138-clean-kitchen-floorThere are plenty of things to consider when designing your kitchen; cabinets, design, materials, color (to name a handful).  When going through this process, it’s important to think about how difficult (or easy) your new kitchen might be to clean. It’s easy to forget about that when you’re looking at ornate tiles and beautiful carvings in your hood vent, but trust us, it will come back to haunt you. Instead of creating more work for yourself while cleaning, we’ve got some tips for materials to use in your remodel.

Countertops

As the first place in the kitchen to get messy, countertops are a place where the less fuss the better. Stay away from tiled countertops with grout. While it may add to your overall design scheme, it’s going to be a pain to take care of later on. Not to mention, worrying about spills staining your grout can really ruin your time in the kitchen.  We also recommend that you shy away from a backsplash with larger tiles and grout lines because, since when does a major spill only contain itself to the counter?

Another material that will have you constantly wiping your countertops down is stainless steel. You won’t have to worry about stains on this surface but you will have smudges from your family’s hands. This might pose a problem for those of us who like a countertop that always looks like it has been wiped clean to perfection.

Flooring

Probably the second dirtiest place in the kitchen, the floor can also be damaged by spills and traffic. As the gathering place in your home, the floors in the kitchen will need to be pretty durable. Like we said before, when does a spill ever just stick to the counter? Choose flooring materials that will withstand moisture, high traffic and the occasional dropped pot, and you won’t have much to worry about. We suggest flooring that is easy to cleanas well. You should be able to run a damp mop or broom over it with little trouble to clean up any messes.

Cabinets

You may be looking to get away from that “Plain Jane” look in your kitchen, don’t become blinded by the intricacies of carved wood cabinets if you’re looking for something easy to clean. A favorite place for kitchen grime to hide is in the little carvings of cabinetry. Remember, when choosing your cabinets, they will be the most touched thing in your kitchen and you will have to take care of them to keep them looking new.

These are just a few tips for choosing materials in your kitchen that you won’t have to clean every day, because doing the dishes every day is enough of a chore, right?

Let us know some of your favorite easy to clean materials below.

For a guide to getting started on your remodel, download the free kitchen remodel survival kit below: