Top DIY Kitchen Renovations Tips

A kitchen renovation is a great way to improve your lifestyle and add value to your home, but if you're restricted to working within a tight budget and can't afford to use a professional kitchen renovation company, you're probably considering if you could self-manage a DIY renovation instead. However, DIY kitchen renovations do come with their challenges and solution for kitchen renovation.

Before you walk blindly into a DIY kitchen renovation, here are a few tips that are sure to come in handy and help you ensure the project is a big success rather than an epic failure.

Plan, plan, plan

One of the biggest differences between using a professional kitchen renovations company and DIY-ing it, is that there won’t be a project manager coordinating the project for you.

In addition to choosing your design, fitting and fixtures, you’ll be responsible for coordinating tradespeople, ensuring you have all the required materials on-site when needed and keeping an eye on the budget and timeline.

It’s no easy task even if you’re an experienced renovator, so planning will be your greatest weapon. Even if you’re taking on a DIY kitchen reno for the first time, so long as you’ve taken the time to carefully consider everything that’s involved, what materials are needed and the amount of time each step of the process will take, you should be able to build yourself a decent project schedule using Google Sheets, Excel or something similar, which you can use to track all deliverables and keep the project running smoothly.

Build in a contingency budget

The hefty cost of renovations is usually the reason behind why so many homeowners decide to self-manage manage reno projects in the first place, and a cost blowout could be just the thing that makes you regret having ever attempted the project.

Building a solid contingency into your budget will ensure you have more than enough money to source everything you need and avoid finding yourself in a tricky spot with a half-finished kitchen and no more funds in the bank.

Generally, incorporating an additional 10% of the total value of your renovation into your budget will be enough to cover any unexpected costs and ensure you can bring the project to completion.

Choose your contractors carefully

Even if you're managing the majority of the demolition and installation of your kitchen renovation yourself, you'll still need to bring on contractors such as a plumber and electrician at various stages throughout the project.

When deciding which contractors to use, it's important to choose wisely and not based on cost alone. Even though you're trying to keep costs down as much as possible, using unlicensed or uninsured contractors may end up costing you significantly more in the long term if their work isn't up to scratch and you start encountering problems.

It's also good to remember that using unlicensed contractors may void any home and contents you have, so you can potentially save yourself a world of financial headaches down the track by doing it right the first time. A kitchen renovation is something you only want to have to do once, and as with most things, paying a little more upfront for quality contractors will usually lead to a better overall outcome.