Cleaning Tip - Easy to clean Kitchen Renovation Tips
Kitchen renovation requires the perfect balance of beauty and function. You will more likely prefer to spend more time in your new kitchen if it works as well as it looks and is easy to keep clean!
There are so many amazing options we can chose from when renovating. If you are looking for easy clean options we have put together a few things to consider when doing your next kitchen renovation:
Handles
A beautiful flush finish without handles can look amazing, however, be aware of the cleaning practicality of finger prints across your drawers and cupboards with a push to open style.
Alternatively a mitred top edge handle can catch all the crumbs from your benchtop and deposit them into the drawers upon opening. A mitred side edge or under drawer handle can be a better option.
Doors and Drawer Finishes
Detail on your doors and drawers such as shaker or inset look beautiful but they do come with a bit more cleaning as dust and crumbs can settle in them. Flat finish drawers and doors will be easier to keep clean with a flat surface to wipe.
Benchtop
There is nothing more beautiful than a marble island bench but you need to be prepared to be more careful with the surface. A non-porous benchtop such as stainless steel, neolith or granite (the most dense of the natural stones) will make the clean up easier. If you do go with a natural stone like marble, have a really good quality sealant applied and be prepared to re-seal every couple of years to maintain the surface.
Colour
One of the reasons many kitchens are white is that it tends to be an easier colour to keep looking clean. Dark colours can tend to show the marks more easily so white or lighter coloured finishes will likely reduce your cleaning workload. Take home samples of the colour and finish and test it out with finger prints and cleaning. Does the gloss finish you love need a wipe and a polish to make it clean?
Sink
An under-mount sink is much easier to keep clean, water doesn't have anywhere to sit and form mould or catch dish grime. For easy clean, we would recommend this over an above-mount style. A flat bottomed sink can also require a little more work as the water and grime from the sink won't all naturally fall to the drain, the corners will need a bit more attention than a rounded corner sink.
Hardware
Polished taps and outlets are beautiful but can be more work as they tend to show water residue more than a matt finish surface. If you do go with a polished surface mixer have some shiny surface cleaner handy with a dry cloth to give it a buff.
Cooktop
Some people live by gas cooking but anyone with a gas cooker knows the clean up is much more arduous than a flat induction surface. You do need to pull them apart to clean all the components. We soak ours in dish cleaner and they do come up well but with an induction a quick wipe clean is all it needs.
Splashback
A flat glass or porcelain surface is always going to be easier to clean than a tiled surface with grout. If you prefer the tiled look, try to find larger format tiles where grout is lessened and prior to tiling have your tiler consider the layout and where the grout lines are going to fall. Try to avoid the grout lines right behind each hob.
Layout
When designing the layout try to work in your cabinets to the ceiling rather than having a shelf above. The amount the grease from cooking can be surprising and it will all settle on top of the cabinets.