No one is going to lie and tell you that renovating your kitchen is going to be cheap or easy. Countless hours and a cool $20 thousand can set you up with the kitchen of you dreams, if it covers everything that is.
Ok, so maybe the hours aren’t countless, and that investment is sure to do all the counters and appliances, with few nice sprinkles on top.
So, the question is, where do you start?
Follow our 7 step guide to making your dream kitchen a reality with a well planned renovation.
1. Set Your Budget
We talked about it before, but you need to have a realistic budget set in place. You shouldn’t start a renovation without a budget because it normally turns into a sunken ship for your finances, or it turns into that project you’re going to start back up soon. Right.
Look around at new appliances and countertops online to get a feel for what you are getting into. Then, check with the bank to make sure you can afford it. If you can’t, you can take out a loan, or you can wait a while and save up some money. Realistically, you should expect to slide your way well into a few thousand dollars depending on what you want for your kitchen.
2. Plan Your Attack
Keep your eyes peeled, and turn on the television. Seriously, HGTV is a great place to watch renovation wonders, and it’s sure to spark a few ideas. You can also look at amazing renovations online to spark your ideas if you aren’t a TV person.
Start to get an idea of what you want for your countertops, appliances, and accents you want, but this time put them all in a specific list against your budget. Plot each and every item you want for your renovation, and price them roughly by rounding up to the nearest ten or hundred. It’s always better to estimate high prices on yourself for your budget because you always want to leave room for the unforeseen problems that might come along.
Try to keep your renovation budget to a point where you have 20% extra just in case something unexpected happens during the renovation.
3. Find the Right Help
You’re about to get into an extensive job that requires time, patience, and skill. If you don’t have those things when it comes to renovating, it’s time to look into a contractor. You can ask family and friends for recommendations, or you can sort through the reviews on Angie’s List, Facebook, Google, and Yelp. These places have personal reviews, so take what is said with a grain of salt. Everything comes down to your interactions with the contractor, and the estimate of course.
If you do find a contractor you want to work with, but they are a bit outside of your budget, you can always look into contractor financing as a means of helping you get what you want. Getting a bit more to boost the budget of your renovation is never a bad idea either, just make sure you also make a budget plan to pay it back in a timely manner.
You can also engage the services of a kitchen designer, who will design and renovate your kitchen from start to finish. Just make sure you find a reputable kitchen specialist for Perth kitchen renovations.
4. Help Where You Can
Even if you posses 0 skill when it comes to renovation, that doesn’t mean you can’t lend a helping hand. If they are breaking down your cabinets, get in on the fun! Nothing feels more liberating than smashing the old cabinets to make way for the new, and when that’s done, you can help with the clean up too.
Don’t be overbearing though. Too much help can be a bad thing, and if you don’t know what you are doing, you can ultimately end up stunting the progress of the project. To avoid being roadblock in your own renovation, ask you contractor if there is anything you can do to help. If you are going out to get some food, ask them if they want anything, but make sure you put it on your tab. If you are good to your contractor, they are more likely to bend to your needs as well. This is how you create a long lasting relationship with your contractor as well, you know, for the other projects.
5. Walk Away When It’s Stressful
There are times when a contractor is ripping away at your kitchen or placing a new appliance, and you stop to think to yourself that maybe they should do that. When those times arise, it’s probably time to walk away for bit. You don’t have to leave the contractor there alone if you aren’t comfortable with that, but take a small walk around the yard to ease you worries. It’s going to get loud, it’s going to get messy, and the end result will still be beautiful.
6. Don’t Rush
If you are helping your contractor with the small tasks, make sure you take your time. It’s ok to take a while on your task because they probably gave it to you as something that they would like done, but doesn’t really have a timeframe. It’s nothing personal, they just do that to keep their flow and let you help. After all, it’s your house, and you were nice enough to hire them.
So even if it takes you all day to hand place every tile in a pattern on the wall, that’s time saved from having your contractor go piece by piece. So, take your time and try your best because it’s saving you money. If your part turns out amazing, it’s just another talking point when you explain the process to family and friends who ask.
7. Maintain It
You have invested a lot of time, money and stress to get this kitchen renovation done, so make sure you are taking care of it. Use the proper products to clean your new glass top stove, clean the new granite countertops frequently to keep the beautiful shine, and even get an aluminum cleaner for the sink and other appliances.
Conclusion
Renovations are challenging, and the process takes a long time from start to finish. If you take the time to plan it all out, and remember that the unexpected can happen, you are to breeze through your renovation into a new kitchen.
How do you plan your renovations? Do you have any special tips for saving money while getting the upgrades you want for your kitchen? Share your comments below.