3 Tips for Bringing Your DIY Kitchen Ideas to Life
As a sensible homeowner, you know that improvements around your home are an investment. Unfortunately, time and money are not always our strongest allies. The least enjoyable step in your kitchen remodel is typically going to be the same as everyone’s: taking a hard look at your budget. Many homeowners can become frozen in indecision and filled with thoughts of half-complete projects lasting ages.
That amazing new kitchen you have been dreaming of can become a reality more easily than you think. It won’t take wishful thinking or a magic spell: just methodical planning to meet your goals and execute on your DIY ideas.
Our 3 tips to breathe life into your kitchen remodel include:
- Get help when you need it
- Scope out the full project
- Know what you want
Planning the Remodel for Success
These aren’t simple buzz phrases without any substance. We’re going to break down how to follow these tips in order to achieve the successful kitchen remodel you want. Stick with us!
1. Get Help When You Need It
With only the crudest idea of what you are looking for in your kitchen remodel, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed before you’ve begun. You may have a vague idea about some of the appliances you want to have but no clue how they fit into the overarching theme. When it comes to any significant structural work needed for your new kitchen, do you need approved plans? You don’t need to resort to guesswork for these big questions.
Professionals in the various industries serving your remodel want to help you. It is in their best interest (and yours!) to educate you and help you make an informed choice. An architect, for example, will be able to tell you whether your remodel will demand new plans being approved through any local building departments in your region. In answering your questions and assisting you, they will also have developed a strong understanding of your project to be able to draw up the plans if you so desire. They want your business– they want to provide value.
Imagine that you have determined what your spacing roughly looks like, but have no reasonable clue how your cabinet layout will look. No problem! When you contact an authoritative cabinetry outlet, they will gladly investigate your project and kitchen space to help you plot out your functional storage solution. Save yourself the headache and indecision by letting the professionals come to your aid. You may be astonished by how much more realistic your project will already begin to feel.
2. Scope Out the Full Project
Once you have the broad strokes of your new kitchen, you’re ready to begin fleshing out the scope of the project. If you have followed our first tip, you are in contact with one or more pros to assist with the individual aspects of the job ahead. Understanding the nature of each area of the remodel allows you to make educated decisions on purchasing and schedules.
Whether with neatly lined paper or ideally a spreadsheet, it is time to write out what you have learned and what needs to get done. Putting your project into a tracker and sorting steps based on the discussions you have had with an architect, plumber, or cabinetmaker makes your vision approachable systematically. This also helps to illuminate areas of the remodel which you may have not considered yet. Store any physical plans drawn up with this spreadsheet as an easy reference for ongoing planning.
Arrange the project by sections confined to each area of work to be performed by an individual subcontractor, and make sure you note down anything of significance they have shared with you about the work. Use the spreadsheet as an evolving document to capture all of the fine details so that you can see how each step must marry the next. If you have learned that one component of your remodel must happen before or after another, here is the place to set that in stone.
3. Know What You Want
Using the scope and equipped with the added knowledge of where your puzzle pieces fit into the overall project, it is time to select the resources for your remodel. Knowing exactly what you want can shave thousands off of your previously imagined budget by removing the hidden equation of “allowances”– estimated selection prices for appliances or components. Without firm options in mind, subcontractors will be forced to perform estimates that may be wildly inaccurate and lead you right back to an indecision freeze over your kitchen remodel budget.
Plotting out your individual selections all at once is a must for a truly successful remodel. If you land on an ideal countertop but save your cabinet choices for later on in the process, you may find that your preferred cabinet color conflicts too strongly with the countertop you had installed. Be sure to research the different types of countertops available to you so you can easily avoid such a conflict.
This tip marries well with the first, as some of your subcontractors will be able to provide you with accurate quotes on specific items. A reputable RTA cabinets maker with their own line of product can give you a good estimate of parts and installation easily.
Budget With Confidence
With your project scope, expert input, and specific selections in hand you are ready to define an informed budget. Your kitchen remodel is so close to a reality! This budget for your staged installations can work within realistic constraints and get the job done over time to your specifications.
It can still be a challenge to get everything done. Consulting with experienced subcontractors whenever you have questions can keep you motivated and moving ahead. Remember: You can never be too prepared for an overhaul of your kitchen.
