7 Great Reasons You Don’t Want to Manage Your Kitchen Renovation

Heard of the phrase "the kitchen is the heart of the home"? This rings true for most. It's usually the room everyone gathers in and around to eat, drink, talk, do homework and the list goes on. It's also the one renovation that can go sideways quickly because there are so many factors to consider. This is not the area to pinch pennies, invest in an interior designer and thank me later.

Underestimating Cost

Whatever you think you want to spend, the likelihood of you spending more if you're at this alone is higher. Hire a professional who's used to working with budgets and understand where to go for the best pricing for your desired look.

Deliveries

When you’re ordering parts, supplies, and construction materials from various sources, you need a plan for when and how these items will arrive and where you will store them. With lead-times extended out for many items, you might end up with a countertop that you have to purchase now, but won’t have appliances for eight months, so what will you do with the countertop in the meantime? This is why the detailed work of making sure that everything arrives at the right time is essential.

Choosing Materials

If you’re not going to go all out (within reason, of course) then, arguably, you shouldn’t be renovating.

When it comes to kitchen materials, for example, marble can create issues because it easily stains, chips, and etches. If you cook or entertain often, it’s best to stay away from marble as red wine, in particular, can quickly stain it. Instead, discuss the use of the space with a professional and he or she will point you to the right materials for your lifestyle.

Thinking and Planning Storage

Kitchens are all about functionality, especially because everything from meal prep and cooking to eating happens in this space. However, people don’t always think about what this means in terms of storage. A mistake people make when renovating their kitchens is that they do not factor storage into the design or how much space they will actually need.

Designing the "Triangle"

In a kitchen, the triangle is the 3-point connection between your main appliances: sink, stove, and refrigerator. Because these are the three most important areas, you want your design to balance between them so that ease and efficiency are the priority. The sink, stove, and refrigerator are the three points of the triangle and if you were to create a time-lapse of a day in your kitchen, you'd find yourself yo-yo-ing from all three points constantly. By breaking the rules of the distances in the triangle, you'll soon find yourself frustrated, even fatigued, by all the leg work.

Electric and Lighting

Sometimes homeowners forget about lighting and electricity, leaving the space too dark to be fully usable, without outlets needed to run different appliances, or worse, with improper (or downright unsafe) ventilation.

This is often a product of focusing too much on the work areas (sink, dishwasher, countertops, etc.) that other areas get forgotten. Or DIYing your renovation without consulting an expert for some of the electric and safety concerns. Clever electrical placement, like outlets under your cabinets, in the kitchen island, and in your pantry, will make your space functional for years to come.

Connecting the Kitchen to Other Spaces

When renovating, it’s important to consider how other spaces work together or offset your kitchen to create a bit of harmony throughout your home. This doesn’t mean that every room in your house needs to match but there should be some element of flow that makes sense.

The best way to create a strong transition is to carry the color palette into each space. The kitchen needs to compliment the style happening in the rest of the home. Instead of creating an entirely different space, create a kitchen that incorporates some of the colors used in the other spaces so there is a good flow from room to room, and the colors in each space complement one another.

Not as easy as HGTV uh?

- Raph