Life-Changing Kitchen Remodel

Our kitchen pre-remodel was the stuff of nightmares. Sure, it functioned as a place to cook food and wash dishes, but that was about it. The builder basic cabinets, laminate countertops and non-existent design was the perfect reason for a full gut remodel.

Those before and after photos still give me the shivers...

Planning Your Kitchen Remodel

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else." -Yogi Berra

We knew we needed a new kitchen, but we also knew we didn't have an unlimited budget. We also knew that we wanted to make the layout more functional. Here is how we went about the planning process:

1. Layout

The general layout of the kitchen's refrigerator, stove and sink worked, so we planned to keep those as is. That makes all the behind the wall work easier (no changing electric or plumbing - saving time and cost! The portion of the kitchen that didn't work for us was the buffet area separate from the main working part of the kitchen. I knew I wanted a desk in the kitchen and a built in hutch for glassware, since our dining room was too small for a china cabinet. Our house also doesn't have a mudroom so we wanted a place to sit down and take off shoes when coming in to the kitchen from the backyard. Finally, we needed a larger island to accommodate seating, since we were removing the open space where a table might have gone previously.

The actual cabinet layout may seem daunting on your own, but it is possible! We used https://www.cabinets.com/kitchen-design feature plus our own measurements and designed the kitchen ourselves. It took us a few weeks of planning to finalize the design, but ultimately we saved a lot by not having to hire a designer or architect to help with this portion of the project.

TOP TIP: Do not demo your existing kitchen before your cabinets are sitting in your house waiting to be installed. The wait can vary and you don't want to be eating takeout for weeks extra for no reason.

2. Appliances

Oh how I would have loved a full suite of new Viking Appliances, but that was not to be with our budget. Also, given our short time horizon for how long we planned to live in the house, it didn't make sense to blow a big portion of the remodel budget here. If you see yourself in a house for 5+ years, it might be worth it to you though! The only appliance we upgraded was the dishwasher - I have had one of these flood a kitchen before and ours was very old, so this was a good place to spend ~$700-$900. We also sprung for the WiFi enabled version... but I wouldn't recommend this; it is a feature we never use.

TOP TIP: When unplugging your refrigerator to take it out of service during a remodel - be sure you open the doors!! We did not and had a very unpleasant odor to content with...

3. Materials

Cabinets and countertops are the main materials you need to select for your kitchen. For kitchen cabinets you can spend a little or a lot when it comes to grade and quality of construction. We bought our cabinets from Cabinets.com and I would suggest taking a look at their construction section to educate yourself more about this area https://www.cabinets.com/construction . We decided to go with solid wood, pre-painted cabinets. This finish would hold up best to a busy family for years to come, and the solid wood are less susceptible to water damage or other structural issues. For countertops, in today's design market you pretty much have to go with quartz. It is durable, beautiful and comes in endless options.

TOP TIP: Find a stone supplier in your area who will let you go through their warehouse to look at full slabs - this is the only way to get a good feel for how the countertops will look in your kitchen. Also, if you can, bring your cabinet doors with you so you can see how they look next to the various slabs.