A complete kitchen renovation helps give the room a completely different look and feel. Simply renovating the kitchen is often enough to give the house a different look and increase the property value. For a successful kitchen renovation project, it is necessary to replace the existing kitchen cabinets and countertops. During a kitchen renovation, replacing the kitchen cabinets makes the biggest difference. Homeowners can compare a variety of materials that can be used to build the kitchen cabinets and try out various colour schemes. Besides the visual factor, the texture of the kitchen cabinets is also very important; some people prefer the grainy texture of wood to the smooth finish of laminate. Kitchen cabinets are usually purchased as is, but there is a growing demand for custom cabinets as well. If you are in the market for a kitchen countertop, you will find that you are spoilt for choice. There are a variety of materials available, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. The most commonly used materials are laminate, granite, marble and quartz (engineered stone). Granite is quite often the most popular choice as it is considered to be tremendous value-for-money. Granite countertops are available in a wide variety of colours, are very durable and cost considerably less that marble and quartz. Once the kitchen cabinets and countertops have been selected, you may want to pay close attention to the lighting in the kitchen. Employ lighting fixtures that will provide a good balance between ambience and functionality. The use of pendant lighting fixtures is very popular for kitchen renovations, as is the use of lighting concealed within cabinets.