The Kitchen Remodeling Process

A common question customers will ask is what is the typical process of remodeling a kitchen?  How do we get all the parts and pieces put together?  Well this blog post answers that question.

Every kitchen project can be a little different when figuring out the best process of getting things picked out and completed.  Based on the list of items below, I will offer a suggested way to tackle the project most efficiently. Some of the items on the project list may not apply to your project.

Project List:
Kitchen Cabinets
Granite Countertop
New Hardwood Floor
New Appliances
Electrical Services — ceiling and/or pendant fixtures, under cabinet lighting, code updates
Move Forced Hot Water Heat
Knobs and Pulls
Plumbing Fixtures — sink and faucet
Plumbing Services — sink, dishwasher install, code updates
Subway Tile Backsplash

Measuring Your Kitchen

When making the decision to renovate your kitchen, one of the first steps in getting that started is to invite a kitchen designer to your home.  To do a good job, it is important for the kitchen designer to see how things are laid out in the existing kitchen and rooms adjacent.

During the site visit, an experienced kitchen designer will offer suggestions and comment on the freezability of any project wants the homeowner has. Then of course carefully measure the kitchen space.  The kitchen designer will then use those measurements to create a floor plan of your kitchen.

During the initial job site visit, homeowners will likely have questions and have ideas in their mind to improve the kitchen space. The best question a homeowner can ask the experienced kitchen designer is: “What would you do to make this kitchen space better?” Good kitchen designers are familiar with kitchen design guidelines and will keep those in mind when making suggestions. For example, space needed around an island.

When the Kitchen Gallery makes a job site visit, we take a lot of notes as to what a customer’s wish list might be. So customers should try to think about what they don’t like about their current setup. If you have a wild idea, this is a good time to throw it out there.

Every homeowner will have a budget limit for a kitchen remodeling project, however don’t be too worried about that yet. If you have looked through magazines or seen pictures on the internet that you like, share this with your kitchen designer. We can often design something that can be cost effective. The goal would be to get as much of your wish list in the renovation as possible without breaking the bank. A good place to look for kitchen design ideas is HOUZZ.

So the initial job site visit takes about 45 minutes. The second visit is at the kitchen designer’s office or showroom. During that visit we work on placing various cabinets in logical places on a floor plan around the wanted appliances. If you can share with your designer the appliances you are thinking about purchasing, this is a good time to do it. An appliance store should be able to provide a specification sheet on each appliance with measurements.

Selecting Appliances

Below is an appliance buying checklist. Some you might want, some you might not. There are many appliance options. To make the selection process easier, we advise customers to use the internet to filter down their choices. One site that is good at doing this is AJMADISION.COM, check them out. Then call up a local appliance store like State Street Discount or Appliance Warehouse and see if they have the item in their store.

Appliance Check List:
Range (gas, electric, induction)
Cooktops
Wall Ovens
Range Vent Hoods — available at the Kitchen Gallery
Ovens separate from range
Microwave (over the range or somewhere else)
Warming Drawer
Dishwasher
Garbage Disposal
Refrigerator
Beverage Refrigerator

Kitchen Designing

In a few days the Kitchen Gallery will contact you (often by e-mail) to set up a time to meet in the Kitchen Gallery showroom/office in North Hampton. At minimum, we will have the walls drawn in our kitchen design computer software and appliances placed on the floor plan. Sometimes we have worked on a few design options that we can present to you right away. Often it makes more sense to create the kitchen design on the fly in front of you so we can ask you questions as each cabinet is placed.

With your help and feedback, in about 30 to 45 minutes time on average the Kitchen Gallery will have a design concept that you will like. Then we start to look at selecting a cabinet manufacturer, door style, color cabinet and species wood. After these decisions are made, it is often practical to work up a rough estimate of what your kitchen renovation will cost. Folks are usually anxious to get a financial understanding of the project, so the Kitchen Gallery tries to accommodate that.

If more design work is needed to get the floor plan and cabinet materials just right, the Kitchen Gallery will follow up with a design video for your review.  After you like what is in the design video, then the Kitchen Gallery will create a formal estimate.  An example of what we mean be a design video can be seen by CLICKING HERE.  The design video goes through each cabinet detail so you know what is included in the kitchen design and your estimate.  Kitchen and bath design explanation videos is an excellent way to communicate the details in a project.

 

from http://nhkitchens.com/the-kitchen-remodeling-process/