Thanksgiving and Your Kitchen

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and families everywhere are making last minute preparations for the biggest dinner of the year. As friends and family gather around the dinner table in a week, think back and remember the time you spent in your kitchen. Were there elements of your current kitchen that were an inconvenience to you? Things that could have been updated to streamline the chaos? It may be time for kitchen remodeling. 

Kitchen Design Ideas

Since Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year for the kitchen, it should be fairly easy to identify the elements of your kitchen that are an inconvenience. Maybe things would be easier to manage with more storage, or perhaps an island would have been an enormous help. 

Whatever it is, this time of the year is a perfect opportunity to pick up some kitchen design ideas for yourself. No one knows your kitchen better than you do, and we can help customize your space to make it more manageable, convenient and customized to meet your personal needs.   

Thanksgiving is just one of the holidays around the corner. Soon meal upon meal will be cooked up in your kitchen, which is why now is a great time to consider kitchen remodeling. For all of your kitchen remodeling needs, contact Signature Kitchens in Northern Virginia! 

Kitchen Design Ideas for Fall

The colors of fall and spring are, to me, the most noticeable and welcoming. With that being said, home interior stores run wild during this time of the year with decorations. Not only does it create that cozy, homey feel that people love, but it is also a celebration of the season.

Kitchen Design Ideas for the Fall

Buying new furniture and decorations every year can certainly add up in the long run…or the short run depending on how much you like to shop. But there are certain elements of the home that can be updated to create that same feeling that home décor stores seem to capture.

According to HGTV, chairs are the most commonly updated item in the kitchen. They can easily be painted or reupholstered to match any season of the year.

Fall foliage is another great, and small, item that can capture the look and feel of autumn. For a cheap and effective kitchen design idea, just wrap some candles in corn husks, make use of pinecones, faux oak leaves and pumpkins (real or fake) throughout your home. If you’re feeling artistic, you can even make paper leaves and utilize them in fun and interesting ways in various rooms.

Candles and wreaths also spruce up the home. It is incredibly easy to find a candle that displays fall colors and the same goes for wreaths. Wreaths can often be made with pinecones or fall foliage and are also a great and affordable kitchen design idea.

For all of your kitchen design ideas, Signature Kitchens has the kitchen elements to match. From cabinets and drawers made of real wood to small and large elements that can transform your kitchen, Signature Kitchens in Northern Virginia is a fantastic choice when it comes to your kitchen remodeling project.

Visit Signature Kitchens showroom in Haymarket, Virginia today!

For more great kitchen design ideas from HGTV, click here

 

Kitchen Design Ideas for Autumn

There is something about Fall that I love and can never quite put my finger on it. After 6 months or so of being outside during spring and summer, the weather does everything it can to force us back inside. But when a home, and especially the kitchen, are decorated for the Fall season, being inside is homey, nostalgic, and even enjoyable. 

Kitchen Design Ideas

Fall colors, especially earth tones, have a comforting quality about them and give us memories of Thanksgiving and good food.

As many home owners in Northern Virginia are preparing for their kitchen remodeling projects before the winter, begin to think about your Fall decorations in the meantime. Once the kitchen remodeling project is complete, you will be left with a completely clean and probably empty kitchen. It’s like a clean slate.

Earth tones are great for placemats, candles, and other little accessories throughout the kitchen. A good friend of mine used small twigs and fake leaves to wrap around candle holders and even chandeliers to give that extra autumn look, and is a great, inexpensive kitchen design idea.

We would love to see how you have decorated your kitchen! Feel free to post any photos to our Facebook wall along with decorating tips and kitchen design ideas.

For all of your kitchen remodeling projects this winter, contact Signature Kitchens in Haymarket, Virginia.

Kitchen Design Ideas This Football Season

Summer is almost over, unfortunately. We are only one month away until school is back in session for a number of Northern Virginia students. But with the end of summer means the beginning of fall, and with the beginning of fall, we also get football.

Football season will soon be consuming the Northern Virginia area as hopes of the Washington Redskins latest prospect are at an all time high. Football means family rooms packed with sports enthusiasts, lots of food and (probably) lots of yelling at the TV.

So if you are looking for kitchen design ideas this fall to prepare for winter holidays, look no further than football season.

As loads of people pile into your house every Sunday until January, the kitchen is sure to get a lot of use. From cooking up appetizers and halftime snacks in the kitchen to throwing a few steaks on the grill, most football fans love to eat. The football fan can run endless sprints between the TV room and the kitchen to snack on whatever is in sight.

This is a great opportunity to see how others use the kitchen, how you are using the kitchen to accommodate guests, and where you would like to see things improve.

Kitchen Remodeling

If your guests always seem to run straight into the kitchen island in between plays, you may want to consider kitchen remodeling. A full kitchen remodel will often help homeowners accommodate large amounts of guests, which can be especially helpful during holidays, parties, and football season, of course.

For all of your kitchen remodeling services and for more kitchen design ideas, visit the showroom at Signature Kitchens in Haymarket, Virginia.

