Top 10 kitchen remodeling trends

Bryker said her organization first reached out out to the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen in December. They haven't spoken with Landrum since then, but she says, "It is our hope that she now has a clearer picture of what we are all about.""We want her to know that the most important thing we have in common with her is that we want the people who are hungry to be fed."Need a bigger desk? You don't have to go out and buy something expensive. Often times you can just hack a dining table to work just as well if not better for less money.That's what Instructables user carloratm did. She took an IKEA Ingo—their cheap but sturdy wooden kitchen table—The SimplyRaw Kitchen cookbook and added a few extra features.

With a little simple woodwork to make the top shelf and the addition of a headphone peg also from IKEA, an awesome kitchen table desk was born.Kitchens have gone from small rooms relegated to the back of the home to the focal point of family life. They connect to our largest living spaces and speak loudly from the center of the home, offering a central gathering point for family and guests.So it's no wonder that Americans invest a lot of time and money into remodeling, updating and modernizing these spaces to their exact specifications. Houzz commissioned a survey of its members, most of whom turn to the site looking for inspiration while building or renovating their homes, and found a few trends along the way.

Countertops are the biggest change homeowners will make in their kitchens -- 94 percent of survey respondents planned to change them -- and more than half want to upgrade their appliances.Those kind of more minor remodels can recoup as much as 75 percent of the cost when the owners resell -- one of the best ways to add value to your home, according to Remodeling Magazine's 2013 Cost V. Value report. Even a gut rehab will fetch up to 70 percent of the cost in added value.The key to remodeling in a way that adds value is to make choices that will appeal to a broad number of buyers, so these kind of on-trend remodels will go a long way when reselling. If you know that nearly two-thirds of homeowners want stainless steel appliances, it's easy to assume that buyers will have very similar desires.