Appliances Should Be An Early Choice For Kitchen Remodeling

When working with a kitchen remodeling contractor on a major home improvement project, some of the biggest choices homeowners will be making are for kitchen elements like cabinets, countertop surfaces, or even floor tile. These are expensive, big-ticket items that often take up the bulk of the budget and require the practiced hand of an experienced kitchen remodeling contractor to do right.

However, one of the biggest choices homeowners can make that will determine much of how the kitchen is designed is in the appliances. Here’s why.

Function Defines Form

The appliances and fixtures chosen for a kitchen are the true heart of a kitchen. People use the stove for cooking food, the oven to roast it. The sink is used to wash food and, in some cases, wash dishes unless a dishwasher has been installed. The refrigerator is the primary storage space for perishable goods. All of these items take up space in the kitchen.

That space must be carefully measured to ensure smooth integration with the remainder of the kitchen. Homeowners that choose appliances last and focus on the design of the kitchen cabinets and counters often encounter unpleasant surprises, such as the counter, after being installed, being a few inches too short for the kitchen sink they’ve chosen, requiring a rebuild of the counter to extend it. Similarly, a stove range may be too wide for the space allotted to it within the counter space because the decision on which oven to pick came at the last minute when everything else had been locked in.

Placement Can Change

How big an appliance is can directly affect the possibilities for its final destination for installation. A larger kitchen sink, for example, may not be able to accommodate the space you had in mind for the dishwasher you wanted to add to the kitchen. Getting a larger fridge than the one you have now may mean that a new location must be determined for where the refrigerator will go, especially if the counters are being extensively redesigned and expanded.

Even with the proper measurements for a stove range, if you’re also investing in a hood and safer, more efficient ventilation, this can change where it may be feasible to place the new stove. This is especially true regarding the proper layout of pipes for venting fumes and smoke safely out of the home.

Consult With A Professional Kitchen Remodeling Contractor

It’s always a good idea to run ideas for kitchen designs and appliance choices past the kitchen remodeling contractor that you’ve chosen to work with. They have experience with installation and can help ensure that once final decisions are made on appliances, the measurements of other kitchen elements, such as the cabinets and counters, can be adjusted to accommodate these choices.

Failure to do this can, in the worst cases, require rebuilding, and in the best cases, make for a less even, more disjointed appearance, which, while it may not impair kitchen functionality, looks less aesthetic and professional than a kitchen remodel where everything has been properly measured and smoothly integrated for a clean, unified look.