High-ROI kitchen cabinets: designing for the sale

by Karl Fendelander
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

It might be ten, fifteen or even twenty years out, but unless you're planning on be buried in the backyard, chances are good that you've considered selling your home at some point down the line. The upgrades, remodels and renovations you complete now can have a dramatic effect on how your home does on the market when the time comes -- not to mention how much your home is appraised for.

According to Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value Report 2013, kitchen remodels have some of the highest returns on investment of any project:

• Minor kitchen remodel: 75.4 percent ROI
• Major mid-range kitchen remodel: 68.9 percent ROI
• Major upscale kitchen remodel: 59.7 percent ROI

If you want your kitchen remodel to fall in the upper ranges of return, you need to keep costs fairly low without sacrificing quality, and opt for an up-to-date design. Generally speaking, all new kitchen cabinetry should run about half of a kitchen renovation budget. Refacing cabinetry rather than replacing can take those costs way down while giving you comparable results. A good contractor can minimize the amount of entirely new cabinetry that your kitchen needs to look its best and cover up the existing frames. Because the frames don't move around and are always protected by doors, they tend not to take too much in the way of wear and tear, and they've typically got many, many good years left in them.

You definitely don't always want to follow trends, but you do want your kitchen to look nice for years to come and not smack of decades long passed. Here are some of the newer design trends that aren't so wild that they'll date your kitchen but are sure to pique the interest of a few prospective buyers when you're ready to sell:

1. Quality: This one never goes out of style. Put some of the money you're saving on refacing back into the cabinets, and get nice hardware for drawers and doors.
2. Smart design: While dark, cramped kitchens were definitely a thing for a while, it's hard to call them a trend. Open floor plans just feel better, and bright kitchens feel cleaner, not to mention happier.
3. Symmetry and balance: If you're refacing, you won't be able to do too much in the way of reshaping cabinets. That said, wherever possible you should try to keep elements like drawers and doors looking similar to each other in size and style.

Talk to a contractor about blending money savings and good style to make your kitchen look its best for you and for the next people to love your home.

About the Author
Karl Fendelander cut his teeth on web writing in the late nineties and has been plugged in to the newest technology and tuned in to the latest trends ever since. With an eye for design and an ear for language, Karl has created content and managed digital media for startups and established companies alike. When he unplugs, Karl can be found biking about town and hiking and climbing throughout the West.