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kitchen remodel

Orange County Kitchen Renovation Inspiration

By / Home Improvement, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off on Orange County Kitchen Renovation Inspiration

Thinking of updating your home this fall? Whether you want to update older elements, create an entirely new floor plan, or create an open concept, Inspired Remodels has design ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Check out these Orange County kitchen renovation ideas and get inspired.

3 Common Reasons to Renovate the Kitchen

Most kitchen renovation projects start with a need to create a larger or more usable space. Maybe you bought a home and need to renovate the kitchen to your needs.  Growing families often find their kitchens fail to meet their changing needs.

custom kitchen renovation after picture white and brown cabinets stainless steel appliances La Cabana windows

New floor plan

Some kitchen remodels start with a need for more storage or better layouts for cooking and entertaining. Homeowners want a kitchen that better accommodates their current lifestyle, whether it’s for gourmet cooking, socializing, or family meals. This often involves moving walls, windows, doors, and islands.  Open-concept floor plans combine living, cooking, and entertaining areas.

custom kitchen remodeing after picture kitchen island with drawers for storage

Update design elements

Many Orange County homeowners update the look of their kitchens to reflect contemporary styles and personal tastes, or simply to give a new look to the space. Since the kitchen is often a focal point in homes, this room is often updated before other areas of the house.

Increasing home value

A well-renovated kitchen significantly boosts a home’s resale appeal and value. Potential buyers desire updated, modern kitchens, making kitchen renovation a smart move for homeowners looking to sell. Cosmetic upgrades like painting cabinets, replacing countertops, updating fixtures, or installing new appliances typically yield an ROI between 70-80% of the cost.

Use Contrast to Your Advantage

Ladera Ranch kitchen renovation after showing contrasting quartz countertops

Mix and match cabinets. Who said uppers and lowers had to be the same color?  Use complimentary but contrasting countertops. This Orange County kitchen renovation uses two colors of quartz for the countertops.

Keeping it Cool

Kitchen with light grey cabinets, white quartz countertops, and light grey tile floors

White and grey tones give the modern Orange County kitchen a clean and cool look. From the choice of flooring to the art on the wall, this kitchen incorporates cool, coastal living vibes. Forget what you think you know about grey. Grey remains a popular color in kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms in Orange County. As a cool neutral tone, grey offers the opportunity to either add a pop of color or use black for drama.

Turning Up the Heat

2024 turned a corner on kitchen renovation trends. It marks the return of warm tones and more wood tones to the kitchen.

Orange County kitchen renovation after warm tone cabinets addedThe warmth of the wood provides the perfect foil to the gorgous quartz countertops. Even the vent hood gets the warmth treatment with a little wood.

Orange County kitchen renovation after with white counters, warm shelves and bamboo barstools

This Orange County kitchen renovation brought the dream of a casual, coastal kitchen vibe to life through the use of warm tones and natural finishes. Open shelves provide a great alternative to upper cabinets and make small spaces appear larger while offering great storage.

Get an Inspired Orange County Kitchen Renovation

Ready for a kitchen renovation that brings your dreams to life? Talk to Inspired Remodels. Their design and build approach to kitchen remodeling offers all the services you need while minimizing the hassle and stress of kitchen remodeling. Call (949) 716-1938 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.

Kitchen Cabinet Contractor Tips: 3 Creative Ways to Use Cabinets

By / custom cabinets, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off on Kitchen Cabinet Contractor Tips: 3 Creative Ways to Use Cabinets

If your kitchen remodel includes new kitchen cabinetry, embrace this opportunity to amp up the functionality of your kitchen and squeeze every inch of space from the floorplan. Here are 3 kitchen cabinet contractor tips to using kitchen cabinets creatively.

Use Every Inch of Space

Corners happen. Too often, corners waste precious square inches in a kitchen design. The cabinet design pros at Inspired Remodels see corners as a challenge. These kitchen cabinet contractors turn corners into usable space.

custom kitchen cabinet contractor after pic showing corner base cabinet in cherry finish with doors open

Functional End Cabinet from Schrock Cabinets

This cabinet design turns the corner on dead space.  With doors providing access from either side of the corner, this homeowner reclaims this space in the name of storage.

kitchen contractor after pic of base corner cabinet with lazy susan

Sure, there are 90-degree corner cabinets that create a dark, cavernous storage space that create a great black hole that sucks in pantry items never to be seen again.

But a savvy kitchen cabinet contractor knows the addition of a Lazy Susan (or revolving tray) makes that space much more usable.

Now, items are easily visible and accessible with just a turn of the revolving tray. Now that’s how to turn dead space into highly usable space. This creates a perfect pantry space for baking supplies, canned goods, or even small appliances such as a hand mixer or immersion blender.

