Kitchen Remodeling Tips & Advice | This Old House

Read This Before You Remodel a Kitchen

1Get the Pros Involved

A kitchen remodel is a big dealnot something to be approached rashly. So before you even visit a showroom or meet with a pro, read our expert kitchen remodeling tips and advice on creating the cook space you've always coveted.

2Make Cents Out of Your Remodel

Worth the Splurge1) Second sink: Place it outside of the main cooking and cleanup zone so that a second chef can prep food, wash hands for dinner, or bartend during parties.2) Paneled cabinet ends: These decorative panels, which are essentially oversize doors fixed to any exposed sides of cabinets, give your kitchen a custom-built, furniture-like look.3) Full-extension, soft-close drawer glides: Installed under or on the sides of a drawer, they allow it to pull completely out of the cabinet so that you can reach everything inside. Plus, they eliminate slamming.

Not Worth the Splurge1) Glazed, distressed, and crackled finishes: These can increase cabinet costs by as much as 30 percent and can start to look dated as trends change.2) Pot filler: It does make filling the pasta pot easier, but it doesn't help with the far worse task of carting boiling water to the sink when your fettuccine is done.3) Wine fridge: Do you really need 18 bottles of Pinot within arms reach and kept at precisely 55 degrees?

3Allocating Project Costs

Photo by Mikael Damkier/Alamy

Whether your budget is $5,000 or $50,000, here's how it tends to be allocated.

4Designer's Cheat Sheet

Illustration by Eric Larsen

To create a comfortable and good-looking kitchen, consider these remodeling tips for installing cabinets, countertops, and lighting.

Easiest way to save big: Keep your current layout. Taking down walls, and moving gas lines, plumbing connections, and electrical wiring will quickly erode your budget.

5Three Ways to Save on Cabinets

1. Choose a manufacturer that offers the door style and finish you want as a standard option, with no up-charge.

2. Don't pay for factory-built or custom organizers. Aftermarket utensil dividers, rollout trays, and back-of-the-door spice racks are a fraction of the cost at websites such as organize.com and cabinetparts.com.

3. Avoid custom configurations. You can often use stock wine organizers, cubby units, and even appliance panels to fill awkward spaces that might otherwise require you to buy a custom cabinet.

6How the Factory's Cabinets Beat the Woodshop's

The big guys may not offer the customization you get from a local craftsman, but factory-made-to-order cabinets have the following benefits:

1. Warranties of up to 25 years on cabinets, accessories, workmanship, and internal hardware.

2. Controlled environment that yields more stable wood, which reduces warping and splitting later.

3. Computerized cutting tools that offer more precise joinery than anything done by hand.

4. Baked-on finishes that are more durable than local guys' air-dried ones. Dust-free finishing rooms also provide a smooth-as-glass surface.

7Which Under-Cabinet Lighting?

For task light, pick one of these low-voltage strips or pucks.

XENON Accurate color, wide beam, and dimmable, but can get hot to the touch. Widely available at home centers and kitchen showrooms. $25$125 for a 24-inch cabinet uninstalled

LED Energy-efficient, long-lasting bulbs; so thin you don't need much of a lip to hide fixtures. Can have a bluish tint unless rated at 3,500 or lower on the Kelvin scale. A new technology, so pricier and harder to source. $75$190 for a 24-inch cabinet uninstalled

8Display Cabinets for Less

Rather than stacking glass-doored cubby units over upper cabinets, just order tall two-panel wall cabinets with squares of glass at the top. You'll save 25 to 45 percent.

