A recently remodeled home can make all the difference when you are trying to make your home stand out in a crowded real estate market, not to mention the joy that you will experience when your kitchen finally has all the features that you wanted.

Your kitchen remodel starts with appliances. Some of the latest “trends” in appliances have been towards incorporating more stainless steel and commercial kitchen features into residential kitchens, and this has also driven kitchen remodeling – requiring kitchens with bolder colors and cleaner lines to give the stainless steel a sleek and professional look. There are also other types of appliances that you might want to include in your luxury kitchen remodel – like wine coolers and keg taps – and they all will affect the footprint of your new kitchen and how it should best be arranged. Remember, you can save a great deal of money during your kitchen renovation by keeping your appliances in more/less the same part of your kitchen – so the old plumbing and electrical lines can be used for your new appliances so new lines don’t have to be set up.

Kitchen remodels are all about eliminating wasted steps while finding a place for all of your clutter and kitchen appliances. If you are smart about where things are stored, and the custom cabinetry that you have built in, you can locate your items by function – so you don’t need to grab a cereal bowl from one corner of the room and a cereal spoon from the other. In a good kitchen, everything has a place – and everything works together when you are cooking or cleaning up. Some other kitchen features can help with streamlining, like using glass cabinetry inserts so you can see everything in your cabinet without having to open it up – or putting your spice rack in an easily accessible place like a magnetic strip near your pantry.

Your kitchen needs to straddle the line between personalized to your tastes and appealing to potential future buyers, so choose materials and fixtures that will stand the test of time and you won’t find yourself having to replace everything when it is time to sell. A stainless steel sink and tile flooring is always a good choice – making the kitchen easier to clean and maintain – and most buyers love granite countertops and ceramic tile back splashes. On the other hand, use under cabinet lighting sparingly since the technology that goes into it is relatively new, and make sure that your custom cabinets are matched well with the rest of your house.