the look of granite and quartz. Using the same material for the backsplash can also help give a modern look to your kitchen at a fraction of the cost. One project to take on if there is any room in the budget is to get rid of any choke points. The kitchen is often a high traffic area with people having to pass through it to get from one end of the house to another. Considering this, it is somewhat surprising that it was once common to have a peninsula come out directly across from the refrigerator. The refrigerator is one of themost commonly used parts of the kitchen and is frequently being opened for snacks or gathering food to cook whatever meal is coming up next. This creates a natural bottleneck that should be removed by moving either the peninsula or the fridge. SINK The sink is easily the most-used area of any kitchen. From dumping unfinished beverages to cleaning dishes, washing hands, or getting a drink of water, any homeowner visits their sink several times a day. As such, it should be one of the more eye-catching parts of your kitchen as well. The simplest thing that can be done to modernize a sink is to replace the faucet. Go with something contemporary with multiple spray settings, an extendable nozzle, and a built-in filter. If you’re also doing the countertops anyway, consider spending a bit of money to entirely replace your old sink with a modern under-mount sink. These result in a cleaner-looking counter and even make cleaning said counter easier, since food can be swept straight from the counter into a sink with a garbage disposal. LIGHTING The earlier advice on lighting still applies here: increase your wattage and efficiency by replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs, and consider an update to your fixtures. There are some kitchen-specific ideas to consider though.
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