5 Tips for Achieving A Timeless Kitchen Renovation

One of the top requests Holly Thompson Design gets from clients is for a timeless kitchen renovation. Most people renovating their kitchen only want to do it once, and want to get it right. Usually the kitchen they have is primarily described as “outdated,” which highlights why timelessness is important. If a kitchen’s primary flaw is datedness, then a timeless one should solve the problem once and for all.

In reality, though, it’s not quite that simple. Once a lot of people decide they like a certain style, it will eventually be dated, no matter how “timeless” they though they original design was. Here are a few tips for creating actual timelessness.

1. Choose Quality Materials

Choosing quality materials is a huge protection in the quest for a timeless kitchen renovation. There are a lot of finishes people have grown to hate over the decades, but this hatred has been primarily aimed at low-quality finishes.

Take brass, for example. Real brass has been around forever, and it’s expensive and beautiful. Fake brass, on the other hand, is really just a cheap coating that went over low-quality faucets, light fixtures, and other home materials in the 1980s and ’90s. Therefore, everyone thought they hated brass.

However, if you steer clear of fake finishes, your choice—no matter what you choose—will look good well into the future, creating a timeless kitchen renovation.

2. Don’t Do What Everyone Else is Doing

This should be a no-brainer. If everyone is doing something, it’s a trend. Trends come and go, and the more people who choose a specific look at a certain time, the more likely you’re able to “date” it by just looking at it. Can you describe a stereotypical kitchen from the ’70s? How about the ’80s? ’90s? 2000s? If so, then you are familiar with what everyone liked at the time.

It’s hard to imagine how it was possible that everyone loved trend “x”, but they did and now it’s burned into our collective memory. Sometimes this is difficult because we all seem to like the same thing at the same time. Still, if you can steer clear of doing exactly what you are seeing a lot of, then your kitchen renovation should have the lasting power of timelessness.

3. Keep Your Cabinetry Timeless

This tip applies to anything in your kitchen that’s difficult to change. Cabinetry is your biggest kitchen expense, and because your countertops aren’t cheap either, doing your cabinetry right in the first place is essential.

Keep your cabinetry simple to survive many style changes. Simple cabinetry can be dressed up or down with a change in backsplash, hardware, or even wallpaper. Remember the themed kitchens from the early 2000s? Unless you lived in a real Tuscan villa, these kitchens didn’t age well, and it’s difficult to un-see some of the ornate cabinetry.

Keep your cabinets simple, and change other elements around them to enjoy passing styles without having an outdated kitchen. Instead, you’ll be able to maintain that timeless look for your kitchen renovation.

4. Make Sure Your Timeless Kitchen Renovation Goes with Your House

Kitchens age best when they look like they belong in the house. If your house is traditional and you put in a mid century modern kitchen, it will look odd, especially over time. The same situation will occur if you put a rustic farmhouse kitchen into a mid century house.

Determine what style your house is (or is trying to be), and plan a kitchen that fits it. Or, at least plan a kitchen that doesn’t defy the original style of your house. Kitchens look current the longest when they make sense with the house. This doesn’t mean the kitchen can’t be “you”; it just means it’s “you” with some guardrails to prevent your kitchen from looking like it doesn’t belong.

5. Plan Your Kitchen for Function, Not Style

Having style in a kitchen is essential. But function comes first. Planning a functional kitchen means it won’t be obsolete in a few years when the trend has passed, but instead will stay as a timeless kitchen renovation.

Take open shelving, for example. If it makes sense for the function of your kitchen, use it. If it doesn’t, then don’t, because a lot of your kitchen wall space will be inefficient. Open shelving in a kitchen can look either timeless or trendy, and which one will depend on whether it’s working for your kitchen or not.

What things do you think help create a timeless kitchen renovation?

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