With a few helpful kitchen renovation preparation tips, your home improvement project will go more smoothly. Of course, you should always do what you can to avoid home improvement budget busters for even more satisfying results. In the end, planning is key to doing it all right and well worth the time and effort. Unfortunately, some homeowners do rush into these types of renovations and wind up experiencing a lot of regret. Not to mention, the emotional and psychological toll it takes.
Kitchen Renovation Preparation Tips to Use
A great kitchen makeover starts with a rock solid, realistic plan. If possible, try to leave fixtures and systems in-place. It’s very expensive to relocate a dishwasher and even more so to relocate a kitchen sink and refrigerator. Also, know precisely what requires a permit before you even break out the first tool. You really do not want to deal with the hassles of unpermitted work. It’s time-consuming and might require a lot of changes.
“Think of a kitchen remodel the same way you would think about partaking in a weight loss program: no matter what anyone tells you, it’s not happening overnight. Your patience will be tested; you’ll consider cutting corners that aren’t worth cutting. Weeks will go by where it seems like no progress is being made. You will find yourself missing things you never gave two thoughts to in the past. Of course, when you’ve endured and survived the many weeks it will take to reach your goal, your friends, family and neighbors will be unbelievably impressed with the new look.” —Kitchens.com
One early step to take is to formulate a plan to get through day-to-day life without a fully functional kitchen. Many homeowners opt to temporarily relocate their kitchens into the garage or a Florida room. It’s here, you’ll move the refrigerator, microwave, and other appliances. While this won’t be a perfect situation, it will serve a basic purpose. But more planning is needed before you start your kitchen refresh. Here are some kitchen renovation preparation tips you can use:
- Move the non-perishables. Even if you’re not going to do a thing with the pantry, now is a great time to get it organized. There’s probably more than a few items which are out-of-date and others you simply never use. Whatever’s left, you can either relocate or leave in the pantry.
- Start purging items early on. Speaking of purging, this also applies to the three cullenders, two half-sets of dinnerware, glasses without matching sets, and so on. You get the idea; there’s probably a lot of duplicates and odd items and now is your chance to free up more space. This also helps a great deal in getting organized.
- Begin emptying the refrigerator. About a ten days to week before you begin your kitchen renovation, you should be eating leftovers and frozen foods. The goal is to empty the refrigerator as much as possible because it won’t be the reliable go-to source during construction.
- Take down all the kitchen decor. The fake plant which sits on top of the cabinets and every other piece of kitchen decor needs to go. You don’t have to permanently part with it, but it will only be in the way during the kitchen makeover. If you’ve come to loathe this and that, now is a prime opportunity to make changes.
- Separate rooms and cover furniture. If at all possible, hang plastic between the kitchen and other rooms. Also, cover any nearby furniture with drop cloths. While these steps won’t guarantee to keep your rooms and furniture free of debris, they will mitigate the amount.
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