55+ Living Fall 2021

Home & Garden

BY BRIANNA SNYDER

KITCHEN

Upgrades

What’s trending in kitchen design right now

Bigger can be better when it comes to kitchen islands. Eva Anderson of Teakwood Builders designed this kitchen.

H

aving a space that is both comfortable and inviting, as well as utilitarian, is just one reason to consider upgrading your kitchen to better fit your needs. Afterall, who wants to spend time in a space that doesn’t work or isn’t beautiful?

We asked a couple of Capital Region designers for their top tips on kitchen upgrades you can make today.

First suggestion? Make a Pinterest board.

If you have one, you already know. If you don’t have one (or don’t use Pinterest), here’s what you’ll find: pages and pages of kitchen-design inspiration to curate into your own master vision for your kitchen. Do you want a two-island Nancy Myers extravaganza? Or do you like that Pioneer Woman country-kitchen look?

“I am always asked by my clients if I think something they like is ‘trendy,’” says Andrea Langford of Andrea Langford Designs in Clifton Park. “They want to stay away from ‘trendy’ but at the same time have an

40

55+ Living | Fall 2021

up-to-date look. They want a design that will last and not go out of style in a couple of years.”

Amy Paigo, a kitchen and bathroom designer at Teakwood Builders Inc. in Saratoga Springs, says Pinterest has a major influence on what her clients have been asking for recently.

Here are Paigo’s and Langford’s top tips for changes you can make to your kitchen .

ISLANDS, ISLANDS, ISLANDS

Over the last half-century, the kitchen has become much more than a place to prepare food. It’s the entertainment space, the gathering space, the social space.

That’s generated extra demand for islands—bigger islands, even multiple islands, Paigo says.

“I’ve had a lot of people want something that’s challenging for the size of one island, so then you have to break them up into two,” she says. “One for using and one for entertaining.”