Kate's Closet: Planning a kitchen renovation

If you saw my last post you will know my kitchen renovation was finished right before Christmas, in case you missed it, I've linked it here for you Kitchen renovation reveal , check it out for plenty of before and after shots.

In that post I promised to share my tips for planning a kitchen renovation project. My top tips are.........

Research research research, a kitchen is a massive and expensive project and you don't want any costly mistakes. Really think about the style of kitchen you like, check out Instagram, Pinterest, kitchen brochures/websites and magazines for ideas. Do you want a sleek modern design or a more traditional look, how will the kitchen tie in with the age and style of your home. Also think how you use the room, are you a big cook or baker, or do you like to entertain all these factors will influence how you want your kitchen to look and function. One of the best tips I had was, choose something you love, not something high fashion or something safe, choose a design and colour scheme that reflect you, that way you will love your kitchen for years to come.

Budget, in my experience however much you decide to spend you will need more, renovations sometime uncover issues which where not obvious in the planning stages. So make sure you cost the job up with quotes from your kitchen company, and builder than make sure you have a contingency fund that allows for those extras.

Shop around for deals, especially when buying appliances, often the exact same product can be vastly different in price from different websites. Research the appliances and check out reviews, some items are worth spending more money on, for example we spent more money on the oven and hob, as we had specific requirements and ideas, but saved on the built in appliances like dishwasher and washing machine as they are behind a cupboard door, so it didn't matter to much on appearance, we just made sure they had the settings we would use most. Another good idea is to sign up to cashback websites, we used Topcashback and earnt money on many of our big kitchen buys.

A good builder is a must when getting renovations and personal recommendations I think are the best way to find a good one. Ask friends and family for recommendations or maybe your kitchen supplier. Howdens help with finding a reputable builder in your area, and for us that was invaluable as Ken our builder was fantastic.

Décor, once the hard part of choosing your kitchen is over, comes the fun part of decorating and styling your new room. Something I think people often forget is lighting, our room had one pendent light in the middle of the room, which was quite frankly useless. Our electrician fitted us spotlights in the ceiling meaning the room is now bright on even the darkest days, along side under cabinet lighting which is great for a more cosy feel of an evening, and perfect for popping on to make a cuppa or eating dinner. Tiles are a great way to add colour and personality to your kitchen. My pink tiles gave me some sleepless nights I can tell you, as many people scrunched there faces up when I told them I wanted pink tiles, but I am so glad I went with my instincts and got them because I love them, and I've had so many compliments. Our tiles came from porcelain superstore and I couldn't recommend them enough. Our tiles are excellent quality and we where able to order samples before commiting to a choice. We already plan to use them for our bathrooms and hallway. When it comes to styling your space the world is your oyster, with so many homeware stores offering kitchenware. I recommend Dunelm, for crockery and cutlery, Ikea for storage jars and containers and TKmaxx/homesense for one off cute things like vases, tea towels, ect. We also added shelves from Funky chunky furniture, in an oak shade to tie in with our flooring and door they make the perfect spot to display cute pieces that add personality to our room. Etsy is a great place to shop art and décor pieces, as well as H&M and Iamfy.

I hope you found this post helpful, let me know in the comments if you have any renovation plans for this year?