Kitchen Remodel – Part 1 – Design Process

Planning the new kitchen

In this blog post series, we will be discussing everything you need to know about kitchen remodels – from start to finish. We’ll start by talking about the design process and how to create a plan that fits your needs and aesthetic preferences. Whether you’re hiring a professional or doing it yourself, there are some key things to keep in mind during the design phase. So, if you’re thinking about giving your kitchen a makeover, stay tuned! In Part 1, we’ll show you how to get started.

The kitchen remodel was our first major renovation project. We knew that getting this room right would set the tone for the future renovations we intended to do. There were several major problems with the kitchen.

• The main problem was obviously the size.
• A tiny opening into the kitchen which was also right where the fridge was located so getting passed anyone using the fridge was impossible..
• The pantry, although large, was so difficult to use effectively. It had large deep shelves so you couldn’t reach anything from the back and really just didn’t function well for us.
• The microwave was up too high. I once burnt myself badly while pulling something out that ended up all over me.
• Not enough storage.

The kitchen renovation process required a lot of work before we even commenced demolition. I spent 6 months researching what I wanted the kitchen remodel to look like. Then more time on how best to incorporate the must haves into the small space available. We were completely naive about what would be involved. We estimated around four weeks to finish the job. Oh how wrong we were!!!! We were without a functioning kitchen for 4 months. We had to set up a makeshift kitchen, using our bbq, slow cooker and microwave to get by. The only upside to that situation was the house was in such disarray I didn’t bother with any housework (lol).

Demolition of the kitchen begins

We were able to sell the kitchen cabinets for $500, so there was no going all Chip Gaines in this demolition!! A plumber and electrician came to disconnect all relevant connections. We did save a lot of money doing the rest of the demolition ourselves. Having to do all the heavy demo work on the weekend did end up costing us a lot of time. In the end we were happy we did it ourselves even with the time delays. We look back at it now and are pretty proud of what we achieved. However, if you’re time poor and cannot afford the delays we experienced I would suggest you get someone in to do the work for you.

Its fair to say that removal of the tiles was an awful, messy job. It was absolutely necessary though for the kitchen remodel to be completed the way we wanted. Tony and my brother in law were amazing and kept going until it was finished. I think if we had our time over again we would have paid someone to do this job.

To see the new kitchen start to take shape and the design come together check out this post Kitchen Renovation – Part 2.