Pros and Cons for kitchens

The style of your kitchen is your personal choice, but it shouldn’t just be a reflection of your likes and dislikes, you also need to consider how the kitchen style will contribute to the vibe of your home.

Country kitchen of natural timber, bright coloured plastics and tin inspired from the 1950s, modern and clean stainless steel or even earthy ceramics. There are so many options..

Choosing Kitchen Units (Cupboards and Surfaces)

The biggest question to ask is ready-made or custom designed? While there are plenty of good quality ready-made kitchen units on the market you may find that the choice is still somewhat limited. Custom designed kitchen units may cost more, but if your quest it to be unique, then this is the way to go. Creating your own style will also take longer than selecting a factory standard, but it will also be more fun.

If you want to try for a DIY, less expensive option, consider shopping around at second hand furniture stores, auctions and estate sales. You may find furniture that was never intended for kitchen use, such as Victorian washstands, bedside cabinets, chest of drawers, wardrobes, or desks, but with a little creativity you could turn some of these items into beautiful pieces for your kitchen. Can you imagine an antique oak wardrobe where the hanging space has been converted to shelves to be used as a pantry in your kitchen?

The Kitchen Walls

Paint is the cheapest and most practical when it comes to wall coverings. Consider vinyl or acrylic paint as this is the easiest to apply and to clean.

If you have an older house, and the wall surfaces are in poor condition, then you could consider using a good wallpaper, just make sure that it is also vinyl coated so that you won’t have difficulty cleaning it.

Another creative (but more old-fashioned) approach is to use vinyl flooring on the walls. I wouldn’t recommend doing the whole kitchen like this, but it could look good above the stove or around the sink as a feature, if you choose the right colours and it matches the theme you are aiming for.

Tongue and groove timber will also make a nice feature wall in a country themed kitchen.

If you want to go with a look that won’t date too easily and is also durable and easy to clean, then you can never go wrong with ceramic tiles. Just be weary of tiling the whole kitchen from floor to ceiling as this may give your kitchen an overly sterile look, especially if the tiles are in white.

Wall Covering Type	Advantages	Disadvantages
Paint	Cheapest Most practical Easy to apply Easy to clean	Repaint every 5 years
Wallpaper	Nicely covers walls that are in a poor condition Adds to uniqueness	Hard to clean unless vinyl coated
Vinyl Tiles	Unique	Old-fashioned, may hurt resale
Timber Paneling	Great for a country kitchen theme Durable	Needs to be treated, varnished and/or given wood food regularly
Ceramic Tiles	Long-lasting Good for resale (if the right ones are chosen)	Can create an overly sterile look if done wrong

The Kitchen Floor

The number one thing to consider when choosing a kitchen floor is to look out for long-lasting and easy to clean options. The older style houses used vinyl, and for good reason. It is easy to clean and lasts for years if properly taken care of. Quarry tiles and wood floors are also excellent options. Bamboo may be one of the most expensive, but there is good reason for this as if you buy the right age it is stronger than most hard-wood floors.

Carpeting in the kitchen is a thing of the past, and anybody with small children or pets will tell you how difficult it is to keep it clean. If you really dream of a carpeted kitchen, then rather consider area carpets. These are much easier to clean, and won’t hurt the resale value of your home.

Another trend with massive appeal is to have polished and stained concrete floors in the kitchen. This is brilliant if you are going for an industrial look and it is by far the cheapest option.

Flooring Type	Long-Lasting?	Easy to clean?	Warnings
Vinyl	✓	✓	May be considered old-fashioned by some, but if it suits your theme/budget go for it.
Quarry Tiles	✓	✓	Can be pricy
Wood Floors (including Bamboo)	✓	✓	Needs to be properly cared for, and can be pricy
Carpeting	✗	✗	Terrible if you have small children and pets
Concrete	✓	✓	Can be cold
Other Tiles	✓	✓	They can break and chip, so make sure you buy good quality.

For Kitchen Décor idea’s, follow our Kitchen Décor board on Pinterest