Flooring usually accounts for around six percent of your budget. Keep in mind that wood is warm but wears easily — it's only the best choice if you don't have too much traffic coming through the room. Antico is an alternative that looks like wood but is more durable.
Countertops will take up around 14 percent of your budget and surface choices are virtually limitless, from age-old laminates to poured concrete. Your best choice: the timeless look and durable character of granite. It's beautiful, it's natural and it's very easy to maintain. You can even pick your own slab if you live near a warehouse.
The latest place to get creative in the kitchen is the backsplash. When you're cooking, that's what you're looking at, so make it enjoyable and maybe a little surprising.
Color in the kitchen is fantastic, so give it a splash, particularly if your design includes a lot of stainless.
Looking for a stainless-steel sink? The lower the gauge number, the higher the quality, so an 18-gauge is best — but it will set you back a bit more than the 22-gauge you can get at your local home center.
There are a lot of lighting innovations available, but some bulbs can be expensive and hard to find, so research the cost of replacements before you commit.
To save on appliances, buy them all at one store if the place will give you a 20 percent discount.
Just a few appliance innovations include the "dish drawer," a half-size dishwasher that you don't have to wait to fill up, and fancy wine coolers. The coolest appliance is the magnetic stovetop — its pots are specially designed to react to magnets located in the stove and the stovetop itself stays room temperature during cooking.
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