Home > Info Center > Make renovation of kitchen, bathroom work for you

Make renovation of kitchen, bathroom work for you

Judy Riley is vice president of industrial design for the Moen fixture company in North Olmsted, Ohio. Here, she answers questions about bathroom and kitchen remodeling.

Q: What advice do you have for consumers considering a kitchen or bath renovation?

A: Make sure you design the room for yourself and not for the next person who is going to live in it. If you’re tall, put in the higher countertops. If you’re short, put in the lower countertops — so you’ll enjoy the space.

Consider the new undermounted sinks that allow you to just wipe all the liquid on the counter into the sink. There’s no sink lip to deal with.

Undermounted sinks and single-hole faucets make it a lot easier to clean and maintain your sink and countertop. Once people try an undermounted sink, they never want to go back to the old style with a lip. The sinks also have a cleaner look.

And there are faucets that require that only a single hole be drilled in your countertop.

Remodeling a kitchen or bath is a major undertaking. You have to change plumbing.

In these areas, you want to spend a lot of time figuring out what you want to do in advance. These are decisions you’re going to live with for a while. It’s not like painting or changing wallpape.

Undermount sinks require a solid-surface counter, such as Corian or granite. You can’t install one in a laminate countertop. Fortunately the price has gone down on granite for the kitchen and bath.

If you want to switch to an undermount sink, you’ll probably have to change your countertop. Usually, when people change their countertops, they want to go ahead and get new cabinets too. It’s a process in which you’ll probably end up changing out the fixtures in the entire room.

Q: Can you discuss some of the prevalent trends in kitchen and bath design?

A: There’s a more modern or clean look that tends to appeal to younger people. It’s not necessarily the cold European hard-edged modern. It’s more softened. Ikea is an example of the style — kind of elegant and modern. It also works with the urban loft look that’s popular on the coasts.

There’s also a much greater variety to be found in finishes today than just a few years ago. In the past, lavatory faucets were almost always chrome. In recent years, brushed or satin nickel has become really popular. It’s up to about 30 percent of the market. It’s a pretty neutral finish that will go with almost anything.

Another popular finish — a little niche-y but still strong — is oil-rubbed bronze. It’s a coppery bronze finish that’s especially popular in the Southwest, Southeast and in areas where the Old World look is strong.

You can also expect to see a lot of pewter in faucet fixtures.

http://www.qctimes.net/articles/2006/04/22/features/home_garden/doc4449b5c536ef9435516558.txt