When you’re considering a change to your kitchen, it’s common to be uncertain about where to start. There are many decisions that go into any remodeling project, and if you’ve never been through a large renovation, you may have many questions about how it works.
Luckily, the process of remodeling can be easier when you understand how the process generally works and which questions to ask along the way. In this guide, we’ll provide a roadmap for this and walk you through the steps of planning, organizing, and making initial decisions for your new kitchen.
We’ve broken this guide down into sections based on the step-by-step process you’ll likely take when working with a professional remodeling service. Neal’s Design Remodel, for example, offers planning, design, and construction all in one package. We believe this is the best option for an efficient and cost-effective kitchen remodel.
Knowing what to expect is crucial to getting your remodeling team on-board with your project idea to begin working with them toward your new kitchen.
As we discuss each part of the process on the following pages, understand that we’re providing a high-level, general guideline. Your personal limitations, budget, and needs will ultimately be unique to you and your project. Even with this guide, we highly recommend reaching out to your remodeler sooner rather than later to help you better navigate the process ahead.
“Why do I want to remodel my kitchen?”
The desire to remodel your kitchen usually starts when you notice that your current kitchen isn’t ideal. It could be that it isn’t as functional as you would like, or that it doesn’t appeal to your style tastes. Whatever the reason, you’re thinking about a remodel because you can see that changing your kitchen in some way would be an improvement.
Even if you understand your specific reasons for wanting to remodel your kitchen, you’ll still need to consider if doing so is feasible for you. Before you move any further into planning your remodel, set the realistic expectation that changing your kitchen is an investment, it will not happen overnight, and that the process will have a tangible impact on you, your family, and your daily lives.
Evaluate your relationship with your home. How long you intend to stay there and how your home may need to change with your family are important factors. There are two very different remodeling objectives between being in your home for only another year or staying in your home for your foreseeable future.
If those considerations still lead you to a remodel, it’s time to think more specifically about what’s happening in your kitchen and why a remodel may be better than some simple rearranging or basic aesthetic changes.
A kitchen remodel is called for when any or all of the following are present:
If any of these conditions are present, your kitchen is very likely in need of a remodel. By having identified these general issues now, you are also better prepared to get into the more detailed planning steps that come next.
For the time being, forget about your current kitchen. Instead, think about your day. In particular, think about when you go into the kitchen and what you do in there. Write it down or record a video. If there’s something you do in your kitchen but would prefer to do it somewhere else, make a note of that. Next, make a list of the things you don’t or can’t do in the kitchen but would like to be able to. Have the other members of your household do this exercise too.
Make sure you focus on tasks or actions with these lists, and not physical specifications. This allows you to focus on your needs, rather than an predetermined ideas of where and how you’ll do your tasks. This opens your remodel up to more possibilities and solutions than you might initially think of.
These lists can then form a foundation for your kitchen remodel. Everything you do from here on out is to make it easier and better to do those things in your new kitchen.
Before we go too much further, we need to briefly address a common kitchen project type- remodeling older homes. Homes older than 75 years old present unique challenges. Be prepared to discover unexpected twists that at any time can affect your project or budget. The concept of standardized building codes for residences is relatively new, and time and wear can make something that was safe when it was constructed a danger once it’s exposed through a remodel.
Identify as early as possible whether you want your remodeled kitchen to match the style of your home, or match your personal tastes (even if they are contemporary). There’s not correct answer here- it’s about what you as the homeowner want- but by having a style direction in mind, it will be easier to handle unexpected finds and not let them derail your vision for your kitchen.
“What’s possible and what do I like?”
Remodeling ideas come to us in a variety of ways. Getting an idea of what you like will greatly help your project. Your kitchen designer will bring many ideas to the table, and they can do a better and more efficient job when they can get a sense from you about what design ideas have caught your eye to understand your vision for your kitchen.
