One of the biggest conundrums when designing a kitchen is balancing your budget with what you truly want. Remodeling or building a new kitchen isn’t a cheap undertaking, and you need some financial guardrails in place to make sure you don’t overspend. But this is also your chance to finally kit out your kitchen with the appliances, finishes, and storage solutions you’ve always wanted.
Start by listing all your needs, wants, and non-negotiable must-haves. Include everything, even more aspirational elements like that wine fridge, pot filler, etc. Then determine exactly what you can afford to spend on the project. If you’re not sure how much you should be spending, 15% to 20% of your home value is a good starting point. It’s also wise to reserve roughly 20% of your budget for unforeseen costs.
Once you’ve got your feature list and your budget, start costing out individual elements and look for areas where you could save. For instance, you could consider repainting existing cabinets, going with prefabricated over custom, or keeping some elements of the layout so you don’t have to rip out and reroute plumbing. Any money you are able to save means more capital for the features you’re really hankering after. From here, divvy up your budget and decide what aspects of your list to prioritize, what to splurge on, and where to implement cost-effective design choices that will make your dollars work harder.
