Going green is  popular when remodeling or designing a home.  Although people go green for different reasons, a few of the positives of designing an eco-friendly kitchen include: using less energy, using items that are both functional yet fashionable, advancing technology that is continually improving, saving money in the long run, and of course posing no harm to the environment.

Popular green kitchen remodel trends include energy efficient lighting, hands free faucets, bamboo flooring, recycled countertops, green building products (including marmoleum natural linoleum, green fiber insulation, salvage butcher blocks, etc).

While many people upgrade their appliances during remodels, choosing an eco-friendly appliance reduces the amount of energy you use,  in the long term that could save you thousands.

Having a countertop made from recycled products gives your kitchen a look unique to your home. Recycled countertops are popular to green kitchen design trends and can be made from recycled glass, marble, tiles, and waterproof recycled paper panels.

Lighting in a kitchen is a necessity, and one of the least expensive places to go green. Simple solutions like using energy efficient light bulbs can save money.  Hands-free or sensor faucets make the list of green kitchen remodeling trends allowing for more conservation of water. They also add a sleek feel to the overall design.

While you can use many different eco-friendly products for flooring, bamboo has become the most popular green kitchen trend. Its durability, look, and resistance to stains are among the top reasons. Its also a renewable resource and very low maintenance.

Despite the long-term financial savings, many hesitate to embark on the journey on account of financial barriers. But now is a great time to consider a renovation – the current state of the economy often makes contractors more open to negotiate on prices.

Really, a green remodel is realistic for any family, according to Verena, who speaks from experience. We’ll follow her story to learn the basic need-to-knows about giving your kitchen an eco-friendly makeover.

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As we moved into our second home after selling our first home we knew that a kitchen remodel was well overdue. We had our plan all together, and the new appliances were on order, some of which were back ordered or were to never show up at all. What we knew was that we hated the entire home had, but the kitchen was horrible. We had bought the home from my ex wife’s father who had represented it to us as a solid home with a lot of potential. On the surface it appeared so. We could knock down a wall or two to make our kitchen more spacious and modern, and we’d have room for our double door Sub Zero fridge and freezer, our Wolf industrial range, as well as have a line of sight from the front of the home all the way to the back.

The first contractor we had hired to remodel the kitchen almost collapsed the entire home when he knocked out a supporting wall and failed to install a beam that would take the load. As the house cracked and banged out noises hours after he’d left I ran around town trying to find something to hold up the impending cave-in of our roof. It’s not easy finding mobile home jacks at 10pm at night, but a friend of a friend managed a park where we were able to scavenge up four of these beautys that were placed under my home along the old wall line of the kitchen we could temporarily support the roof with 4 2×4′s.

The contractor was fired the next day and I assumed command of the remodel as I should have in the first place. I hired a neighbor from down the street who was actually a handy man with a vast knowledge regarding the homes in our area as well as the skills to cope with what we were the shortcomings of the homes built in that track at the time. He put in the proper beam to bear the load and knocked out the other non-load bearing wall and handle the inspector’s quirks quite well and we were on to the plumbing and re-wiring of the kitchen.
The plumbing went easy as the home did have all new plumbing put in a few years back. We roughed in the massive gas line (which as the inspector growled at was more than a home needed) and came to a screeching hault when we discovered the electrical rats nest hovering over obsolete fuses and a switch-box the likes I’ve never seen.

Wonderful. We found out through neighbors that only one person on the west coast had anything remotely usable to replace pieces of the electrical mess the homes were built with. Re-wiring the home took the Sub Zeros off the list and we were stuck finding cheaper stainless fridges to put in the now finished hole. GE actually saved the day and I think they expected us to show up or something because they have a model that fits exactly into the hole left for the Sub Zeros. We had a little left so we also bought a wine cooler to put where we had planned to put a dishwasher but decided a wine cooler for my beer was much better.

All took shape rather quickly until the Wolf range showed up and the forklift they unloaded it with sank into my new sod I’d put down out front. We unpacked it realizing we were into heavy lifting the likes of hernia’s came from. Somehow we got the stainless beast into the home but it fell through the floor we had just installed ruining the tile 3 feet out from it. Thankfully it didn’t fall all the way through and the mobile home jacks now reside under the range where it happily cooks meals for the family today. Now this wasn’t the worst horror story by far I know, but it wasn’t without many sleepless nights and marital fights that tested the anger management skills of mine to the limits.

For example, I recently saw a beautiful Mission Style oak cabinet install, it was a pretty golden stain and the hardware was an antiqued bronze knob. The homeowners then did a very intricate Italian tile mosaic on the back splash, beautifully done by their contractor and well lit by the under cabinet lighting. Uh Oh! The style of the cabinets and the Italian mosaic back splash was like wearing a plaid shirt with a grey business suit. It left you wondering if something along a simpler install might have shown off the cabinets better. These people spent $20,000 on cabinets and your eye was immediately drawn to the back splash, which would have looked great with a raised panel mitered door, but looked out of place with their Mission Style Cabinets.

On another kitchen we had installed a beautiful Maple cabinet with a natural glaze, the homeowners had picked out a black granite top and the contrast was dynamic. When the stainless steel appliances arrived it was just so clean and modern looking and done on such a reasonable budget we knew we had a winner. Except, the homeowners daughter purchased the handles from a big box store, they were a shiny brass handle with a white porcelain center, it drew the eye away from the beautiful cabinets and granite top to looking at the handles. It blew the whole look, and not in a good way. Picture a woman going out wearing a simple but elegant black dress, an understated pearl necklace and plastic flip flops from Walmart.

