10 DIY Kitchen Remodel Tips

Thinking about remodeling your kitchen? Keep your stress to a minimum with these do’s and don’ts for doing your own DIY kitchen remodel. 

We loved our kitchen when we first built our home 12 years ago but, as with anything else, it slowly became worn over time and not as functional as we wanted it to be. We finally decided to give it a makeover. 

How do you know when it’s time to do a kitchen remodel?

For us, there were many reasons we decided it was time to do a kitchen makeover: 

• Our kitchen started to feel dark and outdated.
• The sink was in the corner under the upper cabinets and it was difficult to wash large pans and cookie sheets without hitting the bottom of the cabinets.
• The original countertop was peeling around the sink due to the deteriorating caulk and minerals in our water.

• The double sink did not have a spillover so when one side filled, it would not automatically overflow into the other one, water would go all over the counter and floor. It only happened a few times but created such a mess!!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. See my full disclosure here. 

• The fridge had a slow leak which was only discovered after the flooring had buckled underneath it.
• The stove was functional but we wanted a larger stove to be able to host large family gatherings. 
• The range hood was so short/low, I would bang my head on the corners. 

 

 

Here are 10 DIY Kitchen Remodel Tips to Save You Time & Money. 

1. Find your inspiration. – Take your time with this and don’t rush. Search Pinterest, Instagram, Google, magazines or wherever you get inspiration. Save pictures of everything you like and make a list of your must have items or features. For example, our stove was functional but we wanted a larger stove to be able to host large family gatherings. While browsing online, we fell in love with a 48” stove by Ilve (IL-VAY). We started with that and literally planned everything around it.

Sneak peak…

 

 

2. Do your research. If you are getting new appliances, a new sink or faucet, lighting, really anything, read as many reviews as you can, watch Youtube videos etc. We did not know it when we ordered the stove, but because we were getting a bigger one, we also had to have a larger propane line. Had we known, we could have saved time and money planning for it instead of having to do it last minute.  

How to remodel a kitchen on a budget?

3. Set your budget – (splurge & save) – Focus on one statement piece and then look for ways to save on everything else but don’t sacrifice function. Shop around! If you don’t do this ahead of time it can really get away from you. Maybe have one splurge item but then other things you can save on. Home Depot suggests you divide your expenses into three parts: 

• One third goes toward new cabinetry or refurbishing old ones.
• One third goes toward other furnishings such as countertops, sinks, faucet. backsplash, appliances.
• One third goes toward any instillation and labor expenses. 

They also remind you to remember any plumbing and electrical work that will need to be done and factor that in as well. 

 

4. Measure twice (or 5 times) and cut once. Measure a bunch of times to make sure you are accurate – double, even triple check because mistakes can cost you money. We measured all of the cabinets and determined we could reconfigure what we had and only lose a couple of cabinets because we were able to relocate and build a new bank of cabinets with the ones we pulled out. Even after that, once we had pulled the lower cabinets out, we realized the filler strips on the edges would have to be bigger than we originally thought. It was fine in the long run but required more planning and some adjustments.

 

 

Should you remodel your kitchen yourself?

5. Don’t take on more than you can handle – Do it yourself if you are confident you have the skills but know when to hire a professional. Let’s face it, you can pretty much find a tutorial on anything on Youtube but be honest with yourself and don’t do more than your skills can handle. It will cost you money in the long run because you may end up having to have a professional fix it which can cost more money and time.

6. Stay on top of it! Keep in constant contact with your cabinet, countertop or any other company you are working with. I hadn’t heard from the Ilve distributor in several weeks so I decided to call. I was told the stove wasn’t coming in for another month. Wait, what??? No one told us. This, of course, was going to back everything else up. I should have known something was wrong when I got an email two days later telling me it was scheduled to be delivered that Friday. We didn’t even have the cabinets moved yet! So we had to bump it two weeks. 

What do I need to know before remodeling a kitchen? 

7. Expect delays, especially now.

Our countertop company’s cutting machine went down and they had two push back two weeks. Then it went down again, for another two weeks. Many businesses are also experiencing delays in shipments for products and parts.

8. Expect the unexpected. Know things will not always go as planned. We must have looked at 100 slabs of granite. We took a chunk home that was 6″x6″, looked at it in every light, against every part of where the counter would be and thought we picked the one that matched our cabinets. It’s very hard to tell in a piece that small but when it was installed, the color was way lighter than we thought.

That meant that the cabinets were now too yellow and that they were going to have to be painted. That’s a whole new project and more money we didn’t plan on spending as well as time we didn’t plan on either.

Another example is when the company came to install the stove, they broke the legs off when they were trying to place it. Another week for the new legs to arrive which gave us time which, fortunately, gave us time to get the propane line upgraded. We ended up installing the stove ourselves instead of waiting for them to come back again.

9. Understand things will get messy. When I say “messy” I mean somewhat of a disaster. It wasn’t always like the pictures below but it was like that a lot. Our project took a total of 10 months. At times, we were without stable countertops, our dishes and utensils were in drawers on the dining room floor and we were without a stove for a short while. Know it may be uncomfortable and that you will be out of your routine for a time.

Yikes!!!

 

Try to clean up between each project as much as possible to keep things safe. 

 

 

Things you can do to make it easier to live without a kitchen during your remodel.

• Plan on takeout – have websites/phone numbers on the ready and save some coupons so you don’t end up spending a fortune. 
• Set up a “temporary kitchen” (maybe in your dining room or an adjacent space) with a microwave for easy meals snacks. If you have kids, have easy snacks accessible away from the construction zone.
• Use temporary countertops. We cut down our old ones and stuck them in place while we were waiting for the new ones to come in. 
• Make it easier on yourself by using plastic utensils and paper plates. 
• Have a place for all of your tools etc. so you can find it easy but it’s not in the way. We put everything in the wood box when not in use.
• Have a rolling “to do” list and plan your “project time” so you know what needs to be done next and stick to the schedule as much as possible. Control everything you can control.

We’re getting there…

 

 

10. Add more lighting. As long as your ripping things apart, take the opportunity to add lighting. You will never regret having more lighting. We put extra recessed lights over the sink and it made a world of difference.

The finished kitchen remodel…

 

 

So much lighter and brighter, not to mention more functional! 

 

 

Kitchen Resources:

• Similar stools – Amazon
• Sink: – Home Depot
• Faucet – Home Depot
• Pot filler – Amazon
• Tile backsplash – Lowes
• Light above table – Home Depot
• Butcher block counter top – Home Depot
• Wall paint color – light drizzle by Behr
• Cabinet paint color – Ivory by Benjamin Moore
• Similar hanging light fixture – Home Depot
• My favorite kitchen decor on Amazon

 

 

 

You can find more of our room makeovers here.

DIY kitchen remodel before and after…

 

Schedule changes, late shipments or even changes in your plan because you change your mind; things will come up. (this actually can go for any large home improvement project) With these kitchen remodel tips and tricks you’ll be able to plan as much as possible, be prepared to be flexible and know things will take time but it will be worth it in the end!

Happy DIY’ing! 

Col

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