A kitchen remodel can completely transform your home. However, it’s also easy to make mistakes that leave you with an impractical, overly trendy, or downright dysfunctional kitchen. In this article, we’ll go over the most common kitchen remodeling mistakes along with expert advice on avoiding them. Read on to learn how proper planning and foresight can lead to your dream kitchen.
Kitchen Remodeling Mistakes
The kitchen is the heart of the home. As such, a kitchen remodel has the potential to completely change the way you cook, entertain, and simply live in your house.
However, a kitchen remodel also requires significant time, money, and effort. Making the wrong choices can leave you with a kitchen that is less functional, provides inadequate storage, or quickly looks outdated.
We talked to several kitchen design experts. Here is their advice on avoiding common kitchen remodeling mistakes:
“Too often homeowners get swept away in trends or make emotional design choices without considering how the space will actually function. The end result is a kitchen that falls short in terms of workflow, storage, and longevity. Careful planning is key to creating a kitchen remodel that truly suits your needs.”
Sarah B., Kitchen Designer with 15 years experience
“Don’t assume that adding more cabinetry necessarily translates to more usable storage space. Poor layout and cabinet design can waste storage opportunities. Work with an experienced designer to maximize every inch of real estate.”
Mark D., Award-Winning Kitchen Remodeler
By learning from the experts’ mistakes, you can avoid pitfalls and end up with a kitchen remodel you’ll enjoy for years to come.
Mistake #1: Failing to Plan and Budget for Food While Your Kitchen is Out of Commission
The Mistake
Full kitchen remodels require demolishing and rebuilding your entire kitchen. Often, this means going weeks or even months without a fully functioning cooking space.
Failing to account for this loss of cooking facilities is a huge and very common mistake. Families suddenly find themselves scrambling to figure out how to feed themselves. The consequences escalate when this mistake is combined with not budgeting for takeout, delivery, and eating on the go for an extended period.
The Consequences
Without access to their usual cooking facilities, families may end up:
- Constantly eating fast food and takeout. This gets unhealthy and expensive quickly.
- Resorting to kitchen tools like hot plates and microwave ovens. This can mean unsatisfying meals.
- Overloading tiny appliance like toaster ovens and slow cookers. These simply can’t handle daily meal duties.
- Trying to function in a makeshift, half-demolished kitchen. This often proves to be impossible.
Mealtimes are frustrating, unhealthy, and expensive. Worse still, some families grind their renovation to a halt to restore some cooking capacity. This delays getting back into the new kitchen.
How to Avoid It
The experts agree: Plan alternate cooking arrangements before work begins.
- Determine if you can function in a makeshift kitchen first. If so:
- Plan to use countertop appliances like hot plates and toaster ovens
- Set up a temporary prep area
- Maintain a functioning fridge and microwave
- Or decide to rely on takeout and delivery. Then:
- Research affordable delivery options
- Budget accordingly
- Factor in new costs for 2-3 meals per day over several weeks
- Consider an extended stay with functioning cooking facilities. For example:
- Vacation rental apartment
- Friends or family (if they’ll have you!)
With adequate alternate cooking arrangements in place, you can simply look forward to enjoying your brand new kitchen when work is complete!
Mistake #2: Not Setting Aside Money for Extra Materials
The Mistake
Kitchen remodels invariably involve surprises. Once old flooring is ripped up or drywall comes down, problems can be found with subflooring, plumbing, wiring, or framing. Standing in the middle of a gutted kitchen is also when new ideas and design inspiration strike.
Failure to set aside extra funds for contingencies or last-minute add-ons is a recipe for headache, delay, and busted budgets. Surprise issues and tweaks can’t always be avoided, but running out of money to address them is easily preventable.
The Consequences
Without a financial buffer for the unexpected, homeowners face frustrating choices, including:
- Making costly material compromises like switching to cheaper flooring or making cabinet downgrades
- Delaying finishing touches like lighting and hardware upgrades
- Putting the entire project on hold while more funds are secured
- Adding to credit card debt or drawing on retirement savings to finish the kitchen
Even small surprises and changes can sink budgets and timelines when financial margins are too narrow from the start. The results are unnecessary frustrations and quality compromises.
How to Avoid It
The experts recommend factoring at least an extra 10-20% into initial budgets to allow for surprises and splurges alike.
