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Since this is our money issue of Connections I thought I take our next installment of the kitchen renovation articles down the budget path. This is a path that can have a few forks in it. Your own personal financial situation, along with a little knowledge, will help you decide which paths to take.
Remember that we are talking about a new kitchen whether it is in your old home or a new home. If you want quick inexpensive redo to your current kitchen you could always try kitchen cabinet re-facing, maybe a few new appliances, a new laminate countertop and Do-It-Yourself peel and stick vinyl flooring. All of these things are fairly inexpensive and have a high DIY ability and can make your old kitchen look beautiful and new again without any major structural or layout changes. If it's a completely new kitchen you are thinking of or a hybrid of the two, then read on.
Once you've determined the general style that you'd like your new kitchen to take, (I recommend going to a book store and buying some kitchen books and magazines to get ideas), you can start establishing a budget that will help you come as close to your dream as you can afford. Sometimes budget alone will determine style. You may have some very specific ides in mind but once you start investigating your ideal product choices you may find that the original style path you choose may now have a detour in it.
One way to still get your dream kitchen if its budget outnumbers your bank account is to finance it. You can take a home equity loan or a remodeling loan and deduct the interest on the loan from your taxes. Your bank or lending institution will help access your assets and debt to determine how much you can afford. This number will also help you choice which remodeling path you will take. There are all types of loans to consider, home equity, consolidation debt loans, borrowing against your investments, credit card advances, or the classic borrow from a family member.
Once you have a solid number of what you can spend on your new kitchen you need to break that number down into categories of what will go where.
For instance, if you are a serious cook you'll what to allocate a larger number or percentage to your appliances and workspace rather than to your flooring or cabinetry. If number crunching scares you, start by trying to break this number down by percentages. Say you think you want to spend 35% of your budget on appliances, 30% on countertops etc...
Now that you know about what you want to spend you have to start considering what you kitchen choices will cost. You may even have to choose a first, second and third choice based on those costs and your budget.
Let's look at some choices and prices.
