• August

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    2019
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The Kitchen: Should You “Make It Over” or “Do It Over?”

The Kitchen: Should You “Make It Over” or “Do It Over?”

Every kitchen is different, and every household is different. You know this…but do you know what that means for your kitchen remodel? There are SO many factors that go into designing the right update for your kitchen that we’ve found it’s not only informative but empowering to FIRST segment possible kitchen remodels into two key categories.

Just start by asking yourself:

  • Is your current kitchen making it hard to support your lifestyle?
  • Are you sick of the colors or cabinetry?
  • Are you in DESPERATE need of new appliances?
  • Are there aging structural issues that are putting your whole home at risk?
  • Do you have BIG remodel dreams, but a small remodel budget?

Everyone’s answers to these questions will get the wheels turning…and our next goal in this week’s article is to talk about and share examples of a kitchen “gut and remodel” versus a kitchen “facelift.”

Both of these kitchen remodel types add HUGE value to your home—and I don’t just mean return on investment! How about the return on enjoyment? This is your KITCHEN we’re talking about, after all…

If you’ve thought about a kitchen remodel, whatever your situation, read this first to really think about the extent of work you need (or WANT) done!

To read more, check this article out.

 

“Do It Over” in a Kitchen Gut and Remodel

The full kitchen remodel means taking down or moving walls or changing up the flooring plan, updating plumbing, lighting, flooring, windows…or a combination of all the above and more!

The 2019 Cost vs. Value report does break down kitchens to “minor kitchen remodel” and “major kitchen remodel,” because the cost AN percent of that cost recouped at the time of sale differ significantly. According to the report this year, full kitchen remodels are generally costing around and over $60,000, with an average of 57% of the cost recouped at sale.

Write me, Robin, if you want a copy of the 2019 Cost vs. Value report! It breaks down the costs and values of just about all the remodels you can think of…

Naturally, we do a LOT of remodels of every size, but the full kitchen remodels are the ones we have the most to say about. Some of our recent gut-and-remodel kitchens include…

This North Richland Hills gut and redo

This kitchen flirts dramatically with high contrast, with the dark wood cabinets and a new lighting plan to illuminate key surfaces and areas of the kitchen while also showing off the extensive design work that was done…

Even with the dark wood in the cabinets and flooring, the light bounces off those new countertops and beautifully fills the room.

A Keller gut and redo

We actually wrote in depth about this project recently!! Read to learn what we did in this kitchen with the main floor layout, lighting, windows and cabinetry in last week’s blog…or just look at the photos below to get a real feel for this space…

 

“Make It Over” in a Kitchen Facelift

Coming back to the 2019 Cost vs. Value report, the “minor kitchen remodel” is listed with an average this year of around $20,000 cost with an average recouped of 78.7%. Looking at these numbers from a banker’s perspective, that might seem like a pretty great deal—a facelift could be around a third of the price of a “do over” full remodel, and with a distinctly higher rate of return on the dollars invested.

But first, it’s important to recognize why these kitchen facelifts bring a bigger recovery of their investments: they focus on the features people see, only!! Of course, a relatively superficial update to a kitchen will draw more attention compared with a full gut where potential buyers will NEVER know where that old wall use to be, or how far over the island use to sit…

And so, if you are planning to LIVE in that house for three years, or five years, or MORE, that resale facelift recoup value will deflate over time. If you are staying put for a while, look at ANY remodel of your kitchen for its return on enjoyment. A full gut and remodel can make more sense if you’re living in the house for longer, because it gets at the heart of the flow, utility and feel of one of the most important spaces in your home.

I’ll even take that a step further…if you’re planning on sticking around for a REALLY long time, you can even go a little crazy making remodel choices that YOU love, JUST BECAUSE YOU LOVE THEM! What I mean is…if you want to age into a home for another 10 or 20 years, a kitchen facelift or update might be needed at the time of sale, anyway, so why not get the most out of YOUR space for YOU and YOUR lifestyle now?!

Back to the point. Kitchen facelifts are really, REALLY fun projects!! Maybe a facelift is right for you because you already have a kitchen layout that works. Or maybe a facelift is, in all honestly, what you’re willing to invest into the kitchen right now. Whatever the reason, revel in the updates a “make over” kitchen facelift might include: new appliances, one or two updates to fixtures like flooring or countertops, maybe some new cabinet hardware or altered cabinetry, new paint…the stuff you see that really creates that “feel” of your perfect kitchen space.

Here are some examples of recent kitchen facelifts we’ve done…

In this first Keller facelift, we didn’t touch the floor, but look at that elegant new lighting plan with new fixtures…this created an absolutely sparkling space! And the new colors, the updates to the backsplash and the new appliances…we were just as excited as the homeowners when this one was done!

More recently, we did another Keller facelift with some added and altered cabinetry (got to LOVE that spice storage), new appliances again, and a few changes to lighting. And what a great space for entertaining while you cook!!

 

One more Keller, Texas kitchen facelift here…the lighting was updated, along with cabinetry, and I worked some magic on the interior design touches…this was another thoroughly charming project to do!!

 

The hybrid

Of course, it’s not always an “extreme” when it comes to kitchen remodels. You don’t have to CHOOSE between a make-over and a do over…

For example, in this Irving, Texas kitchen, there were some elements of a gut and redo and some elements of a facelift. Specifically, we replaced and redid the island (and what a BEAUTIFUL addition to the space!!) while the pantry stayed the same. We didn’t move any walls or tear up flooring, but the interior design elements along with the lighting plan and fixtures plus the appliances were updated.

 

Planning for your kitchen remodel, it comes down to your kitchen and your needs. We love, love, LOVE kitchen remodels of all types, because the kitchen of a home really does fill more than tummies, it fills hearts!

Go back and look at those questions at the top of the article again. How would you answer? And now that you know where different types of kitchen remodels fall, do you think the answers for your kitchen say “make over” or “do over” to you?

Bonus, get this free resource!

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