Home Improvement - Kitchen Renovation

Why we decided to renovate our kitchen...

Our kitchen in 2008 (at purchase)

Everyone knows that kitchens sell houses. That fact alone does not mean that you should renovate your kitchen. As I shared in my previous home improvement blog, you always need to make sure you aren't spending more on updates than you will get on return if your primary motivation is to sell your home. Caveat: if you plan to live in the home for several years you don't need to consider the ROI nearly as much. But when selling you should be sure to update your home according to the ROI on the updates. There are cheaper ways to improve a kitchen than doing a full kitchen renovation.

My wife hated our kitchen from the start. I can't say I blamed her since there was cheap, pealing laminate on the floors, dark wood cabinets and old appliances in a dimly lit kitchen. We made changes early on that significantly improved the look of the kitchen, including painting the cabinets white, installing more updated drawer and cabinet hardware, laying a better quality floor, installing a nicer light fixture and painting it a brighter color. Though we dreamed about a full renovation, we never thought we'd really do it because the ROI was questionable for our neighborhood. Plus, the few times we looked into bigger renovations, the price tag seemed way too high.

Fast forward to this summer when I sold one of our neighbors homes within 2 days of being on the market at the highest price the neighborhood has seen since 2007. They had done a beautiful update
of their kitchen which immediately drew buyers in. Another home in our neighborhood with a similar update sold for a good price last year. We crunched the numbers (better numbers with a better contractor) and realized that we would be stupid NOT to do the renovation on our home, which happens to have the same layout as the other two houses.

Our kitchen just before renovations started in Jan 2016

So what have we done to keep costs down and maintain a good ROI when we decide to sell?
1) We planned the renovation for the winter months. Contractors tend to have less work this time of year, meaning they may be willing to work with you on price.
2) We cut a deal with our contractors. I'm a realtor so I've got a leg up on this one, but the average joe can also find ways to get a few deals. Call me for some suggestions.
3) We shopped around for materials. We went to the high end stores to get ideas from their showrooms, and we even brought sample materials home to help us plan our kitchen. But we also went to Lowes and Home Depot to look for comparable products at lower prices. My wife is a stickler for reading reviews so she made sure that even though we were buying cheaper products, we weren't buying products with poor quality. She also scoured Amazon, Wayfair, and other sites to find affordable light fixtures and hardware that still fit our plan.
4) We chose where it was important to spend money and where to save. We decided not to go with the cheapest grade cabinets because we have 2 small children who could easily damage them by the time we want to sell. We also decided not to go with the high quality marble back splash but chose the more budget friendly real stone, faux marble back splash because the look is similar and damage is unlikely. Easier said than done, but its important to remind yourself you don't need everything to be top of the line if this isn't your forever home, and if you hope to stay within budget.

Our renovation started this week and should be finished within 2 weeks total (is it possible for a contractor to complete a project on time?). Stay tuned for more updates as the project progresses!

Here are some pictures from the first four days: