Check out our list of cost-effective techniques to acquire the kitchen of your dreams—within your means—before you start your redesign.
The price to redesign a kitchen is the greatest of any room; replacing the electrical system, adding pendant lighting, and replacing the faucet and fittings may cost $5,000 or more. The price of redesigning your kitchen is $40,000 or $50,000 or more if you remove walls, alter the layout, and buy new cabinets, worktops, and appliances.
Before you hire a professional contractor or get started on the project yourself, read our spend-smart suggestions to help you obtain the kitchen of your dreams while staying within your price range. They might be little adjustments or a whole makeover.
Spend-Smart Strategies for Your Kitchen Makeover
Paint and Save on Cabinets
New cabinets account for 30% to 40% of the cost of redesigning your kitchen. Therefore, if their finish is dark or dull, but you are happy with their location and function, consider painting them rather than replacing them. Even though it needs some effort, your wallet will thank you for finishing this do-it-yourself job. Even expert painting jobs will cost less than newly made custom cabinetry.
Style Tip: Remove the doors from the side uppers to create open shelves for a light, airy appearance.
Splurge on a Quality Faucet
The kitchen faucet is the most used component, so choose one with a premium brand and a single handle for simplicity and quality. Check faucet and handle clearances if your sink is next to a window to ensure that it fits and that you won’t bust your knuckles on the sill. The ideal sink to pair with it is straightforward: To avoid squatting to wash the dishes, use a single bowl as large as you can accommodate and no deeper than 10 inches.
Prep Before You Paint
Whether you’re painting it yourself or want to supervise the painter, these tips will help you do the job effectively.
- The finish’s sheen (or shine) determines how easily a surface can be cleaned; choose semi-gloss for Satin, used to paint cabinets, while eggshell for walls.
- Prepare yourself before picking up a paintbrush. Paint or primer won’t conceal nail holes in the frame or broken fences. Caulk seams, fill nail holes, and level off uneven surfaces. Make sure your contractor makes it clear who is in charge of carrying out that duty if you’ve hired a team and additional.
- Unlike what many people think, the best time to paint your kitchen is earlier: By painting the cabinets and backsplash before they are connected to the wall, you may prevent paint drips on the tiles and cabinets, save labor costs (even with additional touch-ups later), and preserve a straight line where the cabinets and backsplash meet the wall.
When choosing a backsplash, think about how it will look and work.
Think of the wall space between the counter and the cabinets as a canvas to express your personality. Subway tiles provide a traditional look unless they are huge, are arranged vertically, or are laid out in a herringbone pattern. Even while little mosaic patterns are lovely, cleaning the grout lines could not be easy.
Of course, there are various options, including metal ceiling tiles and beadboard paneling, as well as tile materials made of mosaic, embossed ceramic, glass, metal, and other materials. To avoid alienating potential buyers if you decide to put your property on the market in the future, choose a design that you like but is also widely admired and easy to maintain.
Consider Quartz
According to the National Kitchen & Bath Association, quartz has supplanted granite as the most preferred material for countertops. Quartz is a synthetic material that resembles stone. Quartz doesn’t need sealing and is almost impervious to chips, stains, and scratches.
Numerous quartz aesthetics effectively mimic the natural variety of marble and limestone, whose real equivalents are particularly high-maintenance solutions for kitchen worktops. Quartz is offered in a broad spectrum of aesthetics.
Don’t Scrimp on Lighting
You may pick from three different styles of light fixtures for your kitchen. (Hint: you want them all.)
- Install recessed ceiling fixtures above all open floors to provide ambient lighting where people will stand and work.
- Under-Cabinet illumination: Use this to provide task illumination over the counters, as well as to highlight the countertop, backsplash, and cabinets if it is the only light turned on.
- Ceiling Fixtures/Pendants: Add ornate pendants to workspaces such as islands, peninsulas, and sinks to offer diffuse light without casting shadows.
Think About Wood-Look Flooring Alternatives
Wood has a natural, timeless beauty, yet it scrapes, dents, and wears in the kitchen.
Porcelain tile is easy to clean and available in various designs, including realistic stone and wood appearances, but it shatters easily.
As a result, try the following milder alternatives: Luxury vinyl and laminate flooring (seen above) is durable, soft, and forgiving, and it comes in various wood appearances that most people mistake for the genuine thing.
Budget Guidelines for a Major Kitchen Remodel
Three factors should be considered when selecting how much to spend on your kitchen remodel:
- How much you can afford to spend on your ideal kitchen?
- Kitchen quality in other houses in your neighborhood.
- How long do you plan to stay in your present location? When looking for resale payback, keep the following in mind: The value of that room as a percentage of the total value of your house defines how much you should be willing to spend on a significant renovation.
Get Out Your Wallet for a Gut Job
By tearing everything down to the studs, you may change the location and size of doors and windows, add, move, or remove walls, run new electrical, plumbing, and heating/cooling systems, find and repair any rot or bug damage, and insulate.
Demolition, removal of existing materials, and replacement of wallboard and trim, on the other hand, will significantly raise the cost of your project. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your particular project with your contractor.
Insulate Well Before Putting Up Walls
Spray foam insulation provides the best barrier against outside temperatures and drafts. Still, fiberglass batt insulation or stone wool insulation may save you thousands of dollars if you’ve gutted the kitchen.
Another thing to look for before hanging drywall is that your contractor furs out the ceiling to make it perfectly level (if the joists aren’t straight) and installs the wallboard using screws rather than nails to eliminate nail pops.
It looks like high-end cabinets for less money
Unless you’re looking for something unique, you may have the cabinet look you desire (door style, wood type, finish) without the high cost of custom cabinets (made to order to your exact design and size requirements).
Consider two low-cost options: stock cabinets, the cheapest and most quickly supplied; each manufacturer offers a limited menu of designs and finishes in three-inch width increments. The Goldilocks option is semi-custom cabinets made to order using a company’s current plans and finishes in one-inch increments.
Invest in New Windows
You don’t have to destroy your kitchen to replace the windows and doors, but relocating or extending them might need complete demolition in certain sections.
New windows will improve your energy efficiency, tilt in for easy cleaning, and eliminate the unsightly storm windows seen in many houses with original single-pane windows. However, if the building is historic, avoid making the mistake of replacing high-quality wood windows with low-cost plastic copies.
Do you have any further questions about your kitchen remodel? Please contact KBJ Bayonne Contracting Services; we are happy to help!