There are many places you could go to find ideas for a kitchen remodel. We’ll list some ideas here for you, but ultimately when you’re in the mode of thinking about changing your kitchen, stay open for ideas to find you. Something as simple as a shop display or a glimpse of something on TV can inspire ideas for your new space. If you’re looking for specific places to go, though, we can point you to a few resources.
Neal’s 1000+ Design Ideas Gallery
With more than 50 years of remodeling work behind us, Neal’s has a vast library of useful images and ideas for all types of home remodeling projects. We keep our newest and best in a collection of slideshow galleries that you can browse.
Instagram
The social media platform Instagram is designed for visual posts. This is why many professional designers and home remodelers utilize the app, which is most often used on mobile devices. You can search for phrases, called hashtags, to surface recent and popular posts on topics such as kitchen design, remodeling, and even specifics, like kitchen sinks or lighting. Instagram also has a bookmarking feature, making it easy for you to collect ideas as you scroll.
Pinterest
Pinterest is a fantastic resource for finding remodeling ideas. Images are added to the site by other users, and the site is highly searchable. When you begin to find and save remodeling ideas, the site will automatically start suggesting other ideas for you, making it incredibly easy to locate many ideas in just one session.
Home Design Blogs
You can locate both professionals and hobby bloggers talking about kitchen design through Pinterest or with an internet search. Blogs are great resources for ideas because the images and projects they share are most often current and on trend, showing you what’s possible in home design in this modern era. When you locate a blog that you like, you can often subscribe by email to be alerted when they post something new.
Kitchen Product Manufacturers
Whether you visit a website or go to a local retailer, looking at the actual products available for your kitchen can really open your eyes to possibilities. If you haven’t gone to look for tile, faucets, flooring, or appliances in the past several years, you may be shocked to find the plethora of options out there now. This can become somewhat overwhelming, however, so if you go out looking at specific products, try to have some basic criteria in mind.
Design and Remodeling Shows
You can turn to television stations like HGTV, or scope out shows through streaming services or YouTube. Some of the most popular design ideas come from these sources, and many design shows can provide a glimpse into what goes into certain types of remodeling projects.
Home Design Magazines
If you’re more inclined to pick up a magazine than go online, there are many publications that can provide remodeling ideas. There are both national and local magazines for home remodeling, and we recommend checking both out. It can be useful to see and read about projects that happen in your own city or region since style preference and trends tend to exist in geographic pockets. Housetrends magazine has a Cincinnati-area publication we recommend. National magazines, such as House Beautiful, Dwell, Architectural Digest, and Country Living, will provide you with ideas for specific products and show you a wide variety of projects types, project scopes, and design styles.
Design Showrooms or Expos
If you want to see a lot of ideas all at once, visiting a design showroom or attending a home remodeling expo a field trip worth taking. Showrooms like Neal’s are designed with actual products in vignettes to help homeowners see options. You can see cabinetry styles, hardware varieties, counter materials, and tile installations. You can also take advantage of the showroom staff to help you with ideas or to answer questions you may have.
It’s useful to have a few different methods of collecting ideas for easy reference later. We recommend a combination of online and offline methods.
Sites like Instagram and Pinterest come with built-in tools for saving ideas, so if you are using those sites, be sure to take full advantage of these utilities. As you save ideas, make notes where you can about why you are saving the idea. On Pinterest, you can share your board with your project designer so you both can add and edit ideas for even more collaboration.
You may also like using note-taking, cloud-based options that allow you to save text, images, and links into virtual notebooks. You can use searches and tags to find the things you’ve saved. This is a handy tool also because there are mobile apps available. If you find ideas offline, you can snap pictures with your phone and add them into your idea notebook through the app. When you return home and sync up to the cloud, that note will be waiting in the app on your computer.
Sometimes you aren’t able to use Internet-based tools to store your ideas, either because they come from magazines or TV shows, or because you just don’t have online access. For those times, it’s helpful to have a physical way to store ideas. A binder or folder will work for pages you tear out of magazines. You might also just want to keep a regular notebook to jot ideas down.