Specific tips include:
- Using higher cost estimates when planning initial budgets
- Planning to address issues revealed during demolition upfront
- Researching costs of potential upgrades or new materials ahead of time
- Ensuring financing accounts for possible added costs
- Avoiding tying budgets too closely to what insurance may provide
Adequate financial margins prevent nearly every hang-up, compromise, or delay. They also offer the freedom to upgrade lighting, hardware, or appliances when inspiration strikes!
Mistake #3: Sacrificing Practicality for Flashy Design
The Mistake
Gorgeous kitchen photos often capture trendy or bold design features like waterfall edges, two-tone cabinetry, and expansive quartz islands. It’s tempting to replicate elements like these without considering practical factors like budget, kitchen size, and functionality needs.
Prioritizing style over substance often leaves homeowners struggling in an impractical or dysfunctional kitchen, no matter how beautiful it may look.
The Consequences
Common consequences of flashy form over practical function include:
- Lacking adequate prep space, storage, or seats
- Challenging floorplans that create tight work triangles
- Finicky materials like quartz that scratch, stain, or show water marks
- Fussy details like uneven subway tiles that trap grime
The costs of addressing these issues after the fact are substantial. Homeowners also find themselves continually frustrated while trying to actually use beautiful but poorly planned kitchens.
How to Avoid It
The experts suggest analyzing kitchens through a practical lens first, then applying designer finishes and stylish accents. Think function first, form second while planning, and only incorporate flashy features that also perform well in the real world.
Specific tips include:
- Adhering to minimum guidelines for prep space, storage, seating etc.
- Choosing durable, easy-care countertop and flooring materials
- Playtesting floorplan ideas to identify tight work triangles
- Opting for simple tile layouts over convoluted patterns
- Seeing past trends to focus on genuinely useful features and layouts
The goal is melding gorgeous, high-end finishes with a supremely practical foundation focused squarely on function. Pay attention to the details during planning, and you’ll end up with both form and function firing on all cylinders.
Mistake #4: Not Planning for Enough Storage
The Mistake
Today’s kitchens store more than just plates and pans. From stand mixers to air fryers to bulk packs of snacks, immense amounts of food, serveware, gadgets, and other supplies need housing.
Despite booming storage needs, many kitchen remodels fail to plan for adequate space. Disorganization, overflowing cabinets, and countertop clutter result.
The Consequences
Kitchens without robust storage turn chaotic quickly. Common pain points include:
- Daily frustrations finding items or digging through packed cabinets
- Supplies ending up stored out in the open cluttering countertops
- Splurging on expensive organizational systems post-remodel
- Lacking space for small appliances resulting in unused devices
Even minimal storage shortcomings become magnified overtime. The costs of adding functional storage after the fact are also exponentially higher.
How to Avoid It
The experts recommend taking stock of current kitchen items before finalizing remodel storage plans. Analyze how everything fits into the new space, identifying any gaps.
Specific tips include:
- Categorizing all kitchen items by type and frequency of use
- Measuring item dimensions accurately
- Experimenting with loading cabinets and drawers
- Comparing current storage to recommendations for a family’s needs
- Planning spaces for small appliances like stand mixers on countertops or in cabinets
By accounting for every item needing storage, you can finalize plans with confidence that everything will fit. That prevents the inevitable chaos of overflowing cabinets and countertop clutter.
Mistake #5: Going Too Trendy
The Mistake
Open any home magazine and you’ll find trends galore from panoramic porcelain slabs to matte black fixtures. While stylish and gorgeous in the moment, many trendy finishes, colors, and materials QUICKLY AGE AND FEEL DATED only a few years down the road. For a kitchen intended to last 10, 15, or 20+ years (and for some buyers when it comes time to sell), design choices severely limited by current trends often DON’T STAND THE TEST OF TIME.
The Mistake
The mistake lies in overly relying on bold trends without considering longer-term appeal and versatility. White and grey substrates remain popular for a reason – they function as neutral backdrops that pair well with color schemes that come and go. On the flip side, commit wholeheartedly to emerald green cabinets and DON’T BE SURPRISED when selling or remodeling time comes with no choice other than a full gut job.
Make trendy finishes focal points with more classic materials making up the bulk of the kitchen, and aesthetics will transition gracefully overtime as trends shift. Alternatively, opt for all bells and whistles trendy, just don’t expect to enjoy the same design 10 years down the road.
