Here are common kitchen remodeling mistakes people make that you should try to avoid.
Remodeling your kitchen is a huge undertaking and while it can add beauty, usefulness, and value to your home it can also turn into a nightmare if you waste your money on costly mistakes that do not enhance your comfort or your lifestyle.
Here is a look at some of the common kitchen remodeling mistakes that people make when remodeling their kitchen.
7 Most Common Kitchen Remodeling Mistakes You Should Avoid
#1. Forgetting Your Budget
Every homeowner has a picture in their head of their perfect kitchen. However, the reality is that the kitchen you envision is likely to be super expensive and may be out of your budgetary range.
Placing yourself in debt for years to pay for your vision may result in you living your life always feeling stressed and frustrated.
So, make sure that you choose those elements of your perfect kitchen that you can truly afford and will result in making your kitchen more comfortable and convenient rather than focusing on what may be an unreachable ideal.
You should set your remodeling budget before you consider what you want to remodel in your kitchen. Then make a list of the necessary changes, wanted changes, and those cosmetic changes that serve no real purpose.
#2. Choosing Looks over Practicality
Yes, we’ve all seen those photos of the kitchens of the rich and famous and dreamed of having such a kitchen ourselves.
However, you need to keep in mind your family’s practical needs rather than going for that dramatic look.
For example, if you are a couple with 4 young children, do you really need a wall to ceiling wine rack or would you be much better off with more counter space or storage for dishes?
Consider how your family really lives and then decide what changes need to be made to help make your cooking and eating more convenient and comfortable.
Always keep in mind what you use your kitchen for rather than what would look good in a magazine.
Rather than luxury flooring, go for flooring that is made to hold up for many years to come.
Skip the latest kitchen fads and go with a design that is timeless and will look as good in three or four years as it does today.
#3. Ignoring the Importance of the Work Triangle
Most people work a long full day and then come home to cook dinner for their family.
The last thing you need is to end up running across your kitchen to the refrigerator, the stove and sink when trying to cook or clean up when making a meal.
Make sure that your stove, refrigerator, and sink are all close together in a triangle with plenty of workspace around these items to make cooking easier, more convenient and less tiring.
#4. Wasting Space
Everyone who has ever cooked complains about the lack of storage space. Yet, people who remodel their kitchen tend to have wasted space that could easily have been used for more storage.
Get the advice of a professional kitchen remodeler to give you advice and help you make the most of the space you have available.
This not only will result in your kitchen looking more modern, but will make it far easier to keep your kitchen clutter free and clean.
#5. Too Much Open Shelving
Yes, open shelving looks great in a kitchen and is a great way to show off those special dishes.
However, open shelving requires cleaning more often than cabinets with doors. And who has time to unload the shelves once or twice a week to wash down open shelves?
#6. Inadequate Ventilation
No one likes to stay in a kitchen with lingering onion fumes or the scent of old grease.
When remodeling your home, you really do need to consider making sure the room is properly ventilated or those cooking smells will simply build up, leaving your kitchen smelling less than clean and fresh, no matter how neat and tidy it looks.
#7. Failure to Consider Your Home’s Value
While a kitchen remodel will add value to your home, you will always spend more on the remodeling than you will be able to increase your home in value.
Whatever you pay to remodel that kitchen, only 70% of that cost will be added to your home’s value.
If you are planning to sell your home shortly, it is best to skip the remodeling and instead just add a new coat of paint and make small improvements rather than go to large expense for a room you won’t get much of chance to use.
With a little common sense and some professional advice, you can remodel your kitchen while avoiding most if not all of the most common remodeling mistakes most people make.
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- 7 Inexpensive Ways to Update Your Kitchen without Remodeling
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- 7 Costly Interior Decorating Mistakes You Should Avoid
