The age-old advice is to buy the worst house on the best block and renovate it. But how do you even start planning a kitchen renovation on a budget?
For this week’s blog post I interviewed Taylor, who’s a commercial construction estimator and has recently completed two of her very own kitchen renovations. Read on to find out her best tips and tricks to renovate a kitchen!
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Can you share some of your story?
I am a commercial construction estimator by day and real estate investor/social media personality in my free time! I grew up watching HGTV and lived through a renovation and knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I got my BS in Construction Management and have been working in the commercial construction industry for 5 years now. I typically work on renovations of classrooms and labs for universities, and new buildings for community organizations, hospitality and retail developers. My husband and I have renovated our own house (more to come too) and just completed our first rental property
Where are the cheapest places to find materials for renovations?
I love finding hardware and fixtures on websites like Amazon, Overstock and Wayfair. Skip the hardware stores for materials like cabinet pulls/knobs, faucets and light fixtures
What is something most people do wrong?
1.Having unrealistic expectations of how much money things cost and how long projects take
2.Thinking you have to replace everything to get the look or function you want
How much was your kitchen renovation and what did it include?
Our personal kitchen – full renovation
- Cabinets (Home Depot) – $6,000 (material only, we installed ourselves)
- Appliances – $3,000, bought on a tax free weekend
- Cabinet hardware – $200
- Granite Counters – $1,350 (9 linear feet)
- Flooring – $1.50/sf material only (we used bamboo)
- Faucet – $100
- Glass inserts at cabinets – $400
Total: $11,050 + Flooring
Rental Kitchen
- Reused cabinets and cleaned with soap and water
- Quartz Countertop – $1,900 (9 linear feet)
- Cabinet hardware – $50
- Peel and Stick subway tile backsplash – $75 (amazon!)
- Faucet – $100
Total: $2,125
What’s something you regret adding to your kitchen? What do you wish you did include?
In our personal kitchen, I really wanted cabinets with glass in them. In the end I think it was a $400 to do this and it really does nothing for me any more. Our kitchen is tiny but I wish I had cabinets with a different storage layout in the interior to hold bulkier items and longer items like small appliances and cookie sheets.
What materials are hard to come by these days?
Everything! Lumber is up 125% since March of 2020. Everything is expensive and everything has a low supply. Reuse and upcycle what you can
Where did you draw kitchen design inspiration from?
I’m HGTV obsessed. There are a few designers that I love to follow on Instagram on top of their shows.
How should someone start planning for a kitchen renovation on a budget?
- Figure out what you want
- Get materials priced out
- If it works for your budget move forward, if it doesn’t, arrange your plan so it does
- Procurement – Place order on Cabinets & Appliances. Schedule any labor that you can’t do yourself. Once cabinets are ordered, call a countertop company to schedule templating after your cabinets are due to arrive
- Begin demo in a timely manner around material deliveries
- Rough plumbing/electrical if you are moving anything around
- Cabinet installation- Countertop company comes and templates for countertop
- Flooring and other finishes
- Countertop and sink get installed
- Finishing touches and completion!
Do you have a favorite DIY blog you follow that helped you?
Pinterest has been my go-to for figuring out making it work for what I already have. Have stained trim throughout your house and don’t want to paint it? That’s me! Search “wood trim” and get inspired with examples of what colors make that trim shine. I’m also LOVING TikTok. So much great DIY content that is really giving me the itch to do more!
How did you budget for your kitchen renovations?
Working in commercial construction and also having a husband who is a handy man, jack of all trades really helps to establish an idea for what things cost.
Ask around, google and get expert opinions. Here is what I use at my job to categorize and organize costs – this is called the CSI Master Format. On a type of full-gut job, a good rule of thumb is to expect 20% of the budget to be taken up by the MEP (HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing) trades.
Where can we find you?
I’m on Instagram and TikTok– I love to interact with my followers, so please reach out!
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