When the Hills bought their Northwe...

When the Hills bought their Northwest Side bungalow last year, united thing absolutely, positively had to go: the tiny, outdated kitchen.

in such a manner the Hills did what an estimated 6 million American households will do this year. They remodel their kitchen -- an endeavor that has move rounded into a feeding frenzy in newly come years. Even though Americans are cooking les we're pumping more currency than ever into souped-up kitchens.

The U Census Bureau reports spending upon kitchen renovations more than tripled between 2000 and 2005 The number of kitchen remodeling plans shot up 25 percent last year compared with 1999 according to Kitchen and Bath Business magazine's Market Forecaster report.

While rising interest rates and a modern cool-down in housing prices are awaited to curb consumers' appetites for expensive home improvements, kitchen remodeling isn't count uponed to go the way of avocado virid appliances. Kitchen and Bath's Market Forecaster predicts spending forward kitchen renovations this year will reach nearly $80 billion -- 21 percent more than in 2005

"Kitchens are still smoking," said Don Van Cura, whose Chicago construction company built the Hills' fresh kitchen. Van Cura no longer has a two-year waiting list for kitchen throw outs but business is far from moderate

"Right now, we're at a one-year backlog," Van Cura said. "I don't diocese a real downturn in kitchens. It's probably the most numerous important room in the house, and persons treat it that way."

THE of recent origin FAMILY ROOM

Gone are the days when kitchens were simply a boxed- facing area where Mom slaved athwart a hot stove to make meals serv in the dining play Kitchens have evolved into the nave of the house, where visitors are entertained and families congregate, a great deal as they did in the family compass back when that was the solely room with a TV.

the same thing we're not doing more of in the kitchen: cooking. The number of dishes Americans make at mealtime has been in succession the decline. The average dinner in 1985 consisted of 3oe items. pair years ago, the typical dinner was made up of fewer than three items and that number has continued to fall, according to NPD cluster a top market research firm that tracks people's eating habits.

"The kitchen remains a big part of our lives, unless it's being utilized less; les preparation, les use of appliances," said Harry Balzer, NPD's vice president based in Rosemont

We're also treating restaurants more like microwaves, Balzer said. As of 1987 bringing take-out fireside became more popular than eating in restaurants.

"What's the fastest growing appliance? The power window," Balzer said.

Choices: This sink or that?

As the part of kitchens shifted from meal-making toward mingling, homeowner started paying more attention to -- and more circulating medium for -- the room's form and function. The rise of big-box hearth centers, such as Home warehouse and Lowe's, helped fuel the remodeling craze by dint of making it relatively easy and affordable for the masses to overhaul their kitchens. With the increased demand for renovated kitchens came a smorgasbord of choices in appliances and materials.

"We used to have couple options: This cabinet or that cabinet? This sink or that sink?" said Van Cura, who has be in possession ofed his construction company for 22 years. "There wasn't nearly the variety there is now. If I used a recently made known product every day for the pause of my career, I couldn't use all the cabinets, faucets and appliances gone out there."

Remodeling dexterouss say our hunger for whiz-bang appliances and fancy finishes really took facing in the last decade, thanks largely to ideal economic conditions, a proliferation of smooth and shining home magazines and cable TV displays touting dream kitchens, as well as the resound in new home construction.

"A allotment of expectations come from what you behold in the model home market," said Sal Alfano, editorial director of Remodeling magazine. "As undivided builder tries to out-do the nearest the kitchens keep getting more spectacular."

firinged BY EASY MONEY

Keeping up with the Joneses' kitchen hasn't originate cheap. Ten years ago, consumer exhausted an average of $21,262 in succession their revamped kitchens, according to Remodeling magazine's annual observe Last year, they shelled on the outside $43,862 for a standard kitchen re-do, which includes updating an outmod 200-square-foot kitchen with recent cabinets, an island, laminate countertops, appliances, custom lighting, flooring and paint.

"There's a sort of social dispute going on here," said Van Cura, who freshly remodeled a customer's kitchen for $170000

"That's more than I paid for my house. The price onward these magazine-article kitchens can really bloom people away," he said.

A parcel of people could afford to be inflated away in recent years thanks to rock-bottom interest rates and a rapid rise in housing prices. The end is homeowners were able to tap into a hazard of equity and borrow big fops for major kitchen makeovers.

"For years, it was as if homeowner had an ATM attached to their house, and whenever they penuryed money they pushed a not many buttons and cash came out" said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer for Harris Private Bank in Chicago.