Kitchen Views' Blog

This kitchen designed by Lee Turner for The Wiese Company won an EM-NARI CotY award for “Best Kitchen Remodel.” Photo © Kitchen Views

With multiple generations occupying many homes today, in-law apartments have become popular additions. They are often small, but functional. If it’s not quite functional, however, you may be looking to remodel the space to make it more so. You may be wondering what you should budget for such a remodel and what should go into it.

It’s possible you may have bought a home that already had an in-law suite. But the kitchen may be outdated when compared to the rest of the house. This is actually not all that uncommon. To be fair, in-law apartments should be as close to the style of the rest of the house as possible, especially if it is its own separate living space. But sometimes, the other kitchen becomes where all of the old appliances and many of the other useful items from the previously remodeled kitchen end up. If they are still reasonably functional, you may just need to give the space a facelift.

The major trend today with in-law apartments is to make them handicap accessible and use universal design elements. Especially with aging in-laws, you want to make sure that the kitchen is usable by everyone. Some in-law kitchens may be more like kitchenettes stacked up against one wall, with perhaps some counter space. Depending on the size of the space, this may be enough, especially if it’s easily accessible. You don’t want to put a huge island in an in-law suite kitchen. You want to maximize the available square footage and not make the kitchen take up too large of a percentage.

The other thing to keep in mind is if the in-law apartment will be used on a regular basis or only for part of the year. In-law apartments, especially when separate from the rest of the living space, can also serve later as rental space. So you want to have the best kitchen possible for the small space. Not only is an upgraded, but budget-conscious, kitchen good for your home’s value, but it makes for a pleasant experience for your guests, and potential renters, as well.

Kitchen Views
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