 | Art Bryan
is president and owner of Southwestern Remodeling Contractors, Inc. Art started Southwestern Remodeling Contractors in 1970. Southwestern is a fully-licensed residential and commercial licensed general contractor in Wichita and the surrounding counties. Art has been a member of the Wichita Area Home Builders Association and the National Remodel Council since 1974. In mid-2000 Southwestern received the distinction of being named one of the "Top 25 Most Diversified Remodeling Companies in the United States.” Southwestern is listed as the 84th Top Remodeler in the country by Qualified Remodeling Magazine. Art can be contacted at his office at (316) 263-1239, fax at (316) 263-6230, or you can e-mail him at ARTSWR@aol. Com |
Home Improvement
2001-07-01 16:07:00
When space isn’t there
Question: My wife and I have a beautiful home. We love to show it off. The only problem is that we feel our kitchen is too small, from both an aesthetic standpoint and functionality. This problem is further complicated by the fact that we have no room to do a room addition. What can we do?
Answer: This happens more frequently than you might imagine. There are several ways to enlarge or enhance a kitchen when there is no room to do a room addition.Today's kitchen trend is toward opening the kitchen onto living rooms, family rooms and dining rooms. More and more people are moving away from the living room and gathering in the kitchen.One solution is to borrow the space from the rest of the house. Many times there will be a closet, porch or bedroom that is no longer needed, that can be used to enlarge the space. Sometimes people will feel this is not possible because a wall is load-bearing. Normally this is not a problem because a beam can be installed either below the ceiling joist or in the attic to carry the weight so the wall can be removed. The space can be separated by an island or peninsula, which still allows for storage space, which opens up the area. This may mean one less wall for appliances or cabinets, but with the replacement of older, less-functional cabinets with newer, more space-utilizing cabinets... the loss will be negligible. The use of built-in appliances can also save space. With choices from a built-in blender, microwave, or coffee pot, to a side-by-side refrigerator, your design options are endless.Cabinet costs can vary from the low end... by replacing door and drawer fronts with solid wood and adding new formica counter tops and backsplash... to the higher end with solid wood boxes, as well as solid wood door and drawer fronts and adding hard surface counter tops such as Corian or Granite. Custom cabinets can blend with your existing cabinets or you can completely change your style.Then again, you may want to change the lay out of the existing kitchen and install new cabinets throughout. There are many new styles available now that can increase the usable storage space and make things more accessible.You can add visual space by opening up door ways. This not only gives the impression of more space, but it can also create a better traffic flow in and around your kitchen. You may even consider doing away with door openings altogether.All of these options may be ‘seen’ prior to work beginning by having computer design layouts printed. This gives you a visual concept of what the possibilities.Sometimes just making the kitchen ‘feel larger’ can work. You can accomplish this by adding a skylight or bay window at the sink, to let in more light, visually giving the feeling of more spaciousness. You can also add a fireplace area, making your kitchen a more inviting center point for socializing.It is also good to mention that remodeling a kitchen can make good economic sense. No matter what you choose to do in updating your kitchen, the return on investment in the Midwest, stated in the nationally recognized magazine Remodeling, is 72% for major remodel and 78% for minor remodel. These percentages are even higher in Wichita.
