Wednesday, February 10, 2016
More activities than ever take place in the kitchen—so much so that a new movement has emerged. “Super kitchens,” coined by Houzz.com and revealed in its recently released Kitchen Trends Survey, blur the lines between the heart of the home and other living spaces.“The modern ‘super kitchen’ supports family, friends and work and does it in style,” says Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “Our findings show that homeowners expect kitchen renovations to go far beyond improving flow, storage or aesthetics. The ‘super kitchen’ has literally become a living room, family room and office, with finishes, layouts and decor that challenge us to define where the kitchen ends and the rest of the home begins.”
According to the survey, homeowners have adapted their kitchens to serve a multitude of needs, including:
• Dining Space (69 percent)
• Entertainment Space (49 percent)
• Space for Socializing (43 percent)
• Homework Space (25 percent)
• Space for Television Viewing (19 percent)
• Reading Space (14 percent)
To meet these needs, homeowners have adjusted the layout of their kitchens—46 percent have made the space completely open to other interior rooms, and one in five were opened to the outdoors. Thirty-five percent of homeowners renovated their kitchens into a U-shaped layout; 28 percent remodeled their kitchens into an L-shaped layout.
Homeowners have also added features traditionally reserved for living and dining rooms to their super kitchens, including:
• Dining Tables (25 percent)
• Chandeliers (23 percent)
• Televisions (14 percent)
• Desks and Workspaces (7 percent)
Why the shift to super? Aside from necessity, many homeowners report simply being unable to stand their outdated kitchen—a motivation that surpassed budget concerns. Approximately half of homeowners (52 percent) spent $25,000 or less on kitchen renovations; nearly identical percentages (31 and 30 percent, respectively) spent $25,000 to $50,000 or $50,000 or more on kitchen renovations.
Source: Houzz
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