Kitchen Renovation Design Ideas

Kitchen Renovation Design Ideas for the Modern Kitchen

By Mark J. Donovan




So you’re considering a kitchen renovation project. Not a bad idea, considering the kitchen is the most utilized room in the home. A kitchen renovation project, however is a major undertaking. It is both expensive and disruptive. A kitchen renovation, on the other hand, is one of the best investments you can make in your home. You can usually recoup most of your investment within a year or so of completing your kitchen renovation project. The key to a successful kitchen renovation project is planning and determining up front what kitchen renovation design ideas you want to incorporate.

Listed below are kitchen renovation design ideas and planning tips to make your kitchen remodeling project go smoother.

First, assess how big your kitchen area currently is. If you have plans on enlarging it, how do you plan on doing it? Putting an addition onto the home, or by utilizing other space within the home? Second, determine the size of your kitchen renovation budget.

A kitchen renovation can easily cost you upwards of $20-30,000 or more, depending the amount, type, and styles of kitchen cabinets and appliances you choose. One smart renovation design tip is to maintain the general location of your existing kitchen appliances and sink. By not moving them you can save a small fortune on electrical and plumbing contractor costs.

With your kitchen renovation size and budget determined you can then begin to consider the plethora of kitchen renovation design ideas that are right for you and your family.

Kitchen Renovation Design Ideas

First, take advantage of your local home improvement centers or kitchen supply stores. Most offer free kitchen design services. They have software aided tools that can develop your kitchen renovation design plans down to the kitchen cabinet knobs. In addition, their designs can be used for ordering the specific kitchen cabinetry and appliances. The typical process includes the kitchen designer coming out to your home, taking some measurements, listening to your kitchen renovation goals, and then developing a set of kitchen design plans. From there, the kitchen cabinets, countertops and appliances are order, delivered and installed in the kitchen.

Refacing Kitchen Cabinets

If your kitchen renovation plans include reusing your existing kitchen cabinets, consider refacing them by sanding them down to bare wood, and then applying stain and polyurethane. In addition, replace the old cabinetry hardware with new kitchen cabinet knobs and handles.

Kitchen Lighting

Include plenty of lighting in your kitchen renovation project. In particular, adding natural lighting is one of the best kitchen renovation ideas you can make.

The return on investment for installing a window in a kitchen is extremely high. Homebuyers love the benefits of a kitchen window as it provides both sunlight and fresh air into the kitchen.

Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet

In addition to including natural light in your kitchen renovation design plans, also make sure to include pendant and track lighting over key kitchen countertop workspaces in the kitchen. Also make sure you include plenty of overhead lighting as well.

Kitchen Appliances

Another excellent kitchen renovation design idea is to go with the housing market trends. Every homebuyer today wants stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. There is no sense going against the market tide. Spend the extra money and include the higher end kitchen appliances and countertops in your kitchen renovation design.

Kitchen Flooring

The use of wood or tile is also a preferred kitchen renovation design feature that most homebuyers like to see in a newly renovated kitchen. They look beautiful and they wear well compared to vinyl floors. So again, seriously consider spending the extra money on hardwood or ceramic tile kitchen flooring.

Electric

If you plan on adding new kitchen appliances to the renovated kitchen, make sure you include additional circuits in the kitchen, versus using the existing ones. Kitchen appliances require a lot of power, particularly the stove/oven, microwave and dishwasher. Each should be on their own circuit breaker.


In addition, there should be plenty of kitchen outlets along the back of the kitchen countertops and all of them should be on ground fault circuit interrupters.

To conclude, a kitchen renovation project is an excellent, but expensive undertaking. It is also very disruptive to the home, however with proper planning the disruptions can be mitigated to some extent, e.g. with temporary kitchen sinks and countertops installed. By carefully considering the kitchen renovation design ideas suggested you can help ensure that your money is well spent and you obtain the renovated kitchen you desire.


For help on your kitchen remodeling project, see my Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet. The Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet provides a request for quote checklist section that you can provide to prospective kitchen remodeling contractors. It also includes a comprehensive kitchen remodeling cost breakdown table, in Microsoft Excel format, that allows the contractor to include his projected remodeling costs for every phase of the project.

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Additional Kitchen Remodeling Design Resources

 

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