Tips: Kitchen Counters & Renovation

If you’ve been shopping at Lowe’s or Home Depot as much as we have, you know there are lots of choices to update the kitchen. In almost every home we flip, we update the kitchen counters and add a complementary backsplash. While there aren’t as many choices for the granite countertop, there are so many backsplash choices, all creating a different look in the kitchen. So, let’s look at some of the combinations we’ve done in our houses …

We didn’t change the countertops in the house at 2315 S Chester, but we added this white block backsplash that I loved with these dark cabinets. (I loved these original windows in this Craftsman home, don’t you?)

One of the things we have to take into consideration, just as you, is the installation cost. Backsplash squares usually cost less to install than individual tiles. Another consideration is the grout color. Your kitchen will look entirely different by just using a different grout color. We don’t use the ones advertised as “easy stick-ons”, because those simply don’t hold up over the years like the ones that are glued on.

We loved the house in west Little Rock at 24 West Oak. This house had a beautiful island in the center of a large kitchen, but with basic countertops. We added these beautiful granite countertops all around the kitchen and in the bathrooms. The backsplash was colored stones that complemented this kitchen beautifully.

In this project, we had originally picked another backsplash, when our contractor showed us these gorgeous smooth stone squares. What a beautiful finished project.

Another tip we’ll give you for updating cabinets is you can easily just order new cabinet doors or just update the hardware on the doors and drawers to create a new look for your updated kitchen.

This North Little Rock home at 3809 Cypress needed granite countertops, a backsplash, new cabinet doors, and new pulls for the cabinet doors and drawers. The group we used on all these backsplash was a bone color. But, just imagine a darker color, how it would change the look!

Another update for this kitchen was that beautiful white hood over the stove. This home had a basic silver colored hood that was looking pretty worn. This new hood because a feature that everyone loved, but it also gave lots of light to area, as you can see in this picture.

This is just a few of our projects. I’d love to see any updates or special backsplashes you’ve done in your home. Small updates like this will increase the value of your home when you’re ready to sell. But, I always say, DO IT NOW, so you can enjoy the beauty before you’re ready to move to another home!