Kitchens tend to be one of the centers of activity in houses of all types. They’re where we entertain friends and family during the first hour or two of a party. They’re where our kids do their homework while eating all the food in the refrigerator. They’re where you find yourself when tripping through the dark in search of a midnight snack.

Because kitchens get so much traffic, they tend to be one of the main focuses when it comes time to renovate a property. As such, they receive the full force of the owner’s’ style sense and a healthy chunk of the renovation budget. For this reason, kitchens are frequently emblematic of a bygone stylistic era…and not in a good way.

At All American Painting Plus, we’ve borne witness to many abortive renovation decisions put in place by homeowners of yore. We’ve seen the avocado paint color motif, which also extended to countertop, backsplash, and floors. We’ve seen the 1950’s-style cabinetry which has, somehow, made it through four different owners without being altered, as though preserved in amber. We’ve quietly removed the pale yellow laminate countertops which don’t look clean NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU CLEAN THEM!

This leads us to a topic that is important to many homeowners today: “How do you renovate a kitchen so that it doesn’t look horribly dated in just a few years?” There’s no way to tell the future, of course. Consumer tastes change for all kinds of reasons, and today’s display of excellent taste could be a source of horror in half a decade. However, if history is any guide, certain renovation decisions simply age better than others (or at least easily corrected if the wrong choice is made).

Go With Classic Materials. Granite countertops, fine hardwood floors, classic tile shapes and colors – these are stuff of which classic looking kitchens are made. It’s amazing how unfortunate color and pattern choices can be overlooked when the underlying materials are of a particularly high quality. Efforts to create the illusion of opulence on a low budget will be ever less convincing as the years go on. If you don’t have a lot to spend, rely on materials that have been the choice of budget-conscious renovators for decades, like subway tile and white paint. If you have a bit more to spend, put it into materials that will perform well for decades (even if they have to be refinished because your finishing choices were questionable).

Use Dignified Colors. Kitchens that look like instant classics often achieve this effect by using dignified or subdued color choices, relying on the craftsmanship of the cabinets and countertops to do the heavy lifting. Whites, deep reds, pale blues, and other classic hues can create a sense of timelessness in your kitchen, without costing a great deal of time or money to achieve.
The painting contractors at All American Painting plus understand that the kitchen renovation is one of the most central to the success of the entire house. Make the right design choices, and you could have a kitchen that looks classic for decades. Make the wrong choices, and your kitchen could be a source of shame and derision. Whatever choice you make, All American Painting Plus can execute it to a level of perfection that will get the most possible mileage out of your design – whether the colors are still attractive to modern tastes in five years or not.