It’s time for a new kitchen!
While exciting, it’s important to start planning ahead of time so you’re not surprised by wait times or unexpected costs. We’ve put together this guide to help you understand what you can expect to pay for a renovation as well as give you some suggestions to think about so that your renovation suits your home and lifestyle for many years to come.
Kitchen and bathroom renovations are expensive, but they drastically increase your home value. You’re making an investment, both in creating a space that works better for you and preparing your home for a future sale, whenever that might be.
It can feel confusing or overwhelming to nail down the costs of a renovation, we’ve included a breakdown of the cost percentages later in this blog. First, we’ll take a look at some of the main questions you should ask yourself when considering a renovation.
What’s your renovation timeline?
Planning ahead is crucial for renovations.
Make sure that your ideal timeline works with the materials you’re hoping to use. The wait time for cabinets and other materials is probably longer than you expect. For example, cabinets can often take several months from ordering to actual delivery.
Eurorite offers our Ready to Assemble cabinet line that is available much faster—weeks instead of months. You’ll have to install the cabinets yourself, but it’s a great way to keep your renovation timeline on track.
Take a look at what styles are available so you’re not shocked when wait times are long. But that gives you plenty of time to plan and arrange the rest of your renovation!
How long will you be in your home?
When renovating, it’s important to take into account how long you’re planning to live in your home. Are you renovating to increase the home value for selling or for personal enjoyment? If it’s for the home value, you’ll want to include commonly desired items and stay somewhat general so that it appeals to a wide audience. You’re making an improvement on your house’s value, so don’t spend above what you expect to get back in value when you sell.
If you’re renovating for your personal enjoyment, make changes that work for you! Do things that will make you and your family most comfortable, because you’re the ones who will be benefiting from it. It’s also a good idea to plan for the future if you expect to grow old in this home, which leads us into our next point.
Is your kitchen accessible, and does it need to be?
Do you have older generations or people with mobility disabilities living in the home? If so, making renovations that include accessibility are crucial to ensure everyone has access to the things they need.
Do you have pets?
Pet owners often find renovations to be the perfect time to make space for their furry friends. Pet food bags are often large, and pets require a number of things that are usually stored to keep them out of sight (and snack time). A kitchen renovation is the perfect time to designate intentional space for that, whether it’s adding a large cabinet to fit the food or litter bags or higher durability cabinets to put up with scratching.
What is your neighbourhood like?
While your renovation is for you, it’s also important to keep in mind your home’s potential resale value. What’s the neighbourhood like? Upscale? Modest? You will want to generally match it in terms of affluence to keep the home value and expectations reasonable.
Having lower quality materials in your kitchen may surprise people who hope to buy into an upscale neighbourhood and turn them off of your home. Likewise, if you put much fancier materials in your home compared to your neighbours, you may lose money on that investment when you eventually move away.
Creating a Renovation Budget
Your budget is the most important thing when it comes to renovations—it lays out what you’re willing to spend and helps protect you from running into costs you didn’t expect. Before creating it, there are a number of things you’ll need to keep in mind.
Make room for the unexpected.
Always save some money in your budget for unexpected costs. Your renovation might uncover a deeper problem that you’ll need to fix, such as an issue hiding under the flooring or within the walls. 10-15% of your overall budget is a safe amount to put aside.
Determine your renovation priorities.
Make two lists—needs and wants. The first list are the things you absolutely need in your renovation, or you might as well not do it at all. The second list is for the items that you’d like to have, but aren’t absolutely essential. These two lists will help you get a better idea of how much is needed for your renovation and stop you from wasting money that isn’t essential.
When you have your “wants” all listed out, put them in order of priority so that there’s still a good chance of getting some of your favourite options into the renovation.
Quality is more important than price.
When considering materials, don’t just look at the price tag. Make sure you check out the quality, durability, and life span. Cheaper flooring is useless for saving money if you have to replace it again in just a few years.
Remember to budget for eating out.
While your kitchen is under renovation, you’ll need an alternate source of food, so make sure to plan for that ahead of time so the cost doesn’t surprise you.
Some people leave their homes entirely during renovations. If you plan to do this, make sure you’re budgeting for your stay in a hotel as well.
Create a spreadsheet for your budget and check it regularly.
When you write down the breakdown of your expected costs, you’ll be able to see if you’re creeping over budget in certain areas. This will help you put a stop to any overspending before it gets out of control.
Decide if you’re hiring a professional or doing it yourself.
If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can save money by doing a lot of the work yourself. The risk with this is a potentially lower-quality installation, so it’s up to you with your knowledge and experience in these areas. There is certainly satisfaction that comes from putting together your kitchen or bathroom by yourself.
If you don’t feel comfortable with your skill level, there are still parts of a renovation that are straightforward and don’t require a professional. The demolition stage where you take out all the old cabinets, flooring, and appliances doesn’t require years of education—just the right materials and attitude.
When considering whether to do more yourself, ask a few questions:
- Do you have the skills to do this well?
- Do you have enough free time to complete the task, and don’t mind your renovation taking longer overall?
- Do you have the right tools? Will the cost of getting them eliminate the benefit of doing the work yourself?
While hiring professionals will be an additional cost, they are renovating experts and know all the tips and tricks to save you money while ensuring the quality you’re looking for.
Budget Breakdown
The exact price of your renovation will depend on the size of your space, the extent of your renovation, and the type of materials you use.
In general, however, you can make some estimates on how much each part of the renovation will cost. This table breaks down the percentages for a kitchen renovation.
| Cabinetry and Hardware | 30% |
| Installation | 18% |
| Appliances and Ventilation | 14% |
| Countertops | 10% |
| Flooring | 7% |
| Lighting | 5% |
| Walls and Ceilings | 5% |
| Doors and Windows | 4% |
| Sinks, Faucets, and Plumbing | 4% |
| Other | 5% |
Common Mistakes
There’s a lot to remember when planning home improvements, so make sure you aren’t making these mistakes in your renovation plans.
Refacing cabinets.
Refacing cabinets is when you only upgrade the doors of your cabinets, but leave the structure intact. This type of upgrade is still 75% the cost of a new kitchen, but doesn’t change anything except the surface-level look. There might even be underlying issues that won’t get addressed for years now as the cabinets look new.
Another issue with refacing is that there’s no opportunity to change the kitchen structure to suit your life and kitchen work flow. It’s a better idea to do a full renovation to re-work the space and storage to make the kitchen a perfect fit for you.
Forgetting to track your budget.
Or adding last minute items while the renovation is underway. Either one of these mistakes is likely to result in a higher cost than you were anticipating. If you think of a change that you just HAVE to add in, shuffle your budget around to make room for it, don’t just increase the cost.
Remember that those little extras sound amazing when you’re in the middle of renovating, but they probably won’t matter in a year or two. Always give yourself a few days before making a big purchase or change to your plan. And talk it through—don’t make any decisions without consulting your partner or anyone else who is directly involved in the process.
Instant Estimate Tool
If you’re almost ready to start creating your budget, take a look at our handy instant estimate tool for the perfect way to get an idea of how much your new cabinets will cost.
You’ll need your kitchen measurements to get started. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us—we’re always happy to help!
Renovation Time
Ready for the big renovation? There’s a lot to think about, but it will be well worth it to have a kitchen or bathroom (or both) that you absolutely love.
Get in touch with us today to start chatting with a designer who’s committed to helping you create a space that’s perfect for you.