6 Kitchen Remodel Mistakes You Should Avoid
When the homeowner honeymoon phase with your new home ends, you may find yourself thinking, I wish I would have upgraded this, I should have asked for that, or Why did I ever want that there? Remodeling can provide the solution. Like any great idea, once you decide on remodeling, you want it done yesterday.
So pack up your kitchen, cover the floors, and take a hammer to the nearest wall, right? Not quite. With great patience comes great reward. If you plan carefully before you begin your renovation, you’ll make the process stress-free and even end up saving money in the long run. Read on for some of the most common remodeling mistakes we see homeowners make, as well as what you can do to avoid making them yourself.
1. Unrealistic budgeting
If you’ve never remodeled a room in a home before, you likely have no idea how much it costs to buy new cabinets or paint, or how much you should expect to pay a contractor to do the work.
Getting a bid from a contractor will get you a long way figuring out how much you should expect to spend, and which projects, if any, you need to skip. You can also browse showrooms to get an idea of how much different materials cost.
With a little research, you can create a realistic budget to help avoid overspending. We recommend including a 10 - 20% buffer for unexpected surprises, or materials and labor that you underpriced. If you don’t end up spending your entire buffer, then you can spend it on special decor pieces or a special first meal in your newly remodeled kitchen.
2. Poorly timing your appliance selection
Many homeowners get excited about ordering cabinets and countertops, but forget that they should purchase their appliances first. If you wait until the end of the project to order your appliances, you may run into problems with getting them to fit into your newly installed cabinets.
If you order your appliances before you measure for your new countertops and cabinets, then you can ensure that they’ll fit perfectly into their homes because the cabinets will be tailored to your appliances.
3. Piecemeal material purchasing
Buying discounted materials is a great way to save money and stay on budget. However, you may run into supply issues if you buy materials a little bit here and a little bit there. Colors and designs are discontinued constantly, and those materials may be on sale because the seller is getting rid of what’s in stock.
If you’re only able to get half the amount of a material, such as flooring, that you need, then you end up wasting money and having to repurchase something else. Before you pay for any supplies, make sure that you have accurate measurements of your space and can get the entire quantity that you need in one go.
4. Trendy or futuristic designs
Before you move forward with a trendy or futuristic design, think about whether you’ll still love it in five years and how it could affect the resale value of your home.
Trendy designs go out of style quickly, which means that you’ll probably want to remodel again in five years or less. Also, highly-stylized spaces may make your kitchen less attractive to potential buyers. If you intend to stay in the home for many years or are willing to update the kitchen again in a few years, then you should move forward confidently with your trendy picks. However, if you think you may move within a few years or want a kitchen that you’ll still love in ten or more years, then you may want to choose a more traditional design.
5. Choosing a cheap contractor to save money
We all like saving money, but contractors are not the place to pinch pennies.
Inexperienced or discount contractors make more mistakes than experienced contractors, which means they’ll have to redo their work (or you’ll have to hire a second contractor to fix their mistakes), which costs you way more in the long run.
6. Poor lighting
Lighting has a huge impact on the way that colors look. If you’ve ever bought a black shirt only to realize once you get it home that it’s actually navy blue, then you understand just how impactful lighting is.
Before you purchase materials for your project, you should choose your lights, or at least the color temperature of your light bulbs. Bright lights in the 4000 kelvin or higher range will bring out the cool tones in your countertop, cabinets, and paint. Lights under 3000 kelvin are warmer and will bring out the rich browns and beiges in your color pallet.
The best way to accurately judge how your materials will look in your finished space is to bring samples home and look at them under your lights. You may find that the material combination that you loved in the store doesn't look as great at your home.
Have a stress-free kitchen remodel
With just a few extra planning steps, you can ensure that your kitchen remodel goes off without a hitch. If you’re ready to get started on your kitchen renovation, get in touch with Alpha Surfaces today.