“My brother is a little older than me – he’ll be 70 soon,” Matt said. “Unfortunately his wife passed away, and he is just not in a position to live on his own. We’re doing some home renovations to make this happen, and my question is about the kitchen. How do you know when it’s time to make changes, and when is it okay to leave what seems like a perfectly serviceable kitchen as it is?”
As kitchen contractors in Wayland, we often see family changes as the main reason driving kitchen renovations. This can be the family getting smaller, such as when children move out to start their own households; fundamental structural changes like divorce or marriages; or the family growing larger, through childbirth, adoption, children moving home, other relatives including adult parents moving in, and more.
When asking yourself if your family change requires a kitchen remodel, ask yourself if the current kitchen meets the needs your family will now have. In Matt’s case, he is having one person who doesn’t do a lot of cooking move in. This is a different situation than having multiple people who will be preparing several meals a day in the kitchen join the household. Working with a kitchen designer, you can assess the functionality of your current kitchen layout and talk about what might make it work better given the new circumstances. Merging households often requires adding some additional storage to the kitchen, as well as making sure there’s enough space for everyone to work and dine together comfortably.
These remodels should take place in the context of your larger plans for the home. If you know that you’re going to be selling the home in a few years and your current kitchen is definitely dated, it makes sense to boost future selling prices by fixing problems now.