Town Appliance Official Blog

Are you looking forward to making some substantial changes to your kitchen’s composition and appliances? While doing a whole room remodel might seem daunting at first, it can be very straightforward and gratifying to see all your work come together. Read on for a detailed guide to remodeling your kitchen on your own.

Produce a Plan of Action

The last thing you want in your remodel is to get halfway through without knowing where to go next. You’ll want to fully sketch out your renovation ideas in great detail before taking any action. Having a plan enables you to integrate all your thoughts with your expected budget to determine how much you’ll be able to do on your own or whether you’ll need professional help.

Create Your Vision

You can make it easy to begin your hunt for ideas by visiting your favorite social media sites and home improvement blogs. As you explore, store concepts you like in a folder or write them down in a notebook to help you design your own remodel.

The more layouts and designs you view, the more potential for inspiration you’ll find for choosing the right fixtures, textures, and materials. However, you should keep your existing floor plan in mind.

Figure Out the Scope

You should also figure out the scope of your project during the planning process. The scope of your project may range from a simple visual makeover to a total gut, which will involve knocking down walls and reorganizing your floor plan arrangements. Depending on the scale of the job, you may need to seek permits.

Come Up With a Budget and Expected Timeline

You may have extensive and ambitious ideas, but you must first ensure that you can afford to put them into action in your kitchen. Look up the prices of various materials, accessories, and appliances to get an idea of how much you'll spend. Set a budget cap to limit spending so you don't overpay on products that are out of your price range.

You'll also want to figure out a reasonable timeline for completing your remodel. While schedules differ based on various factors, including the dimensions of your kitchen, the amount of work you're trying to do, and any subcontractors you may need to hire, you'll want to give yourself at least a one to three month buffer to complete all major projects.

What Does a Realistic Budget Look Like?

A solid rule of thumb is to invest five to 15 percent of your home's total worth on renovations. For example, if your home is worth $300,000, a reasonable kitchen remodeling budget would be 10 percent of that amount, or around $30,000.

Be Open to Hiring Contractors for Certain Jobs

There are many different projects you can take on yourself, such as painting, tiling, and upgrading hardware. However, you might want to delegate more complex tasks to professionals. You can quickly find yourself overwhelmed when completing electrical work or addressing plumbing problems.

Start Your Demo

The demolition stage involves ripping stuff down and clearing out the kitchen. While you don't have to, if you were ever thinking about using a contractor during any part of the renovation process, this would be the best time. If you forego a contractor, make sure you're turning off utilities, especially water. Otherwise, it could result in accidental leaks and pipe explosions.

Helpful Demo Tips

You may have functional appliances or hardware such as kitchen cabinets left over. Rather than just tossing them, consider selling or donating them. Donating can help get rid of these items quickly, but reselling them can help you make extra money to funnel back into your remodel.

Now You're Ready To Work

After you complete all of your preparations, you can move ahead on realizing your vision. Depending on how much or how little you want to modify, this process may vary from project to project. We'll go through a few key points you should consider.

Start With Plumbing and Electrical

Following demolition, you’ll need to update obsolete plumbing and electrical systems. It's best to start with this stage since you've already got cabinets and other hardware out of the way, making it easier to access. This stage could take three to five days to complete.

Put Up Drywall and Get Painting Done

Installing new drywall is easy to do on your own and should only take around one to two weeks. After the drywall is up, use your creativity to decide which colors to apply. The design and colors you choose go a long way toward establishing your motif.

Install New Flooring

Experiment with various patterns and types of flooring to find the one that's right for you. Flooring styles such as laminate, tile, and hardwood should take a week or two to complete. When deciding, consider who uses your kitchen the most and balance practicality with style.

Time for Cabinets

When your new flooring is ready, it’s time to install your kitchen cabinets. Learning to put up cabinets on your own is relatively easy and shouldn't take more than a week. Invest in high-quality materials, as poorly constructed cabinets can break after a while.

Moving On to Countertops

Installing countertops can take between two to four weeks. This process takes longer than others because you need to have highly accurate measurements before you place an order. Keep in mind that many less expensive counters look similar to more expensive ones without a drop in quality.

Insert Plumbing Fixtures

Allow for a week to install your plumbing fixtures. The central plumbing fixture you'll need is a sink, and you'll have many options to pick from. When choosing, consider both your overall motif and the functionality you're looking for.

End With Appliances and Touch-Ups

Finally, you can bring in and install all your new appliances. Take particular care to ensure you're rewiring and setting them up properly, or you risk the devices not working correctly. You may also want to place a plastic tarp or covering on the floor to prevent scratching.

This final stage is also the time to finish any touch-ups, add details, and install extraneous hardware. This whole process can take one to two weeks.

We hope you find our detailed guide to remodeling your kitchen on your own to be helpful when tackling your next major project. Town Appliances offers high-quality kitchen wall ovens that seamlessly blend with your layout and open the space up. Feel free to contact us with any questions about our products.