4 Things To Avoid In A Kitchen Renovation

If you’re thinking about getting kitchen renovations done, you already know that this can be one of the best additions you can make to a home. Done right, this can drive up the value of your home as an investment, or make the kitchen space your dream come true for where you prepare meals and interact with your family. However, to make kitchen renovations work, you need to avoid some critical errors that, if they occur, can turn a dream into a nightmare. Here are the four things you should avoid.

Don’t Underestimate The Cost Of Plumbing Relocation

A classic mistake that many homeowners make when undertaking kitchen renovations is not realizing just how much time, effort, and money are involved in what, seem on the surface to just be “tweaks.” Moving the location of your pipe infrastructure is one of those things.

If you don’t like where the sink is located, or you’ve always felt that you’d prefer to have your stove on the other side of the kitchen, go into this decision with the clear understanding that you’re taking on a high additional cost. There is nothing cheap about moving plumbing—and in some cases for stoves, natural gas—pipes to another part of the kitchen.

Understand & Work With Your Space

You may want to draw up a 2D floorplan to look at, or you may want a 3D, virtual reality model to explore. Whatever way you go about it, you should always have a good understanding of just how much space you have to work with for your kitchen renovations. Don’t go into it thinking that you can squeeze in all the counter and cabinet space you want, throw in an island counter as well, and still find space for an in-kitchen dining table.

Think about how you use your kitchen, and how you will move around in it, and design your new floorplan to be feasible with the functionality you need. A beautiful kitchen with no room to move is not a good kitchen.

Keep The Rest Of Your Home In Mind

Kitchen renovations can and should mean that a kitchen gets a new, distinct look. However, it’s important to balance that look with the rest of a home, especially if a home is getting renovated at the same time. If you’re going for a modern look, for example, all that hard work goes up in smoke when you create a kitchen with a retro 1950s look. Make sure your kitchen distinguishes itself, but not so much that it looks like it belongs to another house entirely.

Don’t Ignore Trends

It’s understandable, especially in America, to want to move ahead of the pack, and not be a “follower” or just another member of the herd. We value our individualism in this country, but don’t let that put you at risk of ignoring the benefits that come from popular trends.

Look at what’s happening in kitchen design today. You don’t have to follow every new trend slavishly, like an interior décor fashionista, but stay informed of what’s hot, and see if some innovations, such as LED lighting that saves you on electricity bills, might not be a good idea, with real benefits.