How You Can Save Money on a Kitchen Renovation

Unless all you’re planning to do is paint the walls or install a new counter over your existing cabinets, don’t try to save money from the get-go by skimping and trying to plan the design, layout, and cabinetry yourself. Hire a professional kitchen designer to work with you and create your design plan. When you hire a professional designer from the beginning you can save time, money, and costly mistakes.

Once you have your design professional to collaborate with, and you’ve come up with a working plan, decide on every must-have that you want in your kitchen, and try to make sure it’s on site before you start tearing up the flooring or the sledgehammer hits a wall. One big mistake homeowners make is picking out products during a renovation. An easy way to let your budget get away from you is not having made firm decisions and ensuring the products are available and delivered on time. If a product is back-ordered, you may feel tempted to make the choice to select a pricier product that is available now, rather than going with your original choice to avoid being charged for waiting for the items to arrive.

While your backsplash technically serves to keep oil spatters and food off the walls behind your sink or stove, in a kitchen makeover the backsplash is all about design, colour, and style. The backsplash can set the tone and theme of your entire kitchen design, but it can also drive the costs up. Instead of turning the corners with your backsplash to carry it over the kitchen wall, only tile up to the point the walls meet. The important thing is that the tile is placed where it is functional and delivers the most visible impact. Then you’ll have the money for some really beautiful tile in the area behind the sink, or a new countertop and you can use your budget in the other areas.

Nothing makes a room look smaller or more dingy than improper lighting. When it comes to kitchen lighting, placement is everything. Hang beautiful pendant lights over key work and gathering areas for style and light, and ensure the overhead lighting concentrates in the main prep and cooking areas. Little details matter with lighting – under-cabinet lighting won’t break the bank, but it will make an impressive impact.

It’s the details that help create a luxurious, high-end feel in a kitchen remodel. Try adding high-impact details on a large or small scale: add beadboard panelling to your island, or consider adding bun feet to free-standing cabinets to provide a furniture-inspired aesthetic. Instead of installing expensive mosaic tiles, install something with an unusual visual impact, like a concrete countertop or a stacked stone wall as a focal point.