Exotic wood cabinets, granite countertops, custom lighting and commercial-grade appliances are just a few of the highend touches you might find in a luxury home kitchen. Some homeowners spend $100,000 or more to create their dream kitchen. Conspicuous consumption? While showing off is certainly a perk of doing a high- end kitchen, homeowners and builders say there are practical reasons for making the investment: ease-of-use and keeping pace with home values and trends. “They say kitchens and master suites are your best investment,” says Jeff Speck, owner of Jade Enterprises Inc. in Albuquerque, which specializes in highend kitchen remodeling. Fact is, two in three U.S. consumers consider the kitchen the most important room in the house and are spending more time there than ever before, according to a recent survey by the Hearst Home Group. It’s a multipurpose hub used to entertain guests, pay bills, store cookbooks and recipes, and give the kids a comfortable place to do homework. And, 53 percent of those surveyed say their renovated “dream kitchen” would be customized and organized and would boast top-of-the-line appliances and extra amenities. “It’s like taking in my old car and getting a new one,” says one homeowner who recently remodeled her kitchen in the Sandia Heights. “The old kitchen was not working and the ease of living in this house is my return.”

She reconfigured the kitchen’s 16 x 16 layout, hired a local interior decorator to design a custom backsplash, increased the size of a window with views of the Sandia Mountains, refinished 1,200 square feet of wood floors and installed top-of-the-line Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances. Her semicustom cherry cabinets are oversized, countertops are solid granite, the sink is oversized and the layout of the pantry was overhauled.

“We’ve utilized space so much more efficiently,” she says, adding “we had 15 cooks in here at Christmas.”

For perspective on how the numbers add up, consider ome of the materials that are trendy. Scott Tregembo, owner of Albuquerque Cabinets, says more homeowners are requesting woods such as bird’s eye maple, lacewood, African mahogany and other more exotic materials. Unusual kitchen layouts, custom glazes, trim work, chrome, adjustable pullout pantries, television lifts, and major electrical and structural changes are also common in the high-end makeover.

“There’s options galore,” he says. “It’s kind of like buying a new BMW; you can get a hundred things added on.” Top-of-the-line base cabinets, upper cabinets and countertops can run $700 to $1,000 per lineal foot, says Tregembo, and customer demand for those materials has doubled during the past 10 years.

Appliances are also a major expense. A Wolf dual-fuel range with griddle will set you back $9,705 at Builders Source in Albuquerque. The Wolf double built-in electric oven costs $5,425, and a 48-inch Sub-Zero side-by-side refrigerator with water dispenser costs $7,800.

“The appliances are popular not only because they make a visual statement, but they’re being built for sustainability and longevity,” says Attilio DiPaolo, sales consultant at Builders Source. They stay cooler, have quieter fans and are well-insulated. Manufacturers also are cognizant about the environment, he says.

“Not only are the end consumers purchasing these appliances, but even contractors doing subdivisions are using them as standard choices.”

Luxury aside, does a highend kitchen pay for itself? Most of Speck’s high-end kitchen installations are in areas such as Sandia Heights, Corrales and the North Valley.

“Because home values have gone up in recent years, people feel more comfortable doing big jobs,” he says. However, he tells customers it may take five or 10 years to recoup the cost of extremely high-end jobs.

Homes with remodeled kitchens do, in fact, sell faster, according to Cathy Colvin, chairwoman of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Board of Realtors.

“The average buyer really doesn’t want to deal with the headaches of remodeling, and they will pay more to avoid the hassle,” she says, adding most people want to be able to entertain and live in a modern and stylish kitchen.

But homeowners should base the extent of a remodel on home values in the neighborhood. For example, sinking $100,000 into a kitchen in a home that’s worth $200,000 is almost certain to be a financial loss at the time of sale. But high-end kitchens are the norm in some neighborhoods.

“(For most homeowners) sometimes the best thing to do is upgrade to newer styles and newer colors and not necessarily go all out on the high-end granite and cabinets,” says Colvin. “But when you get into certain neighborhoods people expect granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances.”