Kitchen Remodeling Planning Guide

Hi! I'm Jenny Wright. As a designer and mother of two, I know that the kitchen is the spot in the home where parents and kids get together. I also know that creating a kitchen that's stylish, functional, and kid friendly could be a major design challenge. That's why I filled this remodeled kitchen with tons of great kid-friendly ideas that will work for your family too. Every surface in the kitchen with kids needs to stand up to wear and tear. Laminate flooring and kitchens has 3 major pluses in my book. It's easy on your budget, it's durable, and now it's available in many great patterns. Speaking of pattern, lightly pattern surfaces hide spills and dust perfect if you have kids. This kitchen's original flooring, dark cabinets and countertops showed every crumb. New textured gray laminate countertops camouflage spills. Soft color makes any room more enjoyable including the kitchen. All the cabinets and webwork in this kitchen were primed with XIM from Sherwin Williams and then coded in colorful, oil-based paints. Yes priming and working with oil-based paint takes a bit more time, but the result is an incredibly durable finish that will stand up to anything your kids can dish out. The new appliances in this kitchen please the parents without forgetting the needs of the kids. Ice and water dispensers let kids easily take care of their beverage needs. We also installed a hot water dispenser which lets mom fix kid-friendly snacks like instant oatmeal and hot coco in a flash. These new, ready-to-assemble cabinets from IKEA are easy for kids to open and close. They hold cereal and snacks as well as tableware so kids can help the table at mealtime. With the house full of on-the-go kids, minimize sharp corners by choosing materials and furniture with rounded edges. For example, in this kitchen we gave laminate countertops angled edging and we chose a round table in the breakfast area. To showcase photos and kids' art projects, we installed this picture ledge in the dining area. Think of this spot as an ever changing art gallery. Whether eating, snacking, playing games, or doing homework projects, kids need places to sit in the kitchen. This room gives kids lots of options including 2 slip-covered bar stools that pull up to a new snack bar. Just toss these white covers into a washing machine with some bleach and you're good to go. In the dining area, we included a cozy upholster banquet and 5 plastic chairs. Although these chairs were designed to be outdoor patio furniture, their cool style works indoors too. Plus you can just take them outside and wash them down after a messy spaghetti dinner. There you have it, 10 ways to get a kitchen that's both stylish and kid-friendly. Now if you could just get the kids to clean up their dishes after meals, we've set for the perfect kitchen. I'm Jenny Wright with Better.tv.