Every room in a home has a distinct function. While some home buyers make an empty room serve a specific function (i.e. a game room, an office, or a studio), other rooms are designed for a particular utility.
Looking at kitchens in this light, readers of the blog can appreciate that the room made to make food and drinks or store such consumables has to meet the right requirements for people on the market. In the last blog, we examined the desired features for a living room, and put together a series of questions to help Nashville renters pinpoint exactly what kind of qualities they’re looking for when inspecting their options. In this blog, we’re going to ask questions to help outline the checklist for a suitable kitchen.
Kitchen Space
The desired size of a kitchen depends on how you want to use it. What kind of cooking and dining do you plan on doing in your new home? Are you a gourmand who loves to cook and explore new flavors? Or are you more of a minimalist who just needs a few shelves and a fridge to house your wares? If you have a lot of things that you plan on doing - such as frequent food prep for dinner with friends or regular social events that need to hold your barware and liquors - then you should plan on getting a kitchen that can hold lots of people and things. What kind of furniture or cooking implements are you planning on moving into the new home? Do you have shelving, appliances, or furniture items like a hutch that need prominent display? And are you going to have the right floor plan that allows for storage of all of this?
Take a moment and visualize how frequently you want to use your kitchen.
Cabinets, Counters, and Sinks (Oh My!)
Your kitchen may be the most move-in ready room in the whole home. As most locations you’ll visit will have their pre-installed features, there shouldn’t be too much that has to be done to the space.
For instance, the cabinets of the kitchen shouldn’t require much in the way of being ready to store your food. Save for maybe putting cabinet liners or small touches into place, your cabinets should be ready to go, unless of course you have special needs for the ankle-level and above-the-level spaces.
How much space will you need to store your plates, glasses, and food items? Are the cabinets big enough for your needs? How about the actual installation of the cabinets? Do they look sturdy? Is their presentation acceptable, or did the craftsmen leave behind inadequate work? And would you be comfortable opening the doors to grab something?
Just like the cabinets, the counters for a kitchen will help those looking at a new home figure out if it is a great choice. The countertops are the most identifying marker in the whole kitchen, adding personality through the color and material out of which they’re made. There’s a lot to consider with this as well.
How much countertop space do you need? What do you plan on putting on the countertops, and will you have enough room with the current layout? What material are the countertops made of? How easy or hard will they be to clean? And will they scratch easily? Or do they appear to be resilient to regular use? Do the dimensions of the countertops look like they’ve been installed the proper way, or do you notice any markers of incomplete or unprofessional work in the final product?
And how about the sinks? Are they clean? Leaky? Do they look like they would be hard to use or hard to clean? Do you have a major need for a garbage disposal? How about a kitchen sink spray nozzle? How well does that work? If you open the cabinet(s) below the sink, what are you looking at? Is the area clean? Do you see any signs of damage, such as that of a water leak? Do you notice any signs of debris, bugs, or anything else that might be problematic?
Here’s a tip: Don’t ever be afraid to do a once-over for a kitchen space. It’s helpful to see as much of the space as you can, and if you’re touring a home, don’t be shy about moving things around to make sure that you get a feel for the kitchen space. Stand in multiple spots, and get multiple views of the area being demoed. If you see anything that catches your attention, mention it. The people selling the home are there to assist you, and occasionally issues or items get missed. What might feel like an awkward moment for the consumer is a helpful note for the person showing the home, and a home seller should be able to incorporate the feedback.
Next, we’ll discuss one of the most overlooked parts of a home: The Bathroom.
