Did you or your partner receive a bonus at Christmas or otherwise come into some funds you’re planning how to spend? Or are you thinking about doing some work around your home this year but aren’t sure where to start?
The kitchen is one of the essential rooms in any property but is also one of the most costly and inconvenient ones to upgrade. As such, you need to be sure about choosing this space to renovate and make your next project. Here are some ways to tell if it’s time to invest in a kitchen remodel in 2023.
You Want to Sell Your Home Soon
If your kitchen is an older one and you know you want to sell your home in the coming year or two, it’s worthwhile investing in a renovation of this part of your home. It’s one of the most vital in any property, and many buyers only want to move into a place with an already updated cooking zone. If you do the work now, you’re much more likely to get top dollar when you’re ready to sell.
Before starting the project, though, it’s wise to talk to real estate agents who specialize in selling homes in your location. Ask them about the types of features and functionality buyers typically want in a kitchen. This information will help you know where to spend money and where to save it when planning out your new kitchen space.
For example, buyers might be interested in a cooking zone with all the latest mod cons, including smart-home appliances, or they might want a huge open-plan space where they can talk to family members or friends while cooking. Some might be interested in a wow factor in the room, such as look-at-me splashback tiles, brightly colored appliances, or an impressive chandelier ceiling fan or pendant light.
Others may be content with a simpler, more compact kitchen because they don’t cook much or entertain at home. If this is the case, you can spend less on the remodel and avoid overcapitalizing on your property.
You’re Finding the Kitchen Too Hard to Clean or Maintain
Another reason to consider a complete kitchen remodel is if your current space is too hard to keep clean or maintain. If you feel like you’re continually cleaning this area of your place, but it never looks as sparkling and fresh as you want, no matter how much time and effort you put in, the only way to be satisfied may be to re-do everything. Cooktops with baked-on grease, flooring or tiled backsplashes with dirty or missing grout lines, or burned, cracked, or otherwise marred benchtops will never get better, no matter how persistent you are with your cleaning.
Also, if you have to keep paying for repairs to various appliances in your kitchen or to get other issues sorted, you may find that if you invested all this money into a new kitchen instead, you’d be closer to affording a whole new space. While you can likely complete some minor repairs yourself that arise as part of general maintenance, such as fixing a leaky faucet, some tasks are extensive, costly, and time-consuming, such as replacing plumbing.
In these cases, weigh the pros and cons of keeping the space the same versus replacing things, and you may find a remodel is your best option.
It’s Too Small
Sometimes, no matter how new a kitchen may be or how much to your tastes it is, it’s just too small for you to adequately complete all the tasks you want to in it and to store all your gear. You can be organized and strategically store your items, but if you’ve already done this and you’re still at capacity or sick of continually bumping into your family members in your kitchen, the only real solution is likely to gut the space, reconfigure it (perhaps knocking down or extending a wall or two) and starting again.
Happily, though, when you start again from scratch, you can plan out a kitchen ideally suited to your individual needs and how you like to use your cooking zone.
These are just some ways to tell that it’s time to invest in a kitchen remodel. Other signs to look out for are that the design style isn’t to your liking or is very outdated, or the space is unsafe due to electrical faults or other issues.
Remodeling a kitchen isn’t a weekend job or something you can usually do on the cheap, so ensure you feel ready to take on this project and have the funds necessary to complete it before you start demolishing what’s currently there.