Hide the Trash

Designers may create trash bins they consider works of art. But let’s be honest. A trash can is a trash can and who wants to look at trash?

custom kitchen cabinet base cabinet with pull out for trash and recycling bins

 

Base cabinets fitted with pull-out hardware offer a way to separate kitchen trash and recycling while keeping the entire mess out of site. Smaller bins means trash never piles up for days.

Not only does this option keep air fresher than a mechanical trash compactor, it saves money as well. In addition, trash and recycling bins don’t occupy valuable floor space. Looks better, smells better, and makes better use of space.

Organize Organize Organize

Make sure your kitchen cabinet contractor tells you about all the organization options available with semi-custom and custom cabinets.

When it comes to organizing everything from cutlery to Kitchen Aids, rely on your cabinets to make it happen.

kitchen remodel with Masterbrand cutlery divider installed

Ditch those cheap plastic flatware dividers that never really fit well and opt for built-in cutler dividers to organize those knives, forks, spoons, and anything else your heart desires. Protect your silverware and keep everything neatly stored.

Keeping spices organized is only half the battle. You need to keep them stored neatly and easily accessible. A pull-out spice racks uses very little linear space in the cabinet design but returns a load of storage space.

Spices are visible and accessible from both sides. Adding this option close to food preparation areas ensures what you need is always close at hand.

orange general contractors add kitchen aid workstation and storage cabinet to kitchen remodel

If you have a passion in the kitchen, share it with your kitchen cabinet contractor. Inspired Remodels outfitted this base cabinet specifically for a busy baker. It offers storage for all the most frequently used items and keeps them together for easy retrieval. The pull-out for the beloved stand mixer also makes the best use of countertop space.

Orange County Kitchen Cabinet Contractor Designs and Builds

Inspired Remodels designs and installs custom and semi-custom cabinets throughout the Orange County California area. Schedule a consultation and find out the creative use of cabinets makes your kitchen more functional, more spacious, and more beautiful.

 

 

4 Kitchen Remodeler Tips for Picking the Right Granite

By / Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off on 4 Kitchen Remodeler Tips for Picking the Right Granite

Kitchen remodeling involves making many decisions. When it comes to picking the right granite for your countertops, follow these 4 tips from a professional kitchen remodeler. These suggestions help by reducing the options.

Kitchen remodeler after photo White and walnut kitchen with blue glass herringbone backsplash

Consider Overall Design and Décor

Take into account the overall decor and color scheme of the kitchen remodel project. Countertop granite should enhance your color scheme. A warm-toned granite countertop unifies the space and creates harmony when your walls, flooring, and cabinets are also warm tones. Likewise, a cool-toned granite countertop performs the same magic if you are seeking cool tones.

Consider the overall home design and style as well. A neutral-toned granite countertop makes a great choice for a traditional or classic home. Save bold colors for modern or contemporary homes. Pick granite that accentuates instead of competing.

kitchen remodeler adds wood flooring to kitchen

Pick a Granite Family

A savvy kitchen remodeler knows granite (like all of us) has a family. Picking your granite starts with picking the family.

This goes hand in hand with considering your color scheme.  The three primary granite families are: cool, warm, and neutral.

Neutral granite countertops include white, gray, and beige. These colors go well with many different décor styles and produce a timeless, classic appeal.

Warm granite countertops include cream, gold, and brown tones that make your kitchen feel cozier.

Blue, green, and black granite countertops create a sleek, contemporary design with their cool tones.

Pick a family and start narrowing down the possibilities.

kitchen renovation contractor uses island space to create eat-in kitchen

Think About Light and Contrast

Determine the amount of natural and artificial light in the kitchen. Rooms with abundant lighting easily handle bold and dark-colored granite. But, with dim lighting, the dark granite contributes to a dull look you certainly want to avoid.

How much contrast do you want? When creating a bold look, opt for more contrast. Pick granite that stands out and screams look at me! Select granite in a color very different from the cabinets and flooring.

If you prefer subtle contrast, choose a granite color like the cabinets and flooring.

The Best Granite Might Not Be Granite

An experienced kitchen remodeler knows the best granite for your remodel might not be granite at all. Is your kitchen home to a busy family? Does ease of maintenance factor into your decisions?

If the answer is yes to either of these questions, a kitchen remodeler that takes into account how a space is used might recommend you opt for quartz countertops instead of granite.

Quartz provides superior moisture resistance, so you spend less time and money sealing the stone. The best granite countertop for you might be a quartz countertop.

Trust Your Kitchen Remodeler

If you can’t trust your kitchen remodeler to help you pick the right granite, you need to work with a different contractor.

Inspired Remodels offers full design and build services. From initial design to finish selection, demolition to construction, and down to the final clean-up, Inspired Remodels works with you. Enjoy a single point of contact and expert project management too.