiful and classic looking, but the style has been on its way out over the years, and now more so due to the fact that white shows everything! Stains, spills, and grime have a much harder time being seen on deep blue, charcoal, and dark green that’s coming up in 2021. A pop of color is a pleasant change to a space you spend a lot of time in.
6. Smarter technology - when you get a case of the snack-attacks and run to the fridge to learn you’re out of your favorite yogurt, it can almost ruin your day. Not really, but you can prevent it with smart refrigerators that help track your grocery inventory! Wifi operated dishwashers, what?? Touchless faucets for the ultimate sanitization? In today’s age, why not work smarter, not harder?
7. Secret scullery rooms - tired of keeping certain items on your kitchen counter that don’t quite fit in the pantry setting? Kitchen sculleries are all the rage, and add a little excitement to the space. Opening a normal-looking cabinet that leads into a completely new room is a clever and neat way to organize and store a busy kitchen.
8. Alternative appliances - the biggest factor our kitchens are facing is more time being consumed in them. Now is the time that alternative appliances are making their rise! Sous vide cooking, air fryers, and bread makers are coming onto the playing field, and they just might be here to stay as an alternative to better, healthier eating.

Our very own agent, Kim Spain, is an expert in interior design and loved the opportunity to weigh in with her opinion and suggestions on how to improve your kitchen for the upcoming year. Here’s what she has to say, “2021 brings exciting new ideas for your kitchen...natural wood tones for cabinets, oversized wicker pendant lights, hidden kitchen appliances, cabinets without hardware, larger kitchen islands, and standout sinks just to name a few.  One thing to remember though is when you’re picking your finishes the less trendy the better.  The rule of thumb for me is to try and keep it simple. Too many things going on can be confusing.”