6 Smartest Areas to Spend Your Money in a Kitchen Remodel

as I just mentioned it's no secret that the kitchen is the most expensive room in your house to remodel and in the next lecture I'll be sharing with you exactly how expensive a kitchen remodel can be so given this reality it's obviously important that you use your money wisely and spend it on the areas that matter most now let me just start off by saying that if you ask a group of interior designers this question you will likely get different lists as some of this is subjective but there will definitely be overlap on some of the items because some of this does come down to experience as well as what we know has a great return on investment that said if you were my client here are these six areas where I would tell you to either spend some money if you weren't planning on spending any money or just spend a little more of your budget than you may have originally planned first one area that I'm confident every designer would agree on is countertops functionally your countertops can absolutely take a beating on a regular basis so you want something that will hold up and look great for years to come aesthetically is truly one of the first things that people look at when they walk into a kitchen if you go with a particularly exil'd choice it will definitely set the tone and even dictate the design for your kitchen if you ever sell your home high quality countertops are always desirable so I would advise you to spend some money on a high quality material like quartz or granite now if you have a really tight budget and you cannot afford this type of material for your entire kitchen but you have an island then definitely spend some money on a beautiful high-end piece of stone for your Island and then go with a more affordable countertop option such as solid surface for the perimeter of your kitchen the second area where I will tell you to invest some money is in certain aspects of your cabinetry sure if we need to replace all of our cabinets most of us love the look of custom couch a tree but many of us either can't afford them or don't want to spend the money for them and thankfully you don't have to go top-of-the-line to get a decent quality cabinet my advice is to go with a mid-range cabinet box and door which can save you thousands and rather spend some money in certain key areas related to cabinetry first splurge on soft clothes hinges and glides and full extension drawer slides once considered a luxury they are definitely becoming more common and a great selling point if you do sell your home even if you don't and you're thinking I've lived my whole life without this do I really need them I can just tell you that most clients wonder how they ever lived without them once they do get them especially if there are kids in the home second I would invest in at least one pair of accent doors or possibly more depending upon the size of your kitchen my accent doors I'm referring to mullion doors glass doors leaded glass doors and aluminum frame doors there is an accent door for nearly any style and they really elevate the overall look of your cabinet and your kitchen third on my list is cabinet hardware this is sadly an area that is usually not given a lot of thought by many homeowners but hardware is something that you're going to be touching every single day so spending a little more to get a decent quality that feels good and solid to the touch like the door to a bank vault is just so worth it aesthetically Hardware reinforces whatever style you're going for in your kitchen and it really does make a big difference to the final look of your overall design as a result this is one area where I encourage clients to spend a bit more money number four on my list is your faucet just like your hardware you will be using your faucet every single day and believe me there's a big difference between the most affordable option and the most expensive option at least from a quality standpoint now of course you don't have to go out and buy the most expensive and in fact I wouldn't advise you to do that but if you spend just a few hundred dollars at least here in the US you can get a good quality faucet with a stainless steel body a ceramic disc valve magnetic spray pull down design and reliable touchless on and off capabilities which is awesome to have in the kitchen lighting is my number five especially under cabinet lighting while most builders do a good job of including sufficient and the in lighting in a kitchen under cabinet lighting is simply not a standard yet but it should be under cabinet lighting not only serves an important function as additional task lighting for your countertop it also provides beautiful ambiance to a kitchen because of its low intensity light under cabinet lighting is ideal lighting to use first thing in the morning and the last type of lighting in the evening the cost of benefit ratio for this upgrade is well worth it in my opinion apart from under cabinet lighting if you have an island or a breakfast nook take this opportunity to select some statement lighting that reinforces your kitchen style and great looking light fixtures can be had for a few hundred dollars so you don't need to break the bank to make a statement in this area ideal fixtures for islands are a pair of chandeliers a pair of bold pendants or multiple pendants for a breakfast nook a chandelier or a large pendant look great number six was a toss-up for me and really this comes down to whether or not you cook often while it's important to purchase solid energy-efficient appliances from reputable manufacturers I do not think you need to go top-of-the-line for most of your appliances that said the one area where I would encourage you to spend a little more if you do cook often is on a quality cooktop or range unlike the oven which typically gets used infrequently by most homes a cooktop is often the true workhorse of the kitchen and is typically one of the longest lasting appliances as well so upgrading is usually money well spent in addition upgrading to a nicer cook upper range means the ability to have more burners more powerful burners expandable burners dual burners which are burners with two concentric rows for fast heating and even cooking cooking sensors seamless grates hot surface warnings and options like a griddle wok burner electric steamer module and deep fryer all of these options means the ultimate and flexibility and in terms of appliance ROI a higher end cooktop will generally be seen as desirable by future buyers now I do have one honorable mention and that is the sink while you can save a lot of money and get a decent quality stainless steel sink sometimes the sink really does make the design such as a farmhouse sink in farmhouse English country French country modern French and Cottage kitchens don't forget that after your faucet the sink is the most commonly used item in your kitchen and given that most homeowners choose undermount sinks replacing the sink down the road is quite difficult so it's better to spend the money upfront on equality sync that will last or if a standard stainless steel sink works just fine for you consider adding a second prep sink if two of you are regularly cooking in the kitchen the extra sink can be a huge benefit for you both and there you have it the six areas where I would encourage you to think about investing a little more than you might have these are all areas that carry a big design impact many of them have a great ROI and more importantly will make you love your kitchen even more

Channel: Erikka Dawn Interiors

Views: 142,169

Keywords: interior design, interior decorating, erikka dawn interiors, kitchen design, erikka fogleman, kitchen remodel, where to spend money kitchen remodel, kitchen remodel best practices, kitchen interior design, kitchen remodeling

Id: GwnNh7uG_tY

Length: 8min 28sec (508 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 04 2019