So, you’ve decided to finally remodel your kitchen or bathroom,.... good. Now what do you do? Well it’s perfectly normal to be excited, scared and enthusiastic all at the same time when first deciding to remodel your kitchen or bathroom. However, don’t go running to get your sledge hammer just quite yet.

 

Let’s start the prep work of your remodel by taking the first of many steps. What I’d like you to do is get a notebook.

 

Yes, just a plain old notebook. Make sure that it’s big enough to last you through the remodel process. I recommend 80-100 pages in size. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you run up to the store to buy one………….good.

 

 In this notebook you’ll be keeping all of your notes, thoughts and ideas throughout your kitchen or bath remodel. You will take your notebook with you when you look at cabinets, countertops and while you’re meeting with your kitchen designer. You will keep this notebook and all remodel paperwork which you receive from our designer, for about…..hmmmmm, forever! It’s very important that you keep this and all paperwork easily accessible during the weeks of remodeling, otherwise you'll lose sleep. You are going to have so much going on that you're going to get confused and forget important facts if oyu don't write them down.

 

The first step which I’d like you to do with your notebook is that I want you to stand in the middle of your kitchen. Now, I want you to be relaxed, in a good mood, have plenty of time on your hands and have no distractions. I want you to make a few lists and label them;

 

- “What I like about My Kitchen.”

Under this heading what I’d like you to do is obvious. I want you to write down the things that you really like about your current kitchen. I don’t care how small you think the detail may be, I want you to write it down. So, if you like your dishwasher to the right of the sink, write it down. If you like having a tall utility cabinet with roll-out trays, write it down. If you like having an appliance garage to hide the cookie jar from the family, write it down. These will be the items that we will keep in your new kitchen design. Your kitchen designer will also love you for giving them a copy of this. Also, make note of any other non cabinet details which you like about your kitchen. For instance, the paper towel holder, a bread box etc.

 

The next heading will be;

-“What I don’t like about My Kitchen.”

Now on a new sheet of paper, I want you to write down the things that you really don’t like about your kitchen. If you don’t like the way the garbage can sits in the corner, write it down. If you don’t like hanging the dishcloth on the faucet to let it dry, write it down. If you don’t like the way that your clothing sometimes catches on the cabinet knobs, write it down. Get mean. Get creative. Grrrrrrrrrr!

 

 What do you really dislike about your kitchen? Take as much time to write these things down, and expect to add to them later. You may not realize what you like, or don’t like in your kitchen until you experience it again.

 

The odds are that if you don’t write it down now, you’re going to forget about it later. Keep in mind that in the next few weeks you’re going to be processing a tremendous amount of information, and what’s not documented will surely get lost. And once your remodel is complete, it will be too late to include, or not include some details.

 

The next heading will be;

-“How old am I going to be in My New Kitchen?”

Thinking like this may be kind of creepy to some of you, but you have to do it. Some years back, I’d gone to visit my financial counsellor for a school term paper. As I sat there in his office asking him and myself if I was saving enough for retirement, he suddenly asked me, “When do you want to die?”

 

Sure this freaked me out a little because I’d never thought about it, before this point in my life, but it was successful in opening  my eyes as to what my future needs were. This question I’m now asking you will do the same.

 

With this list I want you to mentally make yourself 10-15-20 years older than you are right now. If you’re 40 years old, then I want you to consider yourself 55+ years old, for the purposes of this list. If you’re 25 years old now, make yourself 40+ years old. If you’re 55 years old now, well then you’re probably not going to care what’s in your kitchen when you’re 70+ years old. No offense, I hope I make it to 70 years old one day.

 

OK, now that you’ve aged yourself by 15+ years in the last few seconds, I want you to go around and operate every cabinet in your kitchen, noting the difficulties of use and access in those certain cabinets that you have now. For example, if you’re 35 years old now, and hate getting on your hands and knees, to dig out the pot & pans from the bottom of the base cabinet, then you may want to incorporate some roll-out trays in this particular cabinet because you’re not going to want to be doing this when you’re much, much older.

 

 

The next heading will be;

-“What exactly am I remodeling?”

This list is going to be the shortest, and probably the least detailed list of the group. In this list I want you to write down exactly what you want to replace. Don’t forget to write everything down. Write down what you will be purchasing new; faucets, sink, flooring, drywall, appliances, etc. And also write down those items which you may consider keeping in the current kitchen, to be used in your new kitchen. Someone may write down that they want to keep the knobs & pulls on their current cabinets because Grandma passed them own as a family heirloom, or something as unique as that, you never know. Don’t feel bad if you discover that you won’t be keeping anything out of your old kitchen. Some people when they do a remodel gut everything right down to the studs. Your situation will be

 

Writing these lists will help you in determining costs for the entire project, and keep everyone in the family on the same page. It’s always best to ensure that any future confusion will be avoided.

 

 

Now that you are done preparing your lists, the next action you must take will be to gather ideas. The ideas I want you to look for will be broad & open ended ideas. Don’t close your mind or box yourself in to the design possibilities available to you. You can look for design ideas in many ways. The next time you’re at a friend’s house, look around at their kitchen design to see if there are any ideas you like. You can also stop by your local home improvement store and pick up a brochure of every cabinet line they carry. Another great idea is to spend the afternoon at a local book store, if you have a few hours to kill. Try picking up a couple of issues of some aged kitchen magazines from your local library. Watch a few kitchen remodeling shows to help you get ideas, etc. Do you see what’s happening here? What we’re doing is gathering design ideas from many areas. You’ve only got one shot to do this so you want to make sure that you get what you want.

 

While you’re in the mental design phase don’t think about cost, just work on getting design ideas of what you like and want in your new kitchen. Spend as much time gathering ideas as you see fit. If it takes a few weeks, so be it. It’s not uncommon for people to gather ideas for a few months before finally deciding to jump into this type of major remodel.

 

If you have friends or know of someone who has recently done a kitchen remodel, hit them up and start asking them questions. I’m sure you’ll hear some stories about the good, the bad & the ugly about kitchen remodels.

 

Next what you’ll want to do is take a walk and visit your local kitchen showrooms, and just browse around a little. Look at and look through all of the kitchen displays. The kitchen displays will usually be beefed up with a lot of kitchen accessories and options on display. I like to call them “bells & whistles”. These will come in handy during the design process when you can describe them to your kitchen designer, as to what accessories you want in your new kitchen.

 

Also, if you get the opportunity, talk to the kitchen designer on site. Get to know them a little bit. Involve them in conversation. What you’ll discover is that some kitchen designers know more than other kitchen designers, and that the personalities and experiences of kitchen designers will vary greatly.

 

When you finally find a kitchen cabinet manufacturer and designer that you’re compatible with then you’ll probably need to have them come out to “measure” your current kitchen site. Some kitchen cabinet places won’t come out to measure your kitchen, and rely solely on your own measurements. If the cabinets don’t fit then you’re left holding cabinets that won’t fit in your kitchen. I’d run from these cabinet sellers far and fast.

 

Some cabinet sellers will come out and measure for free, while others will make you pay a small amount of money for the measure deposit, which may be applied to the purchase of your cabinets. Remember, it'ds a good practice to have all walls permanently in place before the measure happens. It will do you absolutely no good and could be a waste of everyone’s time to have a measure done, only to remove walls and/or add walls in your kitchen after the measure is completed.

 

Once the measure is completed, the designer you’ve decided on will complete your design, and then call you to involve you in the design process.