What’s Cooking?
Take small steps—or large strides—to give your kitchen a new look.
By Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, D.O., M.A., with James Calderwood Jr. 

She says, “I want a new kitchen. Is that ok with you?” He says, “Sure,” and continues to watch the football game. Then, as the catalogs pile up, he begins to wonder. So he asks her, “Just what is a new kitchen? And how much will it cost?” And she candidly replies, “A new kitchen can be anything you want it to be.” Now he’s worried.

A new kitchen can mean different things to different people. For some families, kitchens have become multifunctional areas used for the kids’ homework, informal entertaining, and relaxing. The great room, with kitchen, eating area, and den all in one large room, facilitates this. It may have a television, computer work area, and couch.

For other families, kitchens remain the area for cooking. The smaller, compact kitchens of the past were designed as a place to cook the family meals. Even today, a large kitchen can be a more difficult cooking space than a well-planned smaller area. You may want to confine the kitchen activity, with its inevitable noise and mess, to its own space, separate from other family activities.
 
Reflect on the different elements in your existing kitchen, and think about what your ideal kitchen would have. The oven with a broken self-cleaning feature, for example, may need to be replaced. Or, if you dream of granite countertops, you could replace only the countertops and have a new kitchen.
 
If you want to use the kitchen as a multifunctional area, consider removing non-weight-bearing walls to increase the size. Or convert a pantry area or add a porch if you want to expand the kitchen’s area. Some elements you may want to consider adding include a desk with a computer, a place for the television or stereo, a bookshelf for cookbooks, and a laundry area.

If you do decide to renovate the entire space, plan each element, and think about how the elements will go together. For example, you will need appliances, cabinets, countertops, sinks and faucets, flooring, and possibly even windows and doors. Visit several kitchen displays in design centers or model homes. Talk with friends who have made recent changes, and learn from their experience. Also, kitchen designers can be extremely helpful.

Cost probably will have the most impact on your final decisions. Renovating a kitchen can be expensive, but there are ways to control costs. In general, the less you do, the less you pay. For example, you can change the look of the entire space by painting your cabinets, which will cost a fraction of the price of new cabinets.

Other types of changes are expensive and can be structurally difficult in an older home. For example, moving plumbing and electrical work can result in unforeseen complications and costs. Moving walls, especially weight-bearing ones, can be a complex structural challenge. A bump out—removing an exterior wall to add more interior space—can require design expertise to ensure structural stability and consistency with the exterior facade.

Though simple changes can be done by do-it-yourselfers, most kitchen remodels require professional help, both in design and construction. Be prepared for the time it will take. The delivery of new cabinets alone, for example, can take two months. There are endless decisions before the project is complete—try to make the process fun and enjoy the final result. Bon appétit!