The Consequences
While gorgeous initially, consequences of letting trends run amok overtime include:
- QUICKLY feeling outdated, to the point of nécessitating an overhaul
- Styling and color palettes failing to mesh well with evolving personal tastes
- Compromising future flexibility and versatility
- Turning off real estate buyers that don’t share the same unconventional aesthetics
In short, the price tag of playing heavily into trends is the loss of long-term staying power. Consider a more modest splurging on trendy focal points instead of an entire kitchen’s worth of built-in obsolescence.
How to Avoid It
The key lies in achieving BALANCE. The experts suggest keeping MOST major elements like cabinetry, countertops, flooring, and primary finishes CLASSIC AND NEUTRAL. Then infuse trends more freely into replaceable focal points like:
- Island colors and materials
- Backsplashes
- Lighting fixtures
- Decorator accents
Think of trendy choices like CHANGEABLE ACCESSORIES juxtaposed against an enduring backdrop centered on versatile whites and neutrals. Just like clothing fads, finishes and fixtures can change with the times, but quality bones and materials shouldn’t force unnecessary do-overs.
Above all, carefully consider whether bolder trendy choices could become POLARIZING OR ALIENATING down the road. If so, dial back designs to enhance mass appeal for years (or home sales) to come.
Mistake #6: Inadequate Planning
The Mistake
Eagerness to sledgehammer old cabinets and tear up floors pushes many homeowners to short circuit the planning phase. Visions emerge of gorgeous finished kitchens WITHOUT DOING THE NECESSARY LEGWORK to determine optimal layouts, functionality, materials, work triangles, and beyond first.
The cost of inadequate planning always surfaces during the process as frustrations boil over. Changes require rework wasting time and money. Custom builds fail to solve needs. Trendy finishes clash with how families actually utilize the kitchen daily. Minor planning oversights become GLARING, with solutions growing ever more involved post-demolition and construction.
The Consequences
Inadequate planning leaves homeowners struggling with issues like:
- Poor layouts hampering kitchen work triangles
- Insufficient lighting casting dark shadows while prepping meals
- Splurged-on splashes or accent walls clashing with actual decor
- Fancy finishes aging poorly under real-world use and wear
- Insufficient electrical and plumbing in inconvenient spots
Sadly, the costliest consequences emerge slowly overtime instead of rearing up during the remodel itself. DAY AFTER DAY OVER YEARS, homeowners endure avoidable headaches and limitations thanks to short-circuited planning.
How to Avoid It
GOOD PLANNING SAVES MONEY, avoids headaches, and yields kitchens tailored to your family’s lifestyle. The experts unanimously agree establishing rock-solid plans UP FRONT SAVES THOUSANDS DOWN THE ROAD.
Specific recommendations include:
- DEFINING clear goals and measures of success guiding designs
- PLAYTESTING proposed layouts with your normal kitchen routines
- SOURCING inspiration from actual homes instead of utilizing “dream kitchens” unlikely to materialize
- PLANNING WITH THE END IN MIND considering long-term use, wear, and versatility beyond temporary aesthetics
By visualizing the finished kitchen during planning – then working backwards to build a comprehensive plan supporting it – beautiful form and frictionless function combine to bring visions to life.
Mistake #7: Neglecting Key Aspects
The Mistake
Between cabinets, countertops, flooring, lighting, storage, work triangles, and more – complexity abounds. With so many design variables at play, it’s easy for even experienced homeowners to neglect assessing important facets that end up compromised.
The most common oversights include:
- Natural lighting needs and impacts on openings
- Electrical load requirements for contemporary kitchens
- How quality appliances impact workflows
- The ratio of base cabinets to wall units based on actual storage needs
On their own, no single oversight seems earth-shattering initially. However, the combined consequences cascade into uncomfortable, cluttered, dark spaces over years of struggling kitchens.
The Consequences
Issues stemming from unintentionally neglected facets include:
- Dark, poorly lit countertop spaces slowing meal prep
- Insufficient outlets cramming chargers onto the counter surface
- Outdated appliances failing constantly or performing poorly
- Disorganized cabinets bereft of everyday items (and a sea of frustrations locating anything needed)
Shortchanging any core area penalizes families relentlessly until corrections are made. And with kitchen remodels representing such sprawling projects impacting daily home life, EVERY STRATEGIC BASE SHOULD BE COVERED.
