The kitchen is one of the most vital features of a home. It is the place where homeowners cook and prepare meals, which means they will use the area daily. Everything, from the appliances to the silverware, will be part of a person’s everyday tools for survival. Unfortunately, that importance is what exactly makes most homes’ kitchens outdated. Because you have to utilize the kitchen everyday, you might not have the luxury of closing it for renovations. However, you can still plan for it.
A remodeled kitchen can recoup over 70% of investments in renovation plans because it holds significant value to the property. An updated kitchen will enhance convenience, efficiency, and comfort, making homeowners satisfied with their renovations. If they plan to sell the home, a kitchen renovation can boost the property’s selling price and attract more potential home buyers to place a high bid. If you want to reap the same benefits, you must learn how to prepare for a kitchen remodel. Here are a few tips to help you with the planning process.
Seek Inspiration
Learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel is not an easy process. If you are a homeowner not familiar with maintenance and repairs, you might struggle with developing a plan to renovate a room with plenty of complex electrical and plumbing systems. Kitchen remodeling will usually include a lot of planning and preparations to deal with those complexities, but you might be getting ahead of yourself if you are attempting to learn those areas first. The design should be the first thing in mind when learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel, and it starts with seeking inspiration.
You can find inspiration for your kitchen remodeling efforts in many ways. You can start by searching online, allowing you to see different styles and designs for the room. There will also be a few hardware stores and conventions that provide kitchen showroom models, allowing you to get a physical feel and look for your kitchen remodel. The residential properties of your friends, neighbors, and loved ones might also have kitchens that pique your interest, allowing you to draw inspiration from them. You can take whatever features and designs you like from those inspirational models and combine them to create one creative kitchen. Once you have an idea of the design, your plans on how to prepare for a kitchen remodel can take one step forward.
Prepare Your Budget
Planning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel can be fun, but you will later notice that every exciting idea you have will cost money. Many homeowners fall victim to creating these plan but fall short of staying within a proper budget. Unfortunately, that problem can lead to financial struggles, debt, unfinished projects, unkept kitchens, and even payment issues with contractors. If you want your kitchen remodeling project to succeed, you must start with setting up a proper budget.
Allocating a budget for kitchen remodeling will require you to look at major items. Quality appliances might require you to dedicate anything around $5,000 to $10,000, depending on the outdated versions you need to replace. Additions to the modern kitchen, like storage solutions and countertop installations, might cost around the same area, doubling your budget almost immediately. Additional expenses like lighting, flooring, and labor costs could also cost around $10,000, bringing up your total value to about $30,000. Of course, making adjustments will be necessary if the ideal budget is not feasible. You can also perform a few steps, such as material procurement and appliance removal, to save money on other kitchen renovation costs. Those tactics can ensure you can dedicate more cash to your renovation needs.
Partner with Professionals
Having a great design in mind is a great first step when learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel. However, planning and executing the remodel can be challenging if you are to do it yourself. The many complexities of adjusting the electrical and plumbing system will be an immediate obstacle that requires you to practice for months or years to master. Taking down walls, removing appliances, and building new features are often multi-person tasks, and your household might not have enough reliable hands to accomplish them. Because of those challenges, pursuing a kitchen remodel might require you to seek professional assistance.
A kitchen contractor will be necessary when figuring out how to prepare for a kitchen remodel. The contractor knows how to handle everything when renovating the area, from the intricacies of the household systems to the kitchen appliance upgrades. Kitchen contractors can also make suggestions to improve the design you want, ensuring overall satisfaction in aesthetics and functionality. A remodeling company will be able to execute your dream kitchen renovation, allowing you to accomplish the project successfully.
Identify What to Change First
Learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel will require you to take a look at what needs to change. Nobody pursues a renovation project without a reason, and it should be more than just about enhancing aesthetics. The kitchen is usually full of functional items and appliances that require replacements or improvements, and that is what you can focus on first. Once you identify those necessary changes, you can have a clearer view of how to prepare for a kitchen remodel efficiently.
One area you might want to change is the high utility bills you keep racking up monthly. Your kitchen appliances might be outdated enough to warrant more power when in use, requiring you to replace them with newer, more energy-efficient models. Another area of improvement for your kitchen renovation could be cleanliness. Your tiles and walls might already have unappealing marks due to years of use, requiring you to take them down and replace them with new materials. Those purposes will allow you to build a step-by-step plan when planning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel. Since a kitchen renovation can be an expensive project, you can ensure that the materials and professional fees you have to deal with are within a strict budget. Appliances and supplies for the kitchen can cost a lot, so you want to make sure that you won’t overinvest.
