There are few home improvement projects more exciting, with more ability to add to the value of your home—or with more potential pitfalls—than a new kitchen remodel. Thankfully, with a few easy steps, and with RTA kitchen cabinets, you can accomplish your goal and save money at the same time!
1. Budget
It may seem obvious to some people, but surprisingly many of our customers confess to going in to a kitchen remodel with only a vague idea of how much they wanted to spend, and no real breakdown of costs to work from. If you want to remodel your kitchen without remodeling your bank account in the process, you need a budget.
This means having a clear idea of just what you intend to do, and what you want the outcome to look and feel like. A small budget isn’t going to let you move walls, windows, doors, major fixtures and appliances, or otherwise significantly rearrange your kitchen’s basic layout, but that doesn’t mean you can’t transform its look and feel. On the other end of the spectrum, spending more than about 15% of your house’s value remodeling your kitchen may wind up with a kitchen that feels out of place in the home, and may make it harder to sell, or simply prevent you from recouping the cost of the remodel.
You should always set aside about 10% of your total remodeling budget in case of unexpected snags. Take it from us, and from our thousands of customer testimonials and comments; problems happen. You wouldn’t be the first homeowner to take out your old cabinets and discover walls eaten away by leaky plumbing, and if it happens to you, you won’t be the last. Having a reserve fund means you won’t be totally stymied by such developments, and if you don’t have to spend it, so much the better!
2. Measure and Plan
Once you know how much you intend to spend, and roughly speaking, in what proportions, you’re ready to start designing. First, start off with a solid set of measurements of the room itself. Our DIY Online Kitchen Design Tool has tips to help you measure correctly, using the same techniques and standards used by kitchen supply manufacturers. For example, do you know if you should measure a door from the center, from the edge of the door, or from the edge of the frame around it? Our tool can give you that answer, and many more.
The two biggest, least flexible, and most expensive elements of kitchen design are the appliances and the cabinets. Chances are, your new appliances will have to go where the old ones are, so it’s important to measure their locations accurately, and to know the dimensions of the ones you’ll be installing.
3. Design and Buy
Once you know the dimensions of your kitchen and appliances, you can input your kitchen’s footprint, then place appliance placeholders in the design tool. Then you’re ready to go to town picking your favorite style from our dozens of top-quality models of RTA kitchen cabinets. Once you’ve chosen a style, just drag and drop specific cabinets into your kitchen in the Design Tool. It builds a list of everything you’ll need to make your design come to life, and exports conveniently into your shopping cart. Don’t forget to add luxurious finishing touches like Rev-A-Shelf storage accessories, to bring your newly remodeled kitchen into the 21st century. Then, once you click “Buy”, your new RTA kitchen cabinets will be on their way to your front door.
Get The Consumer’s Guide to Kitchen Cabinets (plus two very helpful bonus reports) today, and get started on your kitchen remodel with confidence.
