The kitchen is probably the one that costs the most compared to every room in the house. That is due to the high number of appliances staying in this area. It is understandable because there are many tools we need to use to serve food to the family.
However, you can make your situation better by making wise decisions about buying them. To get the best value, we must consider many aspects, including function, looks, and price.
Will New Appliances Increase Home Values?
Many years ago, homeowners would bring all their furniture and appliances along when they move, leaving the old house empty when they resell it. Sometimes, they would leave some old appliances that they did not plan to continue using. This practice was okay by then. But the trend has changed a lot now.
Appliances and furniture can be a vital aspect of a property. People hire the service of professional interior designers to pick and arrange things inside their house. Hence, these things become a lot more valuable to the current house. Furthermore, most homebuyers prefer fully-furnished houses over empty ones so they can just move in right away.
Hence, every single thing in the house becomes something important to consider, including the kitchen appliances. Having an old CFC fridge and bulky gas stove left at the house during the resale process will make prospective buyers bargain significantly harder.
On the other hand, a home with sleek and advanced kitchen appliances will be more appealing during the home sale. Sophisticated kitchens offer the ultimate cooking experience, which makes the house look even more comfortable to live in. Even people who are not big fans of cooking can easily fall in love with a savvy kitchen.
What are the Top 5 Kitchen Appliance Brands?
Choosing which unit to buy is not easy even if you know what appliance you want to buy. While it might be easy to filter your choices with the specification, you might still bet on the longevity and quality it brings. One of the easiest ways to distinguish it is by looking at the brand. Some brands have much better reputations than others, based on the sales histories. So here are the brands you can count on:
1. Whirlpool
Kitchen appliances from Whirlpool are famous for their durability. Out of the kitchen gadgets sold in a year, only about 4.5% of them were brought for servicing. This brand is most favorable to people with limited budgets wanting to invest in high quality and long-lasting appliances for their kitchen.
The American company also owns a few other brands such as Jenn-Air, Maytag, Inglish, KitchenAid, and many other more. The products of its child-companies are also famous for their top-notch quality.
2. KitchenAid
KitchenAid has been popular since it was first introduced in 1918, with some people stating that the brand's mixer is "the best kitchen aid I ever had." While most appliance companies have a wide range of appliances, KitchenAid remains to focus only in the kitchen.
Whirlpool Corporation purchased this company in 1986 from Hobart Corporation. Even though these two companies are manufacturing appliances, both continue to run on their own. KitchenAid appliances offer unique designs in industrial style. It is such an impressive idea considering that their first appliances were invented for the military.
3. LG
The South Korean brand is still somewhat new in kitchen technology, although they have been manufacturing the refrigerator since the beginning. However, the brand is quick to catch up in the market. Surprisingly, LG won first place in customer satisfaction ratings for a few kinds of appliances in laundry and kitchen, including refrigerators, dishwashers, range, and microwave.
LG was born by the name GoldStar as an aftermath of the Korean War. The company was manufacturing appliances to rebuild society after the bitter war ended. They changed the company name in 1995. And currently, LG has a wide range of product variations to sell, including smartphones and washing machines.
4. Samsung
Another South Korean brand that is worth considering for its kitchen appliances is Samsung. Although the company originally focused on smartphones and TV, their kitchen appliances happen to be the best-selling in the US.
What makes the brand unique is how Samsung kitchen appliances can complement each other. If you consider buying one of the appliances, you can consider buying the other ones as well. Samsung even offers a whole kitchen package with better efficiency than if you pair Samsung appliances with other brands.
5. Bosch
If you want to have a premium brand with outstanding quality, Bosch is the choice you must go for. Just like any other German products, Bosch is well-known for its high quality and strength. The brand is also notable for its excellent customer service and warranty.
Although the price is rather high if compared to other brands, Bosch always includes savvy technology that makes their products even more effective. For example, the Bosch range has self-cleaning technology and an overheating prevention system, and a cooling fan. They also offer their appliances in various sizes to match with your kitchen requirements.
What are the 4 Best-Value Kitchen Appliances Every New Homeowner Should Have?
People are getting overwhelmed by the plenty of kinds of kitchen appliances offered in the market. Not to mention that some types of them have overlapping purposes. It is hard to choose which ones are the most worth spending money on. Here are the best-value kitchen appliances you can invest in your cooking haven:
1. Kitchen Range
A kitchen range refers to a unit of the counter-top stove with an oven underneath. This appliance offers a better value than buying stoves and ovens individually. It is compact, so it does not take much space in your kitchen. Moreover, it costs less than buying two separate appliances.
If interior design matters a lot for you, buying a range would be an effective way to save time. Most ranges have pretty designs. It is also easy to find one with the best performance. On the contrary, it would take quite an effort to find both a stove and an oven with matching design and performance as you expect.
2. Refrigerator
This one is a no brainer. It is nearly impossible in this era to have a kitchen without an effective refrigerator. The chilling storage is more than just for turning your beverages cold. The low temperature can avoid bacteria growing on your foods and rot them. Keeping your food ingredients and dishes in the fridge will allow them to stay fresh for a longer time. Without a refrigerator, you can't buy food ingredients in bulk because you have to consume them all right away before they turn bad.
Refrigerators come in various sizes to match each family's requirements and kitchen spaces. They also have plenty of choices of model and technology, such as :
● Top Freezer Refrigerator
This most common fridge model is what most families own in their house. It is budget-friendly and compact.
● Side-By-Side Refrigerator
With one larger side of the chilling cabinet and one narrow side as a freezer, this kind of refrigerator is also cost-effective and neatly organized.
● Bottom Freezer Refrigerator
Freezer at the bottom makes it easier to access. This model offers a slightly larger space for storage.
● French Door Refrigerator
The double doors provide better energy efficiency and much larger space for storage. However, it takes both space and budget.
3. Food Processor
People are mostly confused about distinguishing which ones to buy between mixer, blender, chopper, and a food processor. They all have similar yet different functions. But overall, the food processor is the one with the most useful features. And for the functions that overlap with other appliances, food processors tend to do it quicker to deliver the same result.
The appliance can chop and mix ingredients. It can also ground ingredients finely and other heavy-duty food processing. Some food processors come with an additional blending feature, which makes the unit even more valuable.
4. Instant Pot
Many people are still unaware of this little appliance. The instant pot is an electric multi-purpose cooker. The function of this gadget includes a rice cooker, steamer, pressure cooker, yogurt maker, and saute pan. Some units may even work as cake makers and sterilizers. With only one of these units, you can save a lot of money and spaces in your kitchen.
Moreover, cooking in an instant pot is significantly easier and tidier. The system allows you to program what kind of cooking you want. And then, you can leave the unit alone and trust its automatic timing system. Unlike cooking on a stove, you don't even have to bother with occasional stirring to make sure the dish is cooked evenly.
Another benefit of an instant cooker that makes it even worth buying is that the technology can retain the nutrients and flavors better than the conventional cooking method.
Decorating your kitchen and equip it with appliances is essential not only for the home value but also for the homeowners' cooking experience. Many people have proved how a nice kitchen makes them feel more motivated to cook. However, since kitchen appliances can be pretty costly, you need to be wise with every single thing you consider purchasing.
Author Bio:
Asa Citra, a freelance content writer with an educational background in Architecture Engineering. She loves decorating and organizing the house as a mother of an energetic toddler boy when she is not writing for ECM a mechanical company located in South Florida.