Kitchen Design Ideas
When buying real estate in Portugal, you may want to change the kitchen design of your new cottage, vacation home, beach home, or villa. Kitchens in Portugal are the heart of the home, just like they are in other homes around the world. Yet, some kitchens can seem rather cramped and crowded without much room for entertaining. After all, when family and friends visit, everyone will congregate to the kitchen, so you need to make sure your kitchen has plenty of space for everyone to eat, drink, visit, and enjoy each other’s company.
7 Kitchen Design Tips When Buying Real Estate in Portugal
Tip #1: Decide What You Want in Your Kitchen
The first thing you need to do is decide how you want the kitchen layout. Do you want a centre island with a sink and cooktop? Maybe you want a full-sized refrigerator and freezer so that you can host fabulous parties and not worry about storage space for food. No matter what you want, start by sketching out your ideal kitchen design.
Tip #2: Choose Your Appliances Wisely
Electricity can be a bit expensive in certain areas of Portugal. This is why you will find most homes have gas cookers and ranges. Some homes also have their own outdoor storage tanks for liquid propane (LP) gas, especially in more rural areas. That’s not to say you can’t have an electric induction cooktop or an electric range. Yet, operating it can cost more, so just be aware of the added utility costs.
Tip #3: Incorporate an Outdoor Patio/Dining Area
Some kitchens in Portugal have retractable doors that open off the kitchen and into gorgeous outdoor patio and dining areas. This feature expands the size of your kitchen to provide plenty of space for entertaining. If your new home doesn’t have this feature, it is not hard to renovate the kitchen to add doors for easy outdoor access.
Tip #4: Add an Outdoor Kitchen
Another popular feature found in some homes in Portugal is a covered outdoor dining area with an outdoor kitchen. These kitchens often feature wood-burning ovens and grills for preparing and cooking meals outside. If you want an outdoor kitchen, don’t forget counter space, cabinets for storage, kitchen sink, and a small refrigerator and freezer for quick access to food.
Tip #5: Incorporate the Latest Kitchen Design Trends
You do not have to keep the traditional look of your kitchen in your Portugal home. You can renovate it to reflect current kitchen design trends in the U.K., France, the U.S., or other European countries. For instance, you could install darker-colored hardwood flooring, white cabinets, and a seaside blue island.
Tip #6: Incorporate a Theme
You can also incorporate a theme into your kitchen. For example, if you just purchased a beach home, you may want to reflect elements of the beach and ocean into your kitchen design. You could use coral colours, tiles with seashell images, light-coloured bamboo hardwood flooring, and so on for the perfect beach home kitchen.
Tip #7: Don’t Make Changes if You Don’t Want To
In some cases, your new home may already have the perfect kitchen design. Yet, you may decide to update the colour of the patterned tile found in many Portugal kitchens, paint the cabinets, or replace cabinet door and drawer handles for a fresh new look. As you can tell, there really is no right or wrong way to renovate your kitchen in your new Portugal home. Just make sure you are happy with the design and have plenty of space for entertaining.
Kitchen Design Tips When Buying Real Estate in Portugal
For help finding and buying real estate in Portugal, including Comporta and Melides, and Portugal property investments, please feel free to contact Living Portugal Property at +351 92 777 1776 today!