Kitchen Design Ideas after the Storm

Storms have rolled through Northern Virginia in a big way the last couple of weeks, and combined with the worst heat wave the DC metro area has ever experienced, locals did all they could to stay inside during the 110 degree weather.

During that week, I spent as much time indoors as I possibly could and, maybe it was a bit of cabin fever, but I began fixing things that didn’t need to be fixed, cleaning things that I rarely clean, etc. It was also a great time, maybe for you, also, to assess the layout of your home and kitchen, and take note of some changes you would like to see.

Kitchen Design Ideas

Spending a week indoors, you will become much more familiar with your surroundings than you would ever like to be – even more so than Thanksgiving in the kitchen. That’s why it was the perfect opportunity to collect some unique kitchen design ideas.

Kitchen Cabinet Installation

Kitchen cabinet installation is often a much needed improvement to an outdated kitchen. Whether your kitchen cabinets appear worn down, or they have taken their toll physically, kitchen cabinet installation is a great way to give your kitchen a brand new look.

When searching for kitchen design ideas, it is always great to look at kitchen cabinet installation. This is your opportunity to change the location, size and color of the cabinets, and even the overall functionality, as well – if you need more drawers, larger doors, etc.

If you have a great kitchen design idea or want to speak with us about kitchen cabinet installation, we would love to hear from you at Signature Kitchens! Swing by our kitchen showroom in Haymarket, Virginia or give us a call.

Kitchen Cabinet Installation in Herndon, Virginia by Signature Kitchens

Going Green: Kitchen Renovation Ideas

Keeping up with the latest kitchen design trends can be a fun process. New designs are constantly emerging and everything from the economy and location of your home can impact the overall style of a newly built home.

One of the hottest topics for the last several years is “going green.” We hear about it from every company under the sun as businesses shift towards environmentally-friendly products and manufacturing processes.

Kitchen Renovation Ideas for “Going Green”

A trend that continues to gain more steam is incorporating renewable or recyclable products into home building, according to zillow.com. Homeowners are now requesting flooring materials that are environmentally-friendly. The most common solution to that request is bamboo. Since bamboo is considered grass and grows rapidly, it is also considered a renewable option for flooring, and a kitchen renovation idea worth remembering.

Going Green with Cabinet Installation

Gone are the days of lugging armfuls of plastic bottles and cans out to the green recycle bin in your garage. With a society that is more sensitive to recycling and reusing than ever before, homeowners are finding new ways to incorporate the process into their homes through cabinet installation. Separate receptacles for recycling are now hiding underneath kitchen islands and unassuming cabinets. Often found next to the trash can inside the cabinets, recycling bins are conveniently located and at the top of your mind while you dispose of waste.

Courtesy Flickr user erin lanigan

Incorporating the going green process into your kitchen renovation ideas can be a great benefit to the environment and your home. For all of your home’s cabinet installation and kitchen renovation needs, visit Signature Kitchens in Haymarket, Virginia.

Kitchen Remodeling: Enormous Resale Value

In the last few blogs I wrote about the increasing popularity of kitchen remodeling and some of the latest trends. How the kitchen is no longer just a room to cook and eat in, but has become a multipurpose space functioning as the home office, dining room, and the central hub of your home.

Other than the visual appeal that complete kitchen remodeling projects bring, there is a much bigger reason that you should consider updating the most important room in your home: resale value.

Remodeling magazine’s 2011-2012 Cost vs. Value Report stated that minor kitchen remodels, including new countertops, appliances, and cabinet refacing, see a national average of receiving a 72% return on investment. Major kitchen remodeling projects including flooring, lighting and cabinet installation see nearly a 66% return on investment.

These numbers are enormous. Nearly 70% of the money you invest into your kitchen, whether cabinet refacing, new countertops and the like, will be returned to you upon the sale of your home. The more current the design and functionality of your kitchen the better. Having your home up to date on the latest trends can add a ton of value to your home’s worth making for an easier sale in the long run and an enjoyable environment while you are still living in the home, as well.

Signature Kitchens specializes in complete kitchen remodeling jobs, as well as minor kitchen renovations, and everything in between: cabinet refacing, cabinet installation, custom pieces, etc. For all of your kitchen makeover needs, contact Signature Kitchens in Northern Virginia today.

Kitchen Remodeling by Signature Kitchens

Kitchen Renovation Ideas: The Trends are Shifting!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about some of the latest trends in kitchen remodeling. With such a dramatic shift in the housing market, the way our country is building and using homes has dramatically changed over the years. With this post, I hope to give you a few more kitchen renovation ideas and keep you educated on the latest trends.

Zillow.com cites another big change in kitchen remodeling. Separate dining rooms and living rooms are becoming extinct as homeowners are requesting more open floor plans. As a child, and even now, I know of very few families who still eat around the table in their dining room. In my eyes, the dining room has become just as formal as the “formal living room.” It’s hardly ever used as families are busier than ever, and do not have time to set up an elaborate meal. If they are eating together, it’s most often around the kitchen table.

