How Much Does it Cost to Do a DIY Kitchen Renovation?

My kitchen faucet had started to rust at a key welding point, resulting in a slow leak that, from time to time, grew big enough to start accumulating on my laminate countertop and seeping into a key point in the seam. This caused the laminate to bubble at some points, and my stainless steel sink was a small, noisy, cheap, scratched sink, suitable for contractors, with too little depth to hold and wash dirty kitchen utensils. I wanted to upgrade my kitchen with a stainless steel faucet due to its reliability and nice contrast with the black granite sink. After researching, I decided on the Pfister Pfirst series due to its price, functionality and lifetime warranty.

When it comes to DIY kitchen renovations, it's essential to plan ahead and consider the order of operations. For instance, you may need to fix the countertop before painting the lower cabinets or install the splash guard before painting the cabinets. Additionally, use blue ribbon to mark where you will place appliances (if you are moving them) and pretend that you are using the kitchen in order to decide what type of kitchen remodel you want. When it comes to cost, it's important to note that you are likely to recoup most of your kitchen renovation costs when it's finally time to put your house on the market.

Kitchen renovation may involve repairing appliances and floors, finishing cabinets, and replacing kitchen faucets. The cost of remodeling a kitchen on your own is less than the cost of remodeling a kitchen professionally since materials are your only expense. However, the size of your kitchen will also affect cost - a one-bedroom apartment can have as small as 100 square feet while a larger four-bedroom house could have a 250-square-foot kitchen. If you're comfortable designing your kitchen yourself, professional designers aren't essential but they have the knowledge and skills to make sure that your kitchen looks the way you want.

Additionally, once you start cooking in it and try to prepare your daily meals, you'll start to realize how long everything takes when the kitchen setup isn't ideal. To save money on costs of remodeling your kitchen, consider reconditioning your cabinets by placing new doors and drawer fronts or simply repainting them instead of installing new ones. You can also change the layout, move appliances, replace cabinets, floors and countertops or paint the walls. My friend set up an IKEA kitchen almost 15 years ago and is still very happy with it - it has held up as well as an expensive kitchen.

Additionally, Patrick Ridge from Ridge Builders did such a great job renovating my kitchen from the '50s that I can't help but recommend him. Remaking a kitchen can involve a lot of demolitions such as opening walls to move cables or possibly tearing down walls if you change the layout of the kitchen. The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house so you might notice signs of aging on the floor such as broken tiles or peeling linoleum.