It is easy to get carried away when planning a new kitchen. You want brand-new matching appliances and a $10,000 range. Here are some things to keep in mind to keep the price of your project from soaring.
- Do not spend more than ten to twenty-five percent of your home’s current worth on your kitchen remodel.
- Spending more money on a stove or other appliance will not make you use it more often.
- Updating your kitchen too much can make the rest of your house look outdated by comparison.
Just because you buy a $10,000 range does not mean you will begin cooking gourmet meals every night if you do not already. If cooking is important to you and you will be in the home a while, by all means, go all out. However, if a more standard model stove will suit your needs, go with that. Your new kitchen is not likely to change your cooking habits much.
If you go all out on your kitchen remodel, the rest of your house can look out of place and outdated by comparison. Make sure your remodel keeps your kitchen in line with the design of the rest of your house to avoid a mismatch of the appearance of worth.
Shortsightedness
Getting caught up in the moment when remodeling your kitchen is another common mistake. It is important to make a design that will work over the long term, rather than filling your short-term needs. You will likely eventually sell your house, so plan a kitchen that a majority of people will want, not just one that suits your needs. An overly-customized or quirky kitchen can be a turn-off for home buyers, and can drive down the resale value of your home. This is not to say that you cannot have fun and be unique, just understand that you will need either to change your kitchen for resale or reduce your price because of your quirky designs. So, to recapture the most value from your kitchen remodel, keep the design reasonable for overall layout and other hard to change design elements.
Design mismatching
If you update your kitchen too far, it can become mismatched with the design and architecture of the rest of your home. This is a bigger issue with modern open layout kitchens. With these open layouts, the kitchen is open to at least one public area of your home. Keep this in mind when planning your kitchen remodel. Either plan on updating adjoining rooms along with your kitchen or keep the design and décor in these spaces in mind during planning. You should also consider using a custom wallpaper to add a special touch and design to your kitchen.
Changing mid-project
Getting your remodel plan right the first time and sticking with it will keep your costs and headaches down later. Do research, look at samples, tour homes, talk to your contractor and designer, and be sure to get your design set in your mind before going forward. Because while changing your mind later is possible, it will likely lead to delays, problems, and soaring costs.
Ignoring problems or settling
While you should avoid overspending and changing your mind mid-project, you should also make sure not to gloss over issues to save time or money. If a layout issue or extra expense comes up during your remodel and it is the difference of just getting it done and getting it done right, do not cut corners. Fixing these types of issues later is usually exponentially more expensive later. Also, visible issues will make buyers question the quality of the entire project if you were willing to put up with shoddy work in that area. So make sure the job is done right the first time and spend the extra time and money to iron out issues as they come up.
Author Bio: Jay Buckley is a large format printing expert and online publisher for megaprint.com who writes on the topics of design and printing.
