Should You Expand Your Kitchen?

Some homeowners who are looking at a major residential upgrade look at their kitchen and wonder if the current size is actually sufficient. Sometimes, they ask, “Who does kitchen remodeling near me,” to find a contractor to help them with this major project.

But how do you know when you’re kitchen is big enough and when it may be time to think about tearing down a wall or two and expanding the size?

Older Homes Have Smaller Kitchens

The age of a home is one of the biggest factors in determining the size of the kitchen. Modern homes from the get-go will obviously appeal to modern sensibilities, and today, a larger kitchen space is what people prefer. However, before the 21st century, this was only sometimes the case.

It was really only about 40 years ago, in the 1980s, that the drive toward larger kitchens started as a trend. Before this, older homes, right up until the mid-20th century, regarded the kitchen primarily as a workspace, usually for only one person, a housewife. Because of that design consideration, kitchens were smaller, utilitarian areas designed for one person to efficiently prepare meals and then bring them out to the dining room.

Today, kitchens are larger and serve more purposes than just food preparation. In addition, it’s also no longer a given that it only needs to be large enough for one woman to move around in and work by herself. Today’s kitchens may have many users/helpers at the same time, as well as be used as the dining area, and in some cases, also be used as miscellaneous workspaces for children doing homework or parents doing some work at home if a home office is not there, or currently in use by someone else.

Your Size

Typically, older mid-century kitchens have smaller spaces that average about 80 square feet. Modern kitchens start at about 100 square feet and may go up to 200. So the question of whether or not to expand your kitchen comes down to two factors. How old your home is, and what you would like to do with the space.

If you own a mid-century home or older, and it hasn’t been renovated to modern standards, you may want to think about knocking walls down, especially if there’s an adjoining dining room. The contemporary sensibility is that homes under 1500 square feet will have a kitchen size that’s a little over 100 square feet. Larger homes over 3000 square feet will have kitchens of about 400.

In the other part of the equation, what you want to do with the space depends on your use case. If you’re living alone and don’t use the kitchen much, preferring to mostly eat out or prepare easy meals that only require microwave or oven heating, you may not need a larger space. However, a larger area makes more sense if you’ve got a family where more than one person cooks or cooking is done by multiple people simultaneously, or there’s a need for an additional workspace.

If you’re asking, “who does kitchen remodeling near me,” and want help with your kitchen project, contact us today.