How to Avoid It
Our top tip from the experts includes ENLISTING AN EXPERIENCED KITCHEN DESIGNER FROM THE START. Their keen eyes act as safeguards identifying shortcomings across facets you may miss. They also translate wishes into actionable plans purpose-built around your family’s needs.
Further advice includes:
- Evaluating how quality lighting transforms existing kitchens during morning, noon, and night
- Analyzing the workflow capacities of various appliances
- Studying the small but substantial quality-of-life impacts of every decision point – no matter how small
- Leaving NO stone unturned across the dozens of variables comprising well-conceived kitchens
By reviewers overlooked aspects from multiple expert perspectives, weak links get reinforced to yield cohesive, comprehensive kitchens ready for years of peak performance.
Mistake #8: No Budget
The Mistake
Envisioning the perfect kitchen invites big dreams spanning from pro appliances to designer everything. In the excitement, it’s tempting to worry about the budget later and succumb to champagne wishes without beer budgets.
However, transforming visions into reality requires honest assessments of TOTAL costs across categories like:
- Cabinetry
- Countertops
- Flooring
- Lighting + electrical
- Plumbing
- Appliances
- Labor
…and more. Without realistic budgets as guides, kitchens wind up delayed, financed at outrageous rates, or saddled with cut-rate materials impacting functionality.
The simple truth remains: dreams without budgets languish as half-fulfilled visions. Planning realistically aligned to total costs prevents heartaches when the spending hangovers kick in.
The Consequences
Budget-less kitchen overhauls commonly strand homeowners with…
- Compromised material quality
- Glaringly sparse lighting and fixtures
- Builder-basic finishes among high-end splurges
- Crippling debt and financial hardships
- Half-completed projects abandoned midstream
Worse still, the costs of corrections or additions down the road prove MUCH higher post-remodel. Without adequate budgets, dreams crash hard against financial realities.
How to Avoid It
Our experts recommend identifying MUST-HAVE elements upfront, then tailoring budgets to accommodate priorities. For example:
- Premium appliances + economical cabinets/counters
- Designer slab island + standard flooring
- High-end lighting/fixtures + mainstream storage solutions
Additional recommendations include:
- Securing multiple bids to determine realistic costs
- Working with designers adept at maximizing budgets
- Checking financing rates and options before projects launch
- Setting aside buffers (~10-20% minimum) for the unexpected
- Considering operational costs like appliance lifetime maintenance
With strategic planning and honest budgeting, much is possible without deferring dreams or sabotaging budgets. Priorities align to numbers for smooth sailing.
Mistake #9: Overestimating the Space
The Mistake
Consider a 10′ x 10’ blank canvas. Virtually anything seems possible design-wise. Now cram that bountiful vision within a 7’ x 7’ kitchen. Problems emerge quickly from expansive islands to countertop appliances fighting for real estate.
The Mistake
The core issue is failing to design TO SCALE. Dream kitchens fill PINTEREST boards with gorgeous concepts and ample space. But fantasy fades against the realities of actual room dimensions and limitations.
Attempting to squeeze oversized layouts into undersized spaces inevitably demands compromises. Yet it’s a common mistake even veterans make when neglecting to design scaled blueprints first.
The Consequences
Aiming too big for real estate realities penalizes homeowners through:
- Non-functional layouts hampering workflows
- Scrambled placements of fixtures interfering with opening cabinetry
- Appliances overlapping that require excessive maneuvering
- Tetris-like storage solutions struggling to contain supplies
While gorgeous on paper, supersized ambitions crash hard against boundaries of actual walls and windows. Scaling back grand visions late in projects risks costly change orders and delays.
How to Avoid It
Our top experts recommend a three-step process:
1. Accurately measure existing parameters – every dimension, window, quirk, etc.
2. Map designs TO SCALE on grid paper – testing various approaches
3. Refine best options – edit and optimize before finalizing
Additional tips include:
- Allowing ample walkways (minimum 36”)
- Checking measurements of appliances/fixtures needing homes
- Evaluating work triangle efficiency
- Looking for wasted spaces begging better utilization
With existing conditions dictating possibilities over fantasies, sized-right blueprints prevent painful sacrifices when aspirations collide with reality.
