Remodeling your kitchen is considerably complex. From offering ample storage to a practical workflow, our culinary spaces are the ultimate multitasking scheme. Consequently, this makes it essential to get the look and layout just right. However, before you dive in, there’s a whole host of kitchen remodeling mistakes you need to avoid if you want to save time, stress, and money.
While remodeling your kitchen, you need to consider many factors that can impact the very foundations of your project – including things like your kitchen island, lighting, appliances, backsplash ideas, and cabinetry. Even relatively small kitchen remodeling mistakes can have devastating consequences in the long term.
Why Should You Avoid Kitchen Remodeling Mistakes?
Guests can potentially scrutinize everything from your kitchen’s color scheme and layout to the shelving and flooring material. Furthermore, your choices can significantly impact your kitchen’s longevity and functionality as well. Kitchen remodeling mistakes will not only make your kitchen less efficient to work in, but may cause significant financial losses as well.
In order to steer clear, we have compiled a list of the most major kitchen remodeling mistakes to avoid. These tips, which are recounted by many professional designers and experts across the world, will help you do justice to even the tiniest aspects of your kitchen. Hence, you will end up with a highly functional and visually striking kitchen that will serve you and your family for a long time.
Selecting Outdated Designs
We understand that it is highly tempting to choose a trendy and fashionable design when going for a kitchen renovation project. However, not all visually appealing designs are going to be “in” for a long time.
You should not select a design that could go out of fashion just a few years down the line. That is one of the biggest and most standard kitchen remodeling mistakes made by homeowners. Remember that remodeling your kitchen is very expensive, and you will be unlikely to afford it again anytime soon.
A good kitchen design can efficiently serve you for at least ten years without undergoing any major renovation. If you plan to sell your house in due course, you should consider your kitchen’s impact on the resale value of the home as well.
After all, the kitchen is one of your home’s primary places that potential buyers look closely at. That said, you can safely go for more trendy options when it comes to accessories, paint, and wallpaper. That is because you can easily and economically replace it if needed.
Going Beyond Your Budget
Experts unanimously agree that you must never begin a kitchen remodeling project unless you have a clear plan and budget in your mind. Going beyond the allotted kitchen remodeling budget is one of the most common mistakes that homeowners make. Even if you have sufficient funding, you can avoid overspending by knowing what you expect from your kitchen remodeling project.
Experienced people know that project expenses can greatly go up with time, and overspending can consequentially become dangerously easy. You can avoid this situation by preparing an inventory list beforehand, which accounts for both contents and furniture.
You should not invest in impractical or redundant items which will get worn out quickly. Replacement expenses for such objects can cost you a lot in due term. Instead, you should go for a material that is durable and long-lasting.
For instance, while choosing your appliances, you should try selecting those who genuinely contribute to your kitchen’s functionality. Similarly, if you need a solid wood worktop for cooking purposes, you could consider going for a laminate wood effect worktop. That is a reasonably durable item and much more economically priced as well.
Not Seeking Professional Help
People are often quick to opt for a DIY approach, hoping to save money on their home remodeling projects. Unfortunately, when it comes to a complicated process like kitchen remodeling, this can do much more harm than good. When dealing with something of this magnitude, a certain level of expertise is necessary.
Consider all the complex ventilation systems, plumbing, and electrical wiring in your kitchen, for example. Messing with them without proper knowledge and experience is one of the worst DIY kitchen remodeling mistakes made by people.
You should seek professional help regarding project management and planning at every stage of the work. For example, you cannot proceed with tiling until the electrical work has been completed.
Kitchen remodeling contractors near you will keep a close watch over the process and make sure that everything proceeds in order. Thus, you can see that smart investment in expert guidance at the beginning of your project can save you much more money than an amateurish attempt at the same.
Having Inadequate Storage Space
Storage space is a very important aspect of your kitchen. Not paying close attention to it during renovation is one of the gravest kitchen remodeling mistakes you can make.
You must plan properly and allocate sufficient space for everything from your stainless steel utensils to refurnished kitchen cabinets. Make sure you adhere closely to your kitchen storage ideas in order to avoid messing up your newly remodeled kitchen.
Creating innovative ways of incorporating storage solutions into your kitchen’s existing essentials is the best way to make the most out of your kitchen’s storage capacity.
Make sure you do not forget to utilize every resource in this regard – even often ignored spaces, such as the area above your kitchen cabinets. Similarly, you can utilize the unused space between the base cabinets and wall by using magnetic panels.
For heavier objects, you could use pull-out corner storage designed to fit into your kitchen cabinets conveniently. One of the most helpful features of this storage is that it gives you fast and easy access to its contents.
Consequently, you can use it to store objects that you might require at short notice. Remember to utilize your kitchen’s floor space by using a trolley that provides additional space when cooking food. It can even serve as a drinks trolley when you are relaxing with your friends and family.
Not Having Enough Counter Space
Failing to arrange for adequate kitchen countertop space is one of the most common kitchen remodeling mistakes made by people. You must not forget to include sufficient space to accommodate your work triangle, including your appliances, washing equipment, and space to eat and spend time with your loved ones.
Ignoring Ventilation
Proper ventilation is one of the most important aspects of a kitchen—the process of cooking results in the release of odorous substances, smoke, and steam.
If your kitchen is not ventilated properly, then these gaseous substances and aerosols will freely drift throughout your home. It can be an unpleasant experience to smell those odors in other rooms in the house.
Thus, you should try to invest in a quality ventilation system that efficiently filters the air in your home and purifies. That will help in keeping both the house and kitchen clean.
Also, you should avoid choosing cheaper products that simply recirculate the flow of air in your kitchen and consume large amounts of power. Instead, go for a product the produces minimal noise and uses energy efficiently.
Allowing Trash to Accumulate
Quite understandably, many homeowners do not make efforts to ensure proper and timely disposal of waste. In today’s lifestyle, the generation of trash and waste material is inevitable. Therefore, you should make the proper removal and recycling of waste a top priority.
You can consider going for integrated bins in this regard. Alternatively, you can also choose cupboards that can accommodate freestanding bins. This serves to conceal both the presence and smells of waste material.
If you failed to allocate space for storing waste during planning, your only option is to put up a freestanding bin on the forefront. Naturally, that does not exactly make for a lovely sight.
However, the good news is that modern innovation designing has various stylish solutions in this regard now. Still, we hope that you will not have to resort to that. A much better option is to simply plan properly for waste storage and management right from the beginning.
Not Giving Due Importance to Lighting
Lighting plays an essential role in the aesthetics and functionality of every room in your house. The same holds true for your kitchen. You must make sure that every area in your kitchen is lit aptly and adequately.
For instance, you will have to provide much more direct and brighter lighting in the area where you cook food. On the other hand, the dining area in your kitchen would do well with a softer and more demure lighting arrangement.
Today, many homeowners like to go for spotlights hidden under the wall cabinets and in the kitchen roof. You can group them according to their tasks and use them with dimmer switches.
The latter will help you adjust the level of lighting whenever you want. You could also consider installing plinth lighting strips along the base of your cabinet. That will create a serene lighting arrangement that looks heavenly when the other lights have been turned off.