You want a snowy white marble island with grey and black striations, a beige tile backsplash, a Wolf stove, a Frigidaire refrigerator, and the ceramic sink of your dreams. You’d also love to get copper or bronze fixtures.
Unfortunately, you think your dream can never become a reality because you barely have any space in your kitchen to accommodate whatever you want, need to make extensive renovations to get the kitchen you want or are limited by your budget.
But that’s not true. You can make your dream kitchen a reality. You just need to work with what you have. Feeling a bit motivated? Let’s dive into the process.
7 Steps to Turn Your Dream Kitchen into a Reality
If you’re dreaming about making your wish-I-wish-I-had-that-kitchen a reality, here’s how to do it:
1. Visualize What You Want
Think about what you want from your kitchen. Floating cupboards? A three-foot sink? A retractable spigot? A La Cornue stove? Some rustic chairs? Note everything down on a Word document or page.
Better yet, go to Google, search for the kitchen aesthetic you want (minimalistic Scandinavian kitchens are hot right now), create a Pinterest board, and pin every image you like to it.
2. Ground Your Ideas in Reality
Once you’ve done all your fangirling over gorgeous 3,000 ft. kitchens, it’s time to come back to reality and take a hard look at your current kitchen.
Wishing for a Viking stove when you can’t spare the cash, a butcher block island counter when you know it’ll get stained in a few months, or a white marble counter when you know marble is the worst stone you could choose for your kitchen aren’t practical ideas.
To make the kitchen of your dreams a reality, you have to consider your budget, current kitchen size, whether you’ll be doing the renovation yourself or through a company, and if you can survive on take-out for a few months. You have to eat, don’t you?
For example, if you have a $10,000 renovation budget, pitching for a $6,000 marble countertop doesn’t make sense because it’ll put you out of other renovations. Similarly, placing a black backsplash in a small kitchen calls for an eye stab.
So, instead of trying to convince yourself that a Frigidaire will fit into your teeny-tiny kitchen, it’s better to select things you know will work out.
3. Finalize Your Kitchen’s Design
Map your kitchen’s dimensions, determine if you want to break a wall to increase kitchen space, and double-check your kitchen’s aesthetic. Once you’ve done that, hunt for an architect to create a kitchen floor plan.
But if that seems too challenging, this is the point where hiring a contractor would be ideal. You’d just unload all your ideas on them, talk with their architects and designers about what you want from your kitchen, and hammer out the details of your kitchen in a few sessions.
However, if you want to design your kitchen, march onwards.
4. Research Appliances and Kitchen Essentials
Now that you know what your new kitchen will look like, find appliances that’ll fit. This is especially true if you’re doing a kitchen renovation in New York City.
NYC’s apartments are notorious for lacking space, so you need to get the smallest appliances possible. They’ll make your kitchen seem larger and airier.
However, if you already have a bigger kitchen, put these worries out of your mind and select the appliances you want. Just make sure they fit in your kitchen. You don’t want appliances to jut out if you’re getting a minimalistic kitchen layout.
5. Purchase Some Stone, Tiles, and Flooring
Now that you’ve finalized everything. It’s time to purchase some stone, tiles, and flooring. If you’re working with a contractor, you’ll only need to choose what you want, and they’ll get it for you.
But if you’re doing everything on your own, it’s time to plant yourself on a chair with Google’s search engine in front of you. Search nearby stone and tile companies and request a quote from them. Get quotes from several, compare them, and select the company offering the best deal.
This is also the right time to get a flooring expert on hand.
6. Find Cabinetry Contractors or Pre-built Cabinets
Your kitchen cabinets hide all number of evils, from herb and spice bottles to massive blenders and food processors. They also house all your cutlery, fine china, and dishes, protecting them from grease and dust.
So, if you’re performing a kitchen renovation, start looking for cabinetry contractors at this point. You can even ask your kitchen renovation company for references to a good custom cabinetry contractor.
However, if you’re doing everything yourself, cruise to IKEA and purchase some pre-built cabinets. They’re not too difficult to assemble.
7. Put It All Together
Now that you’ve selected everything, it’s time to put it all together. If you’ve contracted a company for your renovation, get out of their way. You could leave for a two-week-long vacation or lock yourself in your room to keep clear of the dust blowing out of your kitchen.
But if you’re doing everything yourself. It’s time to disassemble everything and put new things in place.
The Takeaway
You can build the kitchen of your dreams on a budget or in a cubicle-sized room. You just need inspiration, a bit of research, and hire an experienced contractor because it’s easier. However, if you want to build your kitchen on your own, you can do that too.