Kitchen Renovation tips

As you may have read already on the blog we have undertaken quite a mega renovation project. In fact you may say two large renovation projects in the last five years – our home house – mega undertaking and a smaller renovation on our holiday home.  I remember starting out on this journey and my dad said to me to buy the best you can afford in terms of tech and functionality and if im honest I didn’t fully appreciate how good this advice was until now when we are almost complete on both projects.

For us the kitchen was the biggest undertaking as I knew I wanted a large kitchen which would be the heart of our home. Our kitchen gets a lot of compliments and if im honest I can take very little credit for its transformation. My husband who does work in the construction sector, very much took the reins here. However, what I can say is I have learned a huge amount from this project and im more than happy to share the tips and tricks I gleaned on this journey.

• Budget – the kitchen is can be a costly project therefore very important to know how much you are willing to spend plus a little contingency for the unforeseen.  Stick to it!!
• Theme – know the style or theme you want to go with it. Be that rustic old school or cool and contemporary and stick with it. There is often a temptation to sway to the latest fads for part of it which then ends up a jumble with little or no consistency.
• Electrics – I am no expert in this but you can never have too many sockets! We installed the USB ones too which are a god send. Love them.
• Plumbing – We had no choice but to move some of the  key plumbing elements and let me tell you….this is where you can loose a huge chunk of your budget and not see much for it. Take advice for the experts here and cost it out versus your budget.
• Doors/ Windows -Similar to the plumbing the glazing can be a huge part of your budget however the difference is with the glazing you will be looking at it day in and day out so you would want to like it! Key here is to balance, look, functionality and the best your budget can afford.  Always look for reputable suppliers. For me I wasn’t prepared to scrimp on my bi-fold doors.  I envisaged on a nice day opening the entirety of the back  of my house out and having almost one mega seamless indoor-outdoor space. We did push the budget for the doors we really wanted and we are still absolutely thrilled with them.
• The work flow – This sounds like im stating the obvious but do give time and consideration to your preference for the flow of the kitchen and the workspaces included in it.
• Lighting – Somewhat linked to the above, I like good lighting for my key work stations and as well as being functional it can add to the mood and the theme of the kitchen.  Lightening can even function as a statement piece.

The below should hopefully give you some tips to go on.  If you have any other useful tips please do drop them in the comments below.

 

Note: This is a collaborative post.