My point is, your getting ready to spend some serious money and once something is glued or nailed in place its too late to change your mind, unless you want to pay to do it over again. So put your package together carefully, don’t rush.

The National Kitchen Bath Association has kitchen guidelines you can download for free, they also offer some help on style selections.

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Get the satisfaction of building your own cabinets, as well as tailor them to suite your specific needs and design style.

Here’s What You Need
Materials needed:

Dowels
Table
Saw
Jigsaw
Router
Drill
Sander
Sandpaper
Clamps
Wood Glue
½-inch Plywood
1×6 Lumber
Drawer Slides
Measuring Tape
Hinges
Knobs
Flathead Screws
Finishing Nails
Wood Putty

Here are the Steps:
1. Measurements
Figure out the measurements of where you intend to install the cabinets. After, move the measurements you got to the ½ inch plywood to be able to assemble the pieces. Use the saw to start cutting the plywood in accordance to the measurements. There are tons of cabinet blueprints online that you can find.

2. Cabinet Pieces
Put pieces together as needed for your desired design by nailing the cut portions. Use the finishing nails for this process. Strengthen the frame with wood glue. Use clamps for holding the pieces together while the glue dries.

3. Face frame to the cabinet
Bore holes to the fastened surface of the face frame. This frame will be needed to hold the doors that connect to the cabinet. You will need four pieces of 1×6 lumber for every cabinet that you wish to make. You can now attach the lumber pieces – use wood screws. Now you’ve got your frame. Drill the necessary holes into the face frame then with nails, append to the cabinet frame. Use the wood putty to coat the nail hollow, after nailing.

4. Cut the doors
To make doors for the frames of the cabinet, cut the plywood into a size of ¼ to 3/8 inches extend beyond for the purpose of easy opening. The table saw should be used in cutting the plywood. The next thing to do is to sand the edges for a smooth outcome.

5. Apply wood stain
Pretty simple. Follow the instructions of the wood stain you’ve purchased.

6. Do the installation
When your cabinets are dry, you are ready to install your kitchen cabinets. Attach the cabinets to the studs. Screw the cabinets into the studs and finally, attach the cabinet doors to the cabinets.

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Below is a guide to the some of the most trendy kitchen counter materials:

Artisan Tile
Custom designed tile mosaics are ultra chic. Using top-quality glazed artisanal tile on the backsplash areas of sinks and counters is a way to add a pop of color into a kitchen and make it truly unique.

Granite
Durable, attractive, and long-lasting, this material is as trendy as ever for kitchens. However, there have been recent reports (like this one from the New York Times) that says some of the granites used in may countertops emits elevated levels of radon, an odorless gas linked to lung cancer, though the industry maintains their product is safe.

Wood
If your kitchen gets heavy use, and the recipes in your repertoire call for pounds of chopped vegetables, a wood counter may be in order. Many home chefs are opting for kitchen islands made from the same materials used in chopping blocks.
Soapstone
Soapstone is a non-porous material, which makes it resistant to bacterial growth, requires no sealing, and is durable enough for you to place hot pans directly on its surface. And rumor has it that Martha Stewart has soapstone counters in her own kitchen.
Stainless-steel
This material is becoming popular in kitchens as it is very easy to keep clean and will not be marred by hot pans. It lends itself to a modern aesthetic and looks very sleek and industrial. However, the surface is easily dented.

Concrete
Concrete sounds harsh and industrial, but it won’t look like the sidewalks you tread on. It’s easy to customize in terms of color and doesn’t pose the radon threat that granite does while still being just as durable and heat resistant.

Green
Eco-friendly materials are gaining steam: recycled glass, end-grain bamboo and reclaimed woods like recycled old-growth lumber are trendy in eco-conscious and green remodels.

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When it comes to kitchens, remodeling in an eco-friendly way can be particularly rewarding. Eco-friendly appliances save money in the long run by using much less energy and water. Just look for the ‘Energy Star’ label on an appliance and take a look at the watts of power used per year on the model. Compare that to an old refrigerator or oven – pretty surprising, isn’t it? A woman I know replaced her old refrigerator a few years ago with an Energy Star one, and saw an instant savings on her electric bill of $40. Each month.

Kitchen flooring has also undergone a Green revolution. The resource of bamboo is highly renewable, but it is also extremely durable and low maintenance. This, coupled with its resistance to water damage from spills and its beauty, have made it an ideal source for flooring not just in the kitchen but throughout homes.

Almost everyone uses florescent lights in the home – there are now Energy Star versions of those as well! A very inexpensive way to reduce one’s carbon footprint is to replace old fluorescents lights with new, Energy Star ones. Let’s say an electric company charged 12 cents per Kilowatt-hour. The use of just ONE energy-efficient 60-watt light for 8 hours a day, create an annual savings of $16.47. Just for ONE light bulb! Multiply that amount by the number of lights in a typical kitchen and home and the cost savings is monumental.

How about water conservation? Now a lot of model come with a ‘drip free’ function and are motion-activated, so germy hands never touch the faucet. With the elimination of drips and the fact that the water won’t run when hands are not under the spigot, the water conservation can really add up.

The Green Revolution is all around us, and the world of kitchen remodeling is no exception. By implementing Green trends, homeowners can enjoy environmentally friendly kitchens that are also stylish and functional, improving our lives and the world we live in at the same time.