An open floor plan appears to be more “free” and welcoming. If the kitchen is the central hub of the home, why not enjoy your meals in it, too? Keep this tip filed under your kitchen renovation ideas.

Kitchen Remodeling for Baby Boomers

Home building is starting to reflect the needs of the Baby Boomer generation. Having been settled in their home, these homeowners are looking towards kitchen remodeling to bring new life to their house. With that in mind, their kitchen remodeling requests are often for accessibility, wider doorways, and even lower countertops.

If you have no plans to move out of your home, remember some of these kitchen renovation ideas as you take the next step towards your kitchen remodeling project.

Call Signature Kitchens for any of your kitchen renovation needs, or stop by our showroom in Haymarket, Virginia!

Kitchen Design Ideas: The Latest Trends

Recently, Zillow, a real estate focused website, wrote an article outlining the latest kitchen design ideas and trends. As I have mentioned before, they too state that the kitchen has become so much more than what it used to be. It functions not only as a place to prepare food, but as your entertainment hub during social events, your workspace, and also a dining room. With this trend taking a drastic shift from previous years, now is a great time to consider kitchen remodeling.

Why Kitchen Remodeling in This Economy?

According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) the current economic market has lead to cutbacks in other areas of home design and overall room size, but kitchens continue to see more attention in both design and use; one reason being that kitchens, along with bathrooms, are an essential part of the home. New kitchen design ideas are taking hold as home offices become less popular, and desk work is being done around the kitchen table. The AIA says that 43 percent of architects polled saw an increase in demand for computer areas in the kitchen. Here is a home we remodeled in Herndon, Virginia.

Kitchen remodeling projects and new homes are seeing extended countertops to handle other non-typical-kitchen tasks and floor space is being added to expand the overall size. The kitchen is becoming the main source of foot traffic in the home and the room where residents spend the most amount of time.

If you see that your own lifestyle reflects the current trend, now is the perfect time for kitchen remodeling. You’re spending the most time in your kitchen, so it requires the most upkeep and attention! Call Signature WoodCrafters for affordable solutions for your kitchen remodeling project!

Great Way to Get Some Kitchen Design Ideas this Easter!

If you or your family celebrate Easter, then get ready – because it's this weekend. Every once in a while a holiday comes around that is known for its wonderfully-made, home-cooked dinners, and Easter is one of those holidays. As friends and family members flood your home this weekend, pay special attention to just how busy your kitchen gets; not just with cooking, but with socializing. Your kitchen is sure to be the focal point of a social event, and if you have been wanting to have your kitchen remodeled, now is a great time to keep your eyes open for kitchen design ideas.

Our kitchen remodeling contractors are more than happy to work with you every step of the way to make sure that your dream kitchen becomes a reality. However, the process begins a few steps before that. First you have to know what you want!

This Easter holiday, pay attention to what aspects of your kitchen are inconvenient for you. Is your cabinet placement ideal? Could you really benefit from having an island or a butcher's block? What about a counter and chairs? The best kitchen design ideas will probably come from real life experience. Would you like people to crowd around a different area of your kitchen so you can be free to cook? Think about these things this holiday so you can accurately describe your concerns and preferences to our kitchen remodeling contractors.

It may be difficult, but I would even suggest keeping a list of your kitchen design ideas throughout the day. If you are anything like the members of my family, there is zero downtime in the kitchen and if you are trying to pay attention and remember each detail for the kitchen remodeling contractors, chances are you will forget without taking the time to write down a few ideas.

Have a safe and happy Easter and call Signature WoodCrafters for your kitchen remodeling project!

Kitchen Design Ideas

When you look around your kitchen, its cabinets and counter top, and finally decide that it is time to undergo a kitchen renovation, you are left with the daunting task of coming up with an entirely new design. Kitchen design ideas are seemingly endless and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming as you begin to seriously decide on your kitchen renovation plans.

Where to Get Kitchen Design Ideas

If you are one of the lucky few who have a vision and a plan for your kitchen before you even begin the kitchen renovation project, count yourself lucky. Most people need to find inspiration for their kitchen design ideas. After all, kitchens are often thought of as the focal point in the home and people tend to congregate there during parties and social gatherings.

Kitchen design ideas can come from a number of places. One of the first places I would check out is our kitchen renovation photo gallery. There you will be able to view some great before-and-after photos of our previous work and draw some ideas from there.

Another great place to gather kitchen design ideas is at one of our 3 showrooms. Located in Haymarket, VA, Owings, MD and Elkridge, MD, these showrooms offer a ton of beautiful pieces to help inspire your own kitchen renovation. There you will be able to speak with members of our crew who will be able to point you in the right direction and offer their expertise in kitchen renovation.

Of course there are plenty of websites and magazines you can look at for kitchen design ideas as well, but sometimes for me, having the opportunity to see and touch the actual handcrafted pieces is much more inspirational when it comes to deciding on the perfect kitchen design ideas.

Stop by and visit us today, and we will be happy to show you around so you can begin your kitchen renovation project!