Mistake #10: Wasting Space
The Mistake
Between appliances hogging vast swaths of real estate to islands requiring ample breathing room – Savvy spatial planning proves important for cramped kitchens.
Yet all too commonly sidelines get neglected as homeowners zero in on eye-catching centerpieces. Odd cavities emerge lacking purpose while nearby spaces overflow with oversized fixtures dominated by empty voids. The consequences are squandered opportunities for storage and functionality giving way to overlooked dead zones.
The Consequences
The price tag of spatial snafus includes:
- Appliances failing to maximize footprint potentials
- Islands, counters, and cabinets spaced too far apart
- Generous breathing room for pieces lacking daily interaction
- Pinched walkways despite voids begging better use nearby
In essence, poor circulation combines with acres of underutilized space amid packed High-traffic zones. The result is less usable square footage despite homes promising more.
How to Avoid It
Our experts suggest analyzing kitchen spaces through critical lenses:
“Could this fixture or piece align closer to others without compromising needs?”
“Are large voids serving any functional purpose day to day?”
“What storage or functionality opportunities exist among overlooked spaces?”
Continual questioning prevents settling for good enough while opportunities still exist to eke out EXTRA inches. In modest kitchens, wasted spaces become GLARING – but simple rethinking opens doors for better design optimization.
Mistake #11: Overlooking Storage
The Mistake
Cabinets comprise one piece of the storage equation, often dominating focus for obvious reasons. However shelving, drawers, pull-outs, and more play equally important roles taming kitchen chaos.
Unfortunately, storage solutions beyond cabinetry easily get overlooked. Homeowners risk packing cabinets to maximum capacities while adjacent walls and dead spaces sit empty. Islands occupy huge footprints with containers housed miles away in pantries.
The costs quickly compound through disorganization and cabinets bursting at seams despite housing only portions of supplies needing homes.
The Consequences
Kitchens pay steep prices for incomplete storage planning through:
- Excessive trips retrieving commonly used items from afar
- Popular appliances and prep tools banished to hard-to-access corners
- Dining ware overflow taking over dining rooms
- Countertop organizational contraptions trying to contain the chaos
Stashing partial supplies out of arms reach while adjacent spaces lay bare multiplies headaches inevitable with suboptimal storage distribution.
How to Avoid It
Our top tip comes from Mark D., Award-Winning Kitchen Remodeler:
“Great kitchen design means keeping commonly used items close at hand while lesser-used pieces get stashed further away. Analyze HOW you cook, prep, eat, and clean to determine optimal storage placement based on convenience.”
Additional recommendations:
- Incorporate nearer-reach shelving & drawers
- Design pull-out storage for island dead zones & blind corners
- Obsess over maximizing oft-neglected spaces like walls, corners, and dead zones
- Treat islands like self-contained kitchens with local storage
- Map frequently vs rarely accessed items to guide distribution
With comprehensive storage planning spanning all resources, perfectly organized solutions snap into place solving ongoing headaches.
Conclusion
A kitchen remodel brings dreams of gorgeous finishes, top-tier appliances, and statement-making style merging into a perfect vision of home. Unfortunately, common mistakes easily undermine budgets, aesthetics, and practicality without proper planning and support.
From neglecting operational basics like temporary food prep to banking on trends with limited staying power – pitfalls abound despite best intentions. Analytics, expert perspectives, budgeting, and organization comprise critical pillars upholding smoothly run projects and kitchens highly functioning for years to come.
Yet with sound guidance and insight, what seems overwhelmingly complex becomes manageable and conquerable. You CAN realize ambitious visions free of costly pitfalls – with a bit of planning and perspective. Just focus on fundamentals first while crafting flexible plans centered around lasting everyday usability over temporary thrills. Purposeful thinking translates to kitchens artfully balancing stunning form and frictionless function sure to satisfy throughout their lifespans.
The above only scratches surfaces across common mistakes, their consequences, and failsafe solutions courtesy of our consulted design authorities. By applying their collective wisdom, your family can sidestep missteps undermining otherwise successful undertakings. Take notes, tap experts, budget diligently, and brace for surprises throughout the orchestration process. Only by laying proper foundations first can intricate kitchen visions turn out as enduring and envy-inspiring realities.
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