The kitchen is often the most used place in your home and, thus, should get the most attention than other portions of your house. In looking over some recent studies, I found that more homeowners and buyers look to the kitchen as a focal point on buying and selling a home. It is something that will add quick value to your home and get you the best for your buck, so to speak.
Here is the sequence of a kitchen remodel:
Desire
Concept
Funding
Design
Architecture
Engineering
Estimation
Planning
Scheduling
Demolition
Rough
Finish
Fixtures
Enjoyment!
DESIRE
You have to have a need for a kitchen remodel, such as:
1. Convenience.
2. New child on the way.
3. Five-star chef in the family.
4. Out with the old; in with the new.
5. Restore to original or museum quality.
6. Make antique.
7. Modernized new look.
8. Upgrade.
9. Enlarge.
10. Better Utilization.
11. Make ergonomic or feng shui.
12. Marble or Corion counter, Tile, Stainless Steel.
13. Repair water, fire or disaster damage.
14. Increase the value of the home for resale.
15. Showplace or conversation piece.
16. Reflects well on you if you entertain.
17. Serve drinks to home office guests.
CONCEPT
Here is where you sit down and say, “I want to be able to cook for large groups or have it accommodate large parties. I need 4 stoves, not one and big vegetable preparation equipment. I’m having such big parties. I love to cook.” Or, you might say, “I want my kitchen to be easily maintained, such as granite. I don’t want the commercial look of stainless steel.” Or, “I’ll have an island in the center with a sink and a small burner.” “I want it to have this much freezer space and this much refrigerator space and an ice maker.” Another might say, “I eat nothing but TV dinners, so give me plenty of freezer room and a big micro-wave.”
Conceptualize your ideal scene. Write down what you need and want. If you aren’t easily able to picture how the sizes of things will be, go out to the yard with some flour. Take a handful of flour and draw the wall, the counter, the island, etc. in the grass. On paper you may not notice that your walkways are only one and a half feet wide. When you draw it on your yard with flour, you can get a better feel for the sizes.
If you have any questions about remodeling your kitchen, feel free to call me at (818) 548-8760.
