Your Place: Kitchens top to-do lists for many homeowners

You are where you eat, I suppose, and that's why kitchens perennially seem to be the focus of home-renovation spending.

That's also what LG Electronics, which makes kitchen appliances, among other things, found in a survey of 1,022 Americans earlier this fall.

Among their plans for renovating, the survey found, homeowners are resolving to make improving their kitchens a priority, with more than half of future renovators revealing that they have their sights set on improving the heart of their homes.

Furthermore, 46 percent of the responding homeowners said the kitchen is the No. 1 room on which they would be most likely to splurge.

Top motivations for those planning to renovate their kitchens were wanting to improve the rooms' design and aesthetic appeal (26 percent) and making them more functional (25 percent), rather than trying to increase the overall value of their homes (11 percent).

Other survey highlights:

Two in five homeowners would like their kitchens to be more functional (40 percent). Many want them to be bigger (47 percent), have more counter space (44 percent), include additional cabinets (37 percent), and accommodate more people (33 percent).

Three in 10 said their kitchens are the areas of their homes where guests tend to gather to socialize and the places they themselves gravitate to even when they are not eating or cooking.

More than half of homeowners who planned to renovate their kitchens had their eyes set on changing their appliances. And of those respondents looking to renovate, many said they would like appliances that are professional-style, built-in or counter-depth, premium, disguised, or timeless-looking.

Nearly four in five homeowners said they would give up something substantial for a year to have their ideal kitchens, including their next vacation, Saturdays off, date nights, and Web surfing.

In my house, we already have a great kitchen, and I'm not giving anything up, especially vacations.

On vacation, you see, you can always eat in someone else's kitchen.

aheavens@phillynews.com or write him at The Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia 19101. Volume prohibits individual replies.