Your kitchen is the best place to put your money in a remodel. Have you heard that before? Well, it’s the truth! Kitchens sell homes. It’s where the majority of your family’s social experiences happens. Think about where everyone always gathers: in the kitchen. And with any kitchen remodel, there are some considerations that you first need to make:
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How do you use your kitchen?
Do you use it for daily family activities, with the occasional entertaining? Or do you love to entertain? Or maybe you’re somewhere in the middle? If you frequently host events, you may need a double oven and a 48″ refrigerator. If you are planning your kitchen with daily family use in mind, maybe an eat-at bar is especially important to you. Answer this question first to ensure that your kitchen remodel will include all the important aspects for your lifestyle.
2. Cost of the remodel
Please be realistic! A $10,000 budget does not cover a full gut kitchen remodel; in fact, (depending on size), it may only get you quartz counters and a fresh coat of paint! The kitchen remodel is the most expensive remodel in your home – but its value can be priceless! I mean that! Sometimes the value of a well-functioning space cannot be priced monetarily. Sometimes the value is in solving your “pet peeves,” thereby creating a better daily life for you and your family and making the house feel more like a home. Figure out what is worth keeping and what you should just scrap and start over. I have had many clients ask if they can just paint their existing cabinets, and my answer to them is always the same, “If you don’t mind when the paint chips, that’s an option; however, in the end, you may be happier with replacing the cabinets.” Property Trio offers some budget-conscious cabinetry to help you stay within your budget, while still getting that wonderfully finished product (find out more here). By weighing the cost of your project, you will have a better understanding of what the overall worth of your project is.
3. Functionality should be first & foremost in your design
However, many times we get lost pinning images of our ideal kitchen on Pinterest, while not realizing that they are not always practical for how we live and how we use our kitchens. I’ll use myself as an example: I love marble! The problem is that I also love red wine. It’s not practical for me to have marble counter tops in my home because marble stains, and I’ve been known to clumsily tip over bottles, spilling wine everywhere! So, I don’t have marble counters, but I do have a product that doesn’t stain and looks similar. Another example that comes to mind is open shelving. It looks beautiful, but let’s be honest, do you really want to have to dust that stuff all the time? Spend time in your planning and pinning, making sure that you’re “getting real” with yourself and how your kitchen should function in relation to how you live.
4. Can you be flexible during construction?
Sometimes this is the biggest consideration for people to make. Kitchen remodels take some times to complete, and living without a kitchen for any period of time can be difficult. Make sure that you not only establish a realistic time period to complete the kitchen remodel, but that you are willing to make this sacrifice during that time.
Kitchen remodels can be so important in adding to the value of your home – and not just monetary value! Before you start your remodel, make sure that you weigh all these considerations, so that you can be prepared for the process of construction ahead!
-Heather Schuh
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