9Blind Corners: Half-Moon Lazy Susan

Photo by Courtesy of Cabinetparts.com

An update of the old reach-in-and-spin organizer has two pivoting half-circle shelves that slide out from the cabinet. Rev-A-Shelf Wood Classic Half Moon Two Shelf Lazy Susan, starting at $235; cabinetparts.com

10Blind Corners: Double Sliding Shelves

Photo by Courtesy of Rockler.com

A front set of shelves slide out and to one side, allowing a second set tucked in the corner to slide forward. Square shelves, rather than angled ones, take full advantage of the cabinet interior. Knape & Vogt Slide-Out Base Blind Corner Unit, $660; rockler.com

11Blind Corners: Pull-Out Shelves

Photo by Courtesy of kitchensource.com

Two height-adjustable peanut-shaped shelves snake out and to the side in one fluid motion. The shelves fully extend, so there's no reaching inside for items tucked in the rear. Hfele Arena Plus Corner Pull-out Shelf, $790; kitchensource.com

12Drawers Versus Rollout Trays

If you're starting from scratch with new cabinetry, it's a hands-down tie on price, so decide based on your comfort and the types of items you plan to store.

DrawersWin for ergonomics: They take one step to open. For rollouts, you open the doors first, then pull the tray.

Are better for storing large cookware: Rollouts are slightly smaller, and low sides don't corral tall items as well; they tend to fall overboard if you pull the tray too fast.

13Drawers Versus Rollout Trays: Rollout Trays

Are easy to retrofit: Add them to any base cabinet anytime; add drawers typically only when the base cabinet is made.

Are better for storing small items: Low sides let you see inside and take stock of foodstuffs; also, the height between trays is adjustable, allowing for extra rollouts.

14Best Practices for Open Shelving

Photo by Wendell T. Webber

Anything stored on exposed shelves will collect dust, so consider them only for:

Everyday objects, like coffee cups and cereal bowls, that you wash frequently Cookbooks, which don't show dust and are generally stored in the open anyway Oversize items, like soup tureens and serving platters, if you don't mind giving them a quick rinse Wine racks, since bottles won't fit behind the doors on wall cabinets

15The Pros (and Cons) of a Pro-Grade Range

It tops many a kitchen remodeler's wish list, but is a high-firepower cooker really the right choice for you?

Pros: Burners can put out two to three times the BTUs with controls that go from simmer to sear. 20-plus-year life expectancy Heavy-duty all-stainless-steel construction Comes in many standard sizes; widths of 24 to 60 inches. Handsomely styled showpiece

Cons Needs a 10-inch duct (versus the usual 7-inch) for a high-power vent hood to whisk away that extra heat. Costly parts and service calls Can weigh more than 900 pounds, requiring extra support in floors. May stand out 4 inches beyond typical counter depth. $5,000$10,000 sticker price

18Bottom-Line Fridge Facts

Photo by Colin Poole/Epic Images

1. Get an in-door ice dispenser/beverage center only if you're choosing a side-by-side configuration. Otherwise you'll forfeit fridge capacity for what amounts to a mini freezer on the back of the door.

2. With French door models, make it easier to organize and access your frozen foods by choosing a two-drawer configuration for the bottom freezer. Those garden peas and fish filets are too easily deep-sixed in a single drawer.

3. Even counter-depth fridges stand proud of their cabinetry housings by 2 to 4 inches to provide clearance for the door and hinges. To keep the fridge from sticking out farther, choose a model with recesses in the back to accommodate the plug and water line. Just make sure to align your outlet and water hookup accordingly. Otherwise, furr out the fridge cabinet from the back by an extra inch or so to enclose the sides completely.

4. Safeguard the computer chips that control your fridge by replacing the power outlet with a surge protection receptacle, which you can find at home centers or electrical supply shops for less than $30. Or you can guard all your electronics with a whole-house surge suppressor for about $600 installed.

19Get Drawer Dishwashers if You

Frequently do small loads. Run just one drawer at a time to use less water than a full-size machine.

Have a galley or narrow kitchen. There's no tip-down door to contend with.

Never want to put away another dish. You can pull clean dishes from one drawer when you set the table, load dirties into the other after the meal.

Want to hide a second dishwasher in a butler's pantry or wet bar. Use just one drawer, and hide it behind a wood panel so that it blends with the cabinetry.

20The Most Useful Faucet

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Kitchen Remodeling Tips & Advice | This Old House