Build on the Artistic Details
Functionality will be the primary basis when learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel. However, you will find that all your improvements might feel incomplete if you do not modernize the area. Kitchens today have trendy designs that combine sophistication and technological advancements harmoniously. You can pursue the same feeling for your kitchen as you plan how to prepare a kitchen remodel.
Lighting will be the best aesthetic improvement you can make. Most outdated kitchens have the standard lightbulb or lighting rod, which might not contribute well to the modern room you envision. You can use ambient lighting fixtures instead to illuminate the kitchen in style. Pendant lighting and flush mounts have a modern appearance that could transform your kitchen when placed properly. You can also pursue sconce or porch lighting for certain areas, like the kitchen sink and stove, ensuring you have extra illumination when performing cooking activities at night.
Another area of artistic improvement you can make is a kitchen countertop installation. Modern kitchens often use a countertop as the centerpiece of the room. It provides ample space for homeowners to prepare and wash ingredients in an organized fashion before proceeding to cook them. The countertop also provides an area for family members to talk to each other, often seen as a quieter alternative to the living room. Most modern kitchens install a marble countertop for the room’s centerpiece. However, granite and quartz can also make for good materials. Depending on your design and spacing, you can make the countertop an artistic and functional addition to the modern kitchen.
Add Storage
Perhaps one of the most necessary enhancements you can make when learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel is storage. Over time, your household will collect more and more items in the kitchen. From silverware and cleaning tools to ingredients and condiments, your kitchen must always have a suitable storage space to accommodate everything. Unfortunately, that means forcing everything into existing drawers or even utilizing another storage space outside the kitchen. Organization is everything inside the kitchen, making it necessary to build your kitchen renovation plans around storage solutions.
First, take everything out of the kitchen to create an inventory checklist. Once you have an idea of how many items you have, you can organize them in your drawers and closets. It is best to use labels to ensure that every kitchen supply is in the right place. The household members must be diligent when tucking away those items after use, avoiding confusion and cluttering to keep the kitchen tidy. You can also use the checklist to see what you can discard. Old plates, worn-out kitchen tools, and burnt pans might require replacements for optimal cooking, which allows you to look into new options.
Storage problems, however, can become complicated when you start to deal with sauces, ingredients, and condiments. The refrigerator will house every food item that requires refrigeration or storage in freezing temperatures. Sauces and spices will have to share space with kitchen silverware and items, which can cause problems with organizing the kitchen. If there is no longer enough space for those, you might want to consider building detached kitchen cabinets. The extra storage space can be dedicated to those ingredients that do not require temperature-related storage, ensuring you have them organized into one area and make every cooking activity efficient. Those storage solutions will vary according to your design desires, but they are integral to any kitchen remodel.
Consider Renovating the Bathroom
Learning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel will force you to take a look at the rest of your home. Unfortunately, your modern kitchen plans might not be matching the rest of your property, especially the bathroom. The kitchen and bathroom are often the high-value indicators of property value. If you have a modern kitchen and an outdated bathroom, they might cancel each other out and vice versa. As a result, you might want to pursue both renovations at once to ensure you get the most value out of your project.
Fortunately, there are many companies that offer renovation services for both home features. A local kitchen and bathroom remodeling company can even provide a discount if you want to pursue those projects within the same timeframe. Getting that package can ensure your renovation efforts become cost-efficient. However, your budget might only be dedicated to kitchen renovations at the moment. You can contact the company months after if you still want to improve your bathroom, ensuring that renovations in the area will complement your improved kitchen design.
Pursue Home Transformation
For many homeowners, kitchen remodeling is the first project among many when pursuing home transformation. It is ideal to target the big rocks first, which is the kitchen in this case. However, they can start pursuing other home improvement projects as well. The curb appeal and home facade are projects that can take place at the same time as the kitchen remodeling project since they do not come into contact. However, bathroom and kitchen renovations might not be ideal to pursue simultaneously as the plumbing network might be interconnected between the areas.
Partnering with a local home remodeling company can help you identify the right timeline and strategy to accomplish a total home transformation. They can start with the kitchen, bathroom, and other essential features of the house before moving on to aesthetic details. This strategy might require you to build a bigger budget compared to planning how to prepare for a kitchen remodel, but it might be the better option if you want to sell your home.
Building a new kitchen can be ideal for homeowners or home sellers, but it will take a lot of effort, time, and money to prepare. There will be a few tasks unique to your own kitchen, but these steps provide the essential groundwork for any renovation plans for the room. Once you manage to complete the remodel, you will find that your cooking habits are more convenient and fun while giving you satisfaction in boosting your residential property’s overall value.