You may already have an idea of what your preferred home design style is. If you do, that’s a great box to check off in the planning process. If you don’t, taking a little time to narrow your style preferences down will help when it comes time for you to meet with a kitchen designer. If you can go into the conversation with your ideas and say with some confidence what styles you like and want, it will vastly improve how quickly your designer can help find the products and space plans that work for you.
One caveat we do have is to not be too quick to put yourself into a single style bucket. Style labels are useful to get you in the right direction (and we’ll quickly go over the big three in a moment), but if you aren’t also keeping in mind your personal character, the style choices that make your family unique, and the preferences you have for how your home feels, then by trying to shoehorn yourself into one style only, you could be missing the opportunity to make your kitchen truly yours.
There are a few ways you can figure out your design style, but the easiest method will be to take a look at your collection of ideas and look for similarities. Note the feelings or moods they convey, along with any colors or details that show up often.
With these descriptors in mind, you can now see if any of the three primary design styles are the way you lean to help bring your style into a cohesive total look. The three styles are Traditional, Contemporary, and Transitional.
Traditional design uses intricate details, soft textures and warm materials. It is inspired by historical styles including European or “old-world”, colonial, Victorian, and 19th Century architecture and interiors. Highly decorative, with an emphasis on deep tones and luxurious details, traditional design conveys a feeling of grandeur, age, and refinement.
Contemporary design features minimal details, an emphasis on materials, and angular lines. This style movement began in the 50’s and came into popular use in the 70’s. Contemporary spaces are generally uncluttered and open, have some unexpected features and a curated mix of materials, textures, and colors to create interest.
Transitional design, in general, falls between traditional and contemporary. It’s hard to say exactly what elements can be found in transitional spaces because it may lean more traditional or more contemporary. A transitional space will favor contemporary lines and unexpected materials while also showcasing details and the refined notes of traditional design.
Of course, it’s possible to enter a remodel without any ideas about your style and with just a willingness to allow your kitchen designer to guide you through trends, styles, ideas, etc. Professional designers are trained to listen and observe, and they’ll make note of the things in your home already that my offer clues to the style preference you have. If that sounds appealing to you, be prepared to go through several style iterations and allow for additional time in the design phase of your remodel as you discover together what you like.
“What items should I focus on in my remodel?”
Sometimes it’s easy to become enamored of ideas that may ultimately be outside of your budget or what’s possible in your home. Therefore, it’s important to check your ideas against your priorities.
Priorities for your kitchen remodel are determined by evaluating your wants and needs, then assigning importance to certain needs over others. Your priorities will help dictate which options you should invest in as you budget your project.
The most straightforward approach to deciding if something is a want or a need is to determine if it is essential. Needs are aspects of the project that must be in place in order for your new kitchen to be a success according to your remodeling objectives. Wants are not essential but are preferences in case the option exists to make them happen.
That’s not to say that style or design choices can’t be needs for you. If you feel that a specific style or product type is essential to what you want your kitchen to be, mark it as a need.
Evaluating your general need for a remodel in the first place lays some of the groundwork for evaluating your priorities. Thinking about what your kitchen requires in order to work for you, how you want to use it, who will use it and how that group will change over time, and how the kitchen works with the rest of your home are all factors that help you mark your project’s needs.
Once you have a list of the features of your kitchen that are essential, the next step is to rank them in order of importance. This relates directly to your budget has a limit. By understanding which items are the most important to you, you know what to allocate money to first.
By going through all the previous steps, you will have completed the first stage of your kitchen remodel by creating your initial remodeling wish list. Your wish list will include your overall objectives, what you would like your new kitchen to allow you to do, your style descriptions, and a list of the items you’ve determined are either essential or preferred. This list will be your guide as you move forward to the next stage in the planning process- setting your budget range.
“How much can I expect to pay for a kitchen remodel?”
