Kitchen renovation tips

Renovating a kitchen is an exciting thing to have on your radar. However, it’s an often-complicated project that can take up a lot of time and energy. For this reason, it’s important to know what to expect and know how to get the most out of it.

Here’s what you need to know about kitchen renovations, complete with tips on how to get the most out of yours.

How long does a kitchen renovation take?

The answer to this depends on the scale of your project. Even a small kitchen renovation can take two to three weeks, while more extensive projects can take several months.

Smaller projects might involve new flooring and re-wiring. Then, once you start to add plumbing and pipework into the mix, alongside kitchen units being moved around, this can add one or two more weeks to the process of renovating a kitchen.

Meanwhile, if you plan to renovate a kitchen that involves an extension, you will need to factor in planning applications, which can take two months to process. This, combined with the extensive work that will need to be done, means the whole endeavour can take four or five months.

How much does it cost to renovate a kitchen?

The cost of renovating a kitchen is dictated by several factors. The extent to which you change your kitchen is key. If you switch up the layout, on top of buying brand-new cabinets and appliances, this will cost more than simpler upgrades such as refacing your cabinets. Meanwhile, open shelving could be an even more cost-effective option in some kitchens.

You should prepare for the fact that renovating a kitchen could cost upwards of £10,000 for even a simple transformation. More extensive kitchen renovations can cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Most people find it helpful to create a detailed budget before getting started. This way, you can keep yourself accountable when making decisions. There are plenty of online budget planning tools to help with this. It’s important to get several quotes before you begin to renovate a kitchen.

How to renovate a kitchen on a budget

Doing a kitchen renovation on a budget means taking the planning stage seriously. The more detailed your plans are, the less prone you’ll be to costly mistakes that need to be rectified. During this stage, you can identify cost-saving areas.

For instance, do you feel comfortable enough to apply a DIY approach to certain elements? While plumbing and electrical work should be done by a professional, tiling and painting the walls can be done yourself if you have the right tools. If you do make more substantial changes, put thought into the varying costs of materials. To help save costs, you might go for laminate worktops and vinyl flooring.

If you plan to keep the layout the same without moving plumbing or electrics, this will also keep a lid on the total cost.

How to plan a kitchen renovation

Some of the most valuable kitchen renovation tips revolve around doing your renovation in the correct order and ensuring each stage is completed to a high standard.

Firstly, plan out your vision for renovating your kitchen. The more detailed you are at this stage of the process, the better. This being said, make sure your plans are versatile because you never know what your builder might suggest. Don’t be afraid to seek professional advice at this stage. Gathering design insight from an interior designer and combining this with the practical elements will help you create the perfect setup.

Think about the flow of the space, envisioning how you’ll navigate it on a day-to-day basis or when you’re hosting guests. It’s at this stage that you can incorporate certain priorities, such as working out the logistics of renovating your kitchen more sustainably and using responsibly sourced materials that can be recycled.

Decide on the appliances early on, as much of the kitchen planning will centre around these. Pay attention to where sockets and plumbing are located, as the latter in particular can be tricky to move.

You might decide that you need more sockets when renovating a kitchen, depending on which appliances you choose. If you need to do work on the plumbing and electrics, this should be done before you move on to the installation phase. The old kitchen can be removed when you’ve finalised your plan and secured all the measurements. Be as precise as possible with these to avoid any mishaps.

Once this planning stage is complete and you’ve sorted the plumbing and electrics, you can plaster and paint the walls, which should ideally be done before the new kitchen is installed. Make sure you put down any flooring at this stage, too, as these should always go down before the kitchen itself is installed.

Finally, once the kitchen is in place, you can get to work with installing any splashbacks or tiling.