You moved into a new house, bought a house with a newly remodeled kitchen or you bought a fixer upper. No matter how you got here, you’re ready to remodel your first kitchen and you feel like you have no idea what you are doing. Not to worry, there are logical steps to take through the process.
The process begins with designing the layout of the room. Do you want to add an island? Rearrange where things are located? The design phase is when you decide where things will be so that your kitchen will work best for you. You can do this yourself, with your contractor or you can work with a designer. Leverage Houzz and Pinterest to save pictures and ideas you like, as this will help your contractor and others you work with throughout the process. The more complex your changes to the layout, the more likely you’ll want a contractor or designer to assist you.
Once you have a general design, you get to choose the elements that will compose your kitchen. There is an order in which these steps are done.
The Elements of Your New Kitchen:
- Cabinets – The first step is typically choosing the style and material/color of the cabinets. If they’re custom cabinets, make sure you find out what the timeline is for their completion. Cabinets, even if not custom made, require a lead time of typically 6-8 weeks, so start here to get your project underway
- Flooring/Tile – Choosing your flooring and tile accents is usually the next step in the planning process. Refer back to your saved ideas and visit flooring specialists to decide what you want for your new kitchen.
- Appliances – Figuring out what features and finish you want on your appliances can take more time than you think. Again, make time to do online research, ask friends and family and give plenty of lead time to place your order. The pandemic has affected inventory and availability. There are some new options in appliance finishes like stunning black stainless, and there’s a lot of technological development going on in “smart” appliances.
- Countertops – The process saves what we at Boston Granite Exchange think is the best, for last. Explore our many stone options option on our website and learn more about each stone’s qualities to help you assess whether marble, granite, quartzite, soapstone or quartz from The BGE Quartz Collection may be the best stone for your budget and lifestyle. You are sure to find a natural stone or quartz to be the focal point or complementary element in your new kitchen.
Once you are within a month of installing new kitchen countertops, make an appointment to come to one of our showrooms to narrow your choices and make your final selection. Before you visit our showroom, we recommend a virtual visit on our website so you can decide what you like. You can download our worksheet and use it to make notes of the stones you like best. Then bring it with you when you visit us to see the stones in person. Once you’ve made your final selection, we’ll make sure your selected slabs are transported to your chosen fabricator to prepare your new kitchen countertops!
This is an outline of the general order of decision-making of the primary elements for your new kitchen. Your kitchen designer or contractor will also guide you through the steps in this exciting process! Feel free to bring cabinet samples and other key design elements with you when you come visit Boston Granite Exchange.
Relax. You’ve got this. We look forward to seeing you and seeing posts on social media sharing the stone that caught your eye!