*This is a collaborative post.
If you’re a homeowner, renovating your kitchen is usually at the top of your home improvement list. But a new kitchen that’s of good quality can cost anywhere from £4,000 to £11,000. Factor in extras such as high-end appliances, plumbing and electrical work and decoration, and you could be looking at spending double that amount. So, there’s a lot of hard-earned cash at stake. But how do you make sure this money isn’t wasted? Here’s three expensive pitfalls to avoid when you’re renovating your kitchen.
Not starting with a level floor
When you’re ripping out an old kitchen and installing a new one or you’re fitting a kitchen into a brand-new extension, it’s likely you’ll need a layer of screed adding to your concrete floor. This ensures you start with a durable, level surface – making it easier to fit units and to lay new flooring such as tiles, LVT and flagstones. It’s also an important component of underfloor heating.
Your floor screeding cost may vary depending on where you live, the size of the kitchen and the type of screed used, but you can expect the cost to be somewhere between £12 and £20 per m²
All too often this step can be missed or done after the units are fitted. But it’s much easier to screed the floor while the room is empty. This saves time trying to adjust the height of each base unit to get them levelled up for the worktop. Adding floor screed after you’ve put the units in place may also mean the kickboards have to be cut to fit. As this takes your fitter time to do, it will be costing you extra money.
Missing this step out entirely can also mean your flooring won’t adhere properly. This can lead to wonky and cracked tiles or unsightly bumps and the lifting of vinyl. So, to avoid expensive mistakes, make sure you start with a sound subbase.
Rushing into decisions on cabinets and appliances
Your cabinets are the main components of your kitchen, so it’s advisable not to rush the decision-making process. Doing so could result in you having to live with a style you hate and a design that simply isn’t practical.
First of all, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s necessary to fill every side of your kitchen with base and wall units. This can make the room feel cramped. You needn’t install lots of base units just to gain worktop space as you can use a peninsula, island or table to give yourself more prep space. And leaving out the wall units will help smaller kitchens to feel more open. Aim for quality over quantity, that way you’ll have a kitchen that will last you for years.
If you have changing tastes and find yourself redecorating your house every year or so, then it’s important to choose cabinets that are easy to update or that will fit in with more than one colour scheme or style. This will give you the best chance of having a kitchen that you’re still happy with in five to ten years’ time. You might choose plywood or wood cabinets that are easy to paint or plump for plain white doors that will fit in with both traditional and modern styles as well as bold and neutral colour schemes.
It’s also important to get the right combination of cupboards and drawers, so you can keep your storage flexible. Think about having deep drawers to accommodate new pans and trays and think about fitting pull out shelves inside cupboards. Otherwise it’s going to be a pain to get things out and put them away again. And this is likely to result in cluttered worktops.
In terms of appliances, don’t add electricals to your kitchen design simply because they’re aspirational or look good. This will eat up your budget and take up valuable space. Ask yourself, do I really need that wine cooler, American-style fridge and double oven? Think about what’s actually practical, for instance a chest-height oven and an instant boiling water tap might make your life easier.
Getting the design and position of your island wrong
The island is fast becoming an integral element of the kitchen. But there are plenty of design and positioning pitfalls that can be made.
To avoid this, you need to measure up your space, so you get the right size and shape of island. Ideally, you need at least a 1m gap between your kitchen units and the island. This is so you can move around it without needing to do any silly sidesteps and ensures you can open doors and drawers with ease.
Before fitting, you should also decide on the island’s function. Otherwise you could end up trying to cram on too many elements, leaving your kitchen awkward to use.
Don’t fall into the trap of sticking to a flat, rectangular island. If your island is serving two functions, it might pay to go with a multi-level worktop. This could give you better heights for prep and dining and should help to zone the areas. Where you’re positioning stools, make sure there’s enough of an overhang, so there’s adequate legroom. Otherwise, your island might not be comfy to sit around.
