By Michelle Lynne
President, ML Interiors Group
Budgets are generally the scariest part of any renovation. And while creating a kitchen renovation budget isn’t rocket science, it does require detail, experience, and the ability to juggle. These three steps are key to ensuring a successful and on budget kitchen renovation project.
Step One: Budget
The first step to creating a kitchen renovation budget is to know the home’s current market value, as well as the value of the comparable homes in the neighborhood, (so you don’t overbuild), coming up with a design vision, and getting a quote from your contractor.
Working with an interior designer may seem like you’re spending extra money, but an experienced designer will create a design that meets function, aesthetics, and budget. They can design the kitchen of your dreams and express the concept to the contractor via construction documents that ensure the vision and the result are not miscommunicated, which can result in costly mistakes.
Step Two: Shopping
The second step is in creating the renovation budget is shopping for the actual pretty stuff. Once the general labor cost is known, you can back into the remaining budget for the items you’ll see every day, such as lighting, faucets, backsplash, countertops, cabinetry, and appliances.
In a perfect world steps one and two add up to both financial and aesthetic perfection, but in reality, the total often comes in higher than intended. What should you do? That’s the third step. Juggle!
Step Three: Juggle!
Begin by reviewing the project’s scope to see where some labor and material costs can be eliminated. When working with a designer, they will often be able to envision multiple options and discuss the pros and cons early in the process. It’s not easy to fall in love with an idea only to find out later that it’s not in the budget.
Next, reselect some of the product choices to lower the cost of the purchases. Mixing both high ad low priced items is an art and a science to achieve a stunning result.
Or, increase the budget to get everything you want.
In most instances, kitchen renovations are an investment that you will enjoy for many years to come. They provide the backdrop to many meals and memories. and you won’t want to walk in and regret skimping on a selection every morning and evening. Actually, as your home’s value increases over the years, so will your return on the financial investment.
Michelle Lynne began her interior design career after spending more than a decade working in Corporate America. She has built a successful design firm, employing multiple talented designers and growing the services provided to include full-service residential, multi-family, and virtual design services.
In the summer of 2019, Michelle focusing on a big gap she saw missing in the interior design industry: teaching interior designers how to run the business of an interior design business. She launched an online, digital course and also privately coaches designers the business practices, processes, systems & strategies needed to empower women to run a streamlined, profitable interior design firm.
Her motto is simple: we rise by lifting others.
