Saving on Kitchen Remodeling

Saving on Kitchen Remodeling

Remodeling your kitchen will add value to your home. A modern and “with-it” kitchen is one of the top things buyers look for when purchasing a home. Plus, a kitchen remodel will make your home better for your lifestyle.

Contemplating a kitchen remodel is daunting. Adding up the cash outlay could just stop any project from happening. Careful shopping and creative money-saving strategies, however, are just the ticket to get our kitchen update going

• Budget shopping for big-ticket items like cabinets and appliances will give you more cash to spend on the little items that make a kitchen wonderful. Step away from those professional appliances that look awesome in the magazine ads. They are very expensive. You can find major home appliances that look almost like the pros, but at steep savings.

• Consider your needs. You want a kitchen that looks awesome, but keep your lifestyle and culinary needs in mind when shopping for appliances and cabinetry. If you don’t cook all the time, you may not need a multi-burner, high BTU cooktop or double wall oven. Scale back.

• Watch for appliance options and extras. Don’t pay extra for the ones you don’t need. If you are looking for a range that is a bit on the retro side, go for the looks rather than the extras; you will save a ton of money.

• Cabinetry can make your kitchen both in looks and in storage capacity. Try dressing up simple but well-made cabinet boxes with custom wood doors and drawer faces, or add decorative knobs and pulls. Upscale kitchen elements can be augmented with open stainless steel shelving and rolling carts.

• Look at sealed plywood cabinets. These are very affordable and have wood veneers with distinctive grains. These types of cabinets are very cool as well as durable. You can order cabinet units that have built-in rollouts and dividers, but you might consider retrofitting them from less-expensive readymade items from specialty shops or big-box stores. Improvise your own in cabinet storage solutions. Improvisation gives your kitchen a personal touch.

• Sit down midway in the remolding and see where you are. You might want to splurge on an extravagant countertop, but resist! There are many ways to get awesome looking countertops at a great price. Aim for a high-low blend. Use stone or wood in specific workstations and top the rest of your countertops with less expensive surfaces. Dress up laminate countertops with stainless steel edging or wood. Funky edging will customize your countertops. You might want to repurpose stone, stainless steel or wood. That would make your kitchen unique.

• Use tiles on your countertops and backsplashes. You can use 12-inch squares and larger rectangles or go small and try tiny mosaics. Stone tiles are versatile and work for counters, floors, and backsplashes. Let your imagination run wild.

• The backsplash can make a huge “splash” in your kitchen. Use sheet metals like galvanized aluminum, copper to tin ceiling panels. If you have broken pottery, add them to tiles in a backsplash. Let your imagination run away, and you will have an awesome and inexpensive kitchen remodel.