The kitchen is one of the most used areas of a home, making it a prime candidate for remodeling. Although many homeowners have a vague idea that they’d like to remodel their kitchen, they often struggle with how to get started. In this guide, we’ll help you begin your remodeling project.
Understanding the Need for Remodeling
The first step is taking your vague idea that you’d like to remodel and turning it into a more concrete plan. That means evaluating your current kitchen setup and deciding what needs to be changed. Identify issues that you have with your current layout. Is there not enough room, not enough storage, or an inefficient flow? Use the answers to the questions to set remodeling goals and provide yourself with a framework for the steps that follow.
Establishing a Budget
Next comes the important step of establishing a budget. As you move throughout the rest of the process, you’ll be making a lot of decisions about how much money to spend. Your budget will determine how much you can afford at each step of the process. If the budget isn’t clearly defined at the onset, you may not allocate funds as wisely as you should, leading to a budget shortfall at the end of the project.
Designing the New Kitchen Layout
Now it’s time to use those initial thoughts you had about what needs improving about the kitchen to design a new layout. While doing so, keep in mind the kitchen work triangle: Refrigerator to stove to sink. Try to design your new layout to maximize your ability to move between these spaces. It isn’t all about the triangle though, you need efficient storage and a convenient workspace to prepare food. Take all of this into account as you make your plans.
Choosing a Style and Aesthetic
With the major decision of layout out of the way, you can focus on some of the style and aesthetic factors that will go into your new kitchen. Do you want it to look modern? Traditional? Rustic? Consider how the look will mesh with the rest of your home or any additional remodeling that you plan to do outside of the kitchen. Use the style you’ve decided upon to help guide your choices of colors and materials for the remodel.
Selecting Appliances and Fixtures
With a new kitchen comes new fixtures as well as the perfect opportunity to upgrade old and inefficient appliances. Although appliances can be a major expense, modern models are much better at energy utilization than the older ones that may be in your home. They’ll not only be friendly to the environment but also save you money on electricity each month.
In addition to energy efficiency ratings, also pay attention to your needs. Was your previous appliance too big or too small? If so, now is the perfect time to find one that more closely matches your needs. Of course, you can’t forget to match your choices of fixtures and appliances to your chosen aesthetic.
Hiring Professionals vs DIY
Whether or not to hire professionals will vary from homeowner to homeowner. Some are handier than others, and some think they are handier than they are. It’s important to be honest with yourself here. If you aren’t qualified to do a part of the project, it could turn into an expensive mess and even put your safety at risk. Also, keep in mind that local regulations may prevent you from legally performing some projects yourself.
Legalities and Permissions
Speaking of legalities, they vary from locality to locality. You need to check in with your local courthouse to understand what permits may be required for the plans you’ve made and any regulations that may impact your ability to complete your design. If there are any home inspections required as part of the remodel, be sure that you know about them and arrange for them in a timely manner.
Managing the Remodeling Process
The design phase can be stressful, but the stress can really ramp up when the hypotheticals of design give way to the reality of the remodel. It’s important to have a plan in place for managing the remodel. Not only will this help things run smoother, but it will double as a plan for managing the stress of the remodel.
The first step is creating a timeline for the project. This serves two purposes: it gives you a roadmap on how to proceed and it sets proper expectations for when things will be completed. With a realistic roadmap in place, you’ll be less hurried and anxious about when things will be completed.
The next step is to plan for disruptions that the remodel will cause. During large portions of the project, you won’t have access to your kitchen at all. You’ll be able to walk through it to get to other rooms for most of the process, but during a lot of it, you won’t be able to cook food. Use your timeline to have a plan in place for feeding yourself.
Finalizing and Decorating
The final part of the process begins when the remodeling itself ends. The first thing you should do is check the final work against the plan. Is everything the way you’d like it to be or do you need to make some last-minute adjustments? If the project was properly managed, there should be no major changes needed here, but it isn’t uncommon for a few little adjustments to be needed.
With the last-minute adjustments out of the way, you can begin to settle into the space. Add your personal touches and decorations and then begin organizing your supplies and putting your new kitchen to use.
Let Builders Supply Your Kitchen Remodel
Whatever the plans for your kitchen remodel are, you’ll need plenty of supplies in order to get the job done. Builders has a large selection of kitchen remodeling supplies. We also have a helpful staff that’s on hand and ready to help you should you have any questions.
