Selecting the perfect appliances for your kitchen renovation can feel overwhelming. With the wide variety of options available—from basic to high-end models—zeroing in on the optimal appliances for your needs while staying in budget can be a real balancing act.
Your decision begins with gaining knowledge about today’s appliances and how they fit into your lifestyle and meet your needs. Here are some tips to simplify the journey and ensure you get the style, finish, and function you desire while remaining comfortably within your budget.
1. Identify Your Priorities
Start with the appliances that meet the most important needs of your household. For example, if you have six adults living in your home and you need an expansive refrigerator, start there. Look at the largest refrigerators, and then decide on the top features you want on yours.
2. Consider Features and Design
Evaluate essential features like size, design, and function. Your counter depth design is important so your fridge doesn’t stick too far out into your space. Decide if you prefer a side-by-side or a French door refrigerator. Narrow down your choices from there, and then move on to the next appliance.
Don’t spend extended time looking at gas ranges if you never cook. Figure out the best refrigerator and dishwasher that you will use repeatedly, and then buy the freestanding range that goes with them. Matching appliances matters more to some people than others. Handles are important—particularly if the refrigerator is near the range or dishwasher—and they should coordinate.
3. Manage Lead Times
Be aware of potential delays in obtaining high-end appliances, and build that into your overall renovation schedule. Fancy, high-priced refrigerators are still having lead-time issues. Without proper planning, a full kitchen renovation may be complete—minus the refrigerator—which may take up to another 10 months to arrive, depending on its features.
It would feel pretty awkward to have a brand-new beautiful kitchen with your old refrigerator slid back in the hole until the nice new one arrives. Asking questions up front will help avoid issues like these down the road, but sometimes that amazing refrigerator is at the top of your list, so you don’t mind waiting as long as it takes!
4. Balance Budget and Needs
Make cost-effective decisions on your new appliances by focusing on what you will use most frequently, and prioritizing that item or items. Costs really do range on appliances quite a bit and can total anywhere from $10k-$100k. Drilling down to what is important and then making decisions from there helps to keep your budget in line. Dishwashers and ranges have common sizes that can be repurposed. Refrigerators vary in size more than other appliances, but in general, their location can be repurposed too.
5. Integrate Appliances with Your Kitchen Design
Plan your appliance purchases in conjunction with your overall kitchen design to ensure a cohesive look and optimal use of your square footage. Your desire for a wall oven and a cooktop or a range is important at the early planning stages of your kitchen remodel. Your designer will need to know if he or she is blocking off two areas (stovetop and wall oven) or only one area for your range. He or she will want to know early on if your microwave will be placed over your range for space reasons, or if the area affords the ability to install a stylish chimney hood or cabinet hood.
Second dishwashers are really nice to have in a renovated kitchen. Choose either a separate full-size dishwasher, or a smaller dishwasher drawer for washing your more delicate items or tinier loads.
6. Future-Proof Your Space by Maintaining Flexibility
Consider the longevity and potential obsolescence of built-in versus countertop appliances. It is your kitchen renovation and you should purchase the appliances that will work for you. Built-in coffee makers are a nice upgrade but can also add maintenance. Times change and equipment becomes outdated. Perhaps buy the nicest countertop coffee maker you can afford, but if a built-in model is important to you, then go for the best. Hook it up to a water line and install a small sink near the unit with a coffee bar area.
The Give and Take of Renovating Your Kitchen
We recommend choosing your appliances first and then going to the cabinet showroom. However, it’s best not to purchase any appliances until your design is finalized. This approach ensures you don’t have to tweak your appliance selections after you see the space. For example, if you separated your oven and stove top, but once you saw how little the pantry space was, you decided to go with a range so you could build a larger pantry.
Kitchen Remodeling at its Finest Near You!
At Action Builders, we are a design-build company, so we take your renovation from concept to completion, working with you every step of the way. We design to your budget and help allocate funds to the parts of your project that will deliver the most bang for your buck. We organize your project so the details are in place—from design to selection—before construction even starts. Take a moment to discover how our kitchen remodeling services can turn your vision into reality and create the lifestyle you’ve been dreaming of.