Since no two kitchen remodels are the same, no two remodeling costs will be the same either. This makes budgeting a hard topic to cover in anything other than a general sense.
We can do our best to share some of our thoughts and expertise in this area, but when it really comes down to it, talking to remodeling professionals in your area, explaining the scope of your project, and getting some ballpark estimates will be your most reliable bet. There are three additional places you can look that will give you an idea of how far a budget range can go.
Neal’s Remodeling Expectations
The two most common questions we get are, “How long will my remodel take?” and “How much will it cost?” We’ve created a webpage for these questions to offer general guidance in relation to our specific design-build services and the local market we serve.
Remodeling Magazine’s Annual Cost vs. Value Report
Each year, the Cost vs. Value Report provides a glimpse at the average cost of a remodeling project in specific categories in specific regions and compares it to the value of that project in terms of resale. Essentially, it puts the remodeling market up against the real estate market to see how things shake out.
The report is arranged in such a way that it provides defined categories of project types, and outlines the difference between a minor and major remodel as well as a midrange and upscale remodel. Use your remodel wish list against the categories to find the remodeling category that may apply.
The value portion of the report will also be extremely important for those of you who are remodeling your kitchen with plans to sell your home in the next year or so. Having an understanding of the average recouped costs you can expect will help you make smarter decisions on how much to splurge on the new space.
NARI Contractor of the Year Awards
The annual NARI CotY Awards can provide a glimpse not only into what different budgets can accomplish but also what new design thinking and creative solutions may be out there. The awards require projects to outline goals and challenges and to show how the project successfully dealt with both.
“What might not be possible?”
As you progress through the planning process, you will get closer to an actual picture of what your kitchen remodel might be. It’s natural, then, to start questioning whether the things you envision are even possible.
For the most part, anything can be achieved in remodeling, but it comes down to how much you’re willing to spend and whether you can make those changes within your area’s related building codes. Some items that may start to impose limits are structural changes (such as removing load-bearing walls), moving plumbing or other mechanical systems, or weight limits that your foundation can’t support.
It’s these details that make it important to build your wish list around the things you want to do and the items you need in your kitchen, rather than specific arrangements or materials. Once you know where the limits of your project are for your budget and home, it’s easier to find suitable materials and layouts that work.
“How long will my kitchen remodel take?”
A remodel, particularly a kitchen remodel, can be a big disruption in your home, so it’s smart to have an idea of how long you can expect things to take. Here, same as budgeting, the time frame for your project is going to be somewhat unique since your kitchen wish list is unique. Additionally, the timing of some elements of a kitchen remodel are dictated by industry standards and delivery schedules.
“Should I get help remodeling my kitchen?”
Kitchen remodeling involves many steps and factors. While shows and blogs tend to favor the DIY approach, many times they aren’t entirely sharing how much work and help they get from a professional kitchen designer, contractors, and other professionals. A remodel is more than just tearing out the old and installing the new. There are many details to consider including building codes, structural issues, mechanicals, aesthetics, and a functional floor plan.
This is where a remodeling professional can be an asset to your kitchen project. You could work with designers, architects, contractors, and specialists each independently. We believe, however, that our particular “all-in-one” approach, known as design-build remodeling, is the most ideal option for the majority of homeowners. Design-build remodeling companies have professional staff for all stages in your project- from the initial design through to construction.
When looking at hiring any kitchen remodeling professional, you may have several questions, but here are three important items to watch for:
The process outlined in this guide has lead you through the initial considerations of planning, budgeting, and designing your new kitchen, but there are more steps to go.
The next best step is to reach out to discuss your project with remodeling professionals. If you’re in the Greater Cincinnati area, we’d love to hear from you. Request your free project consultation today!
If you aren’t quite ready to proceed and would like more information about how to better understand what you want to achieve with your remodel or you wish to gain a better understanding of important considerations, visit our Idea Center to check out the collection of additional guides and resource we offer to help.
