If you are thinking about renovating your kitchen, the sheer weight of information and choices is enough to confuse you. Don’t give up so soon and don’t leave it all to the professionals. When you hire contractors, they don’t expect you to know everything and you can always go through the process with them. The following are 6 areas of kitchen renovation to focus on to make the
project a breeze.


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Space Planning

The initial space planning is extremely important for the final results to pan out as you expected. First, create a wish list and use images of kitchen for inspiration. Try not to get too caught up with what you see but make use of sketches and drawings to plan where everything will go in every inch of your kitchen. Sit with your designer and try out various layouts for space planning.

Are you planning to create an eat-in kitchen? Are the windows being changed? Is the wall going to be pushed back? Wonderful things can be done with small kitchens, so don’t go crazy over the size of your kitchen.

Budgeting

Budgeting usually goes hand in hand with the scope of the renovation and you should remember that these two things have the greatest chances of changing as the project progresses. This is why you have to pick your battles. Are you passionate about cooking? If yes, then you should set aside a large part of your budget towards state of the art appliances.

However, if you are not that much into cooking, spend all that money on custom cabinets, lighting, décor and construction. Never be stingy when it comes to cabinets and you would be thankful in the years to come.

Kitchen Style

You can go for a one wall or Pullman kitchen if you live in a studio apartment. This kitchen is suitable for those who want to save a lot of space because the appliances and cabinets go on a single wall. You can also have a walk through kitchen with two walls, parallel counter-tops and a lot of space to walk around.

L-shaped kitchens are perfect if you want to make sure that the corner space is properly used. Horseshoe kitchen styles have three walls and an island. Your kitchen style would be decided in the preliminary space planning phase.

Equipment and Appliances

In this step, you would be choosing the appliance range such as decorative hardware, back-splash, flooring, fixtures, refrigerators, dishwashers, countertops and cabinetry. According to the Queensland Appliances, this is a step that is vast in its scope and your budget would fluctuate most in this step, so be careful. Decide everything – from color, finish, style to construction type – when it comes to appliances and equipment.

Painting

The best and cheapest way to reuse your old cabinets is to paint them. Painting can often save you the cost of replacement. Wall stripes in kitchen are currently trending, so you can paint those on to add a modern look to your kitchen. A lot of people convert their kitchens into artworks by having beautifully painted walls. Instead of painting, you can also go for decorative wallpaper. It looks classy and adds a touch of charm to the kitchen. Make sure you match the wallpaper with the curtains.

Lighting

Your kitchen should be a welcoming place for you and your friends. It must have a complex lighting plan. Task lighting goes under the counter-tops, above your kitchen island and around the prep space. Ambient lighting on the ceiling would cover the entire area in a soft light when natural light is not available.

If you have spent special time in a particular area of your kitchen, use accent lighting to give it the limelight it deserves. You have the option of incandescent, fluorescent, halogen and CFL bulbs for the purpose of lighting in your kitchen.

Never hesitate in asking your kitchen designer and contractor questions about your requirements. Work with them to achieve the best possible results given the budget and space.