Kitchen renovation – a practical guide. How to start a kitchen renovation?

A kitchen renovation can be tedious, which is why many people can postpone it for even years. Renewing this room is often a challenge, but the effect rewards the hardships – in the new kitchen, preparing dishes and eating meals together with your loved ones will be even more enjoyable.

When planning a kitchen renovation, let’s think carefully about what will make its use comfortable. Consider replacing tiles on the wall and floor, laying waterproof panels or a wooden floor, building a kitchen island, installing appliances, fixtures, and furnishings. Carefully plan every detail and adjust the kitchen to your needs.

Kitchen work triangle

When preparing a kitchen design, it is worth considering the principle of the so-called kitchen work triangle, which is considered the golden rule in kitchen design. What is that? This is a concept that determines the mutual distances between the three main kitchen appliances – refrigerator, sink, and stove. Together, they should form a triangle. Using a room that uses the work triangle principle becomes even easier since you don’t have to make so many movements when cooking and cleaning.

Kitchen renovation – The most popular styles

The kitchen can have different styles, so it is worth determining the nature of the interior design before starting kitchen renovation.

If your kitchen is small and you are looking for small kitchen ideas, you should select the Scandinavian style as rooms arranged in this style are characterized by minimalism and bright colours. Furniture is most often white and finished with a wooden or wood-like top.

The rustic style is about harmony, usually subdued colours and natural materials used in production. It captivates with its cosines and naturalness. The kitchen in this style refers to traditional rural interiors, which is why it gives the impression of being warm and cozy. The characteristic features are traditional wooden furniture stained in various shades of brown, green, and yellow. Curtains, café nets, and wall hangings made in a traditional way as well as the wicker suite perfectly to the rustic kitchen

Distinguished by its raw elegance – industrial style dominated by concrete, brick, wood, and steel, the glass will emphasize the severity of the entire room, giving it a unique elegance. Colours are muted, gray is popular. The kitchen opens to the dining room is an ideal space to be arranged in an industrial style. In the industrial style, also arrange a white kitchen with a wooden worktop in the lead role. In such a room, classic white cabinets should be replaced with black ones. They will bring a loft-style to the interior. An industrial-style kitchen will be especially fond of metal lamp shades in the shape of a geometric grid, through which warm light will spread over the entire room from a stylish, large bulb.

Modern elegance – a kitchen with simple furniture, complemented by palace-style furnishings, for example, a chandelier, decorative candlesticks, velour-upholstered chairs. The secret of a glamor-style kitchen is the combination of modernity with expressive accents. By combining these two seemingly contradictory elements, we will create an interesting and original arrangement. The glamor style is distinguished by shiny, smooth surfaces, so it is worth focusing on high-gloss furniture. It is worth using contrasting and intense colours that will add character to your kitchen.

Fashionable solutions in the kitchen: right-to-ceiling cabinetry and a kitchen island

When planning a kitchen renovation, it is worth taking into account two arrangement solutions that are fashionable in this interior, i.e., upper cabinetry up to the ceiling and a kitchen island.

Right-to-ceiling furniture was popular in the past as well, and we can now see a return of this fashion. This solution works well in both traditional and modern kitchen designs. It gives a lot of storage space; therefore, it is also recommended for small interiors.

On the other hand, the kitchen island creates additional space for work and storage in the interior. Placed away from the walls, often in the middle of the kitchen, it can act as a worktop, dining area, or kitchen cabinet.

Kitchen renovation – Step by step

1. Installations

Kitchen renovation should begin with the necessary installation activities related to electrical, water, sewer, gas, and ventilation installations.

2. Walls

The way to finish the walls in the kitchen can be painting them with washable paint, laying tiles, lining them with special wallpaper. Stone, brick, or wood will also look great. The choice of material and colour depends on the style you want to arrange the kitchen.

3. Floor

If you plan to replace your floor, this is the next step in the kitchen renovation. Ceramic tiles are generally chosen. Nowadays, large-format tiles and mosaics are very popular, including impressive concrete and wood-like tiles with Moroccan, oriental patterns that delight with the richness of details. In kitchens, you can also see floor panels. An excellent proposition is vinyl flooring that is resistant to moisture.

4. Kitchen furniture

Furniture is the most important element to consider during the kitchen renovation – they determine its appearance, but also the functionality of the entire room therefore we will focus on them in more detail.

The kitchen can be equipped with ready-made kitchen furniture or custom-made furniture. Ready kitchen furniture is recommended when time and low-cost count. Ready furniture is usually offered as modular furniture, i.e. the manufacturer offers various variants of furniture within one series, and the customer can adjust them individually to their needs. The collections include standing and hanging cabinets and shelves.

The second, very popular option is custom-made furniture. In this case, the kitchen can be individually tailored to the needs of the client, not only in terms of its appearance, but also the functionality. It is also a very popular solution in small kitchens that are difficult to arrange.

The aesthetics are also extremely important when choosing furniture for the kitchen. It must look great and match the countertop, walls, and floor. There are many suggestions to paint kitchen cabinets. The available materials offer different finishes of kitchen fronts. Although white kitchen furniture is considered to be the most universal, this year the real triumphs on the cabinets will be celebrated by colours. Fronts in the shade of bottle green or navy blue are the most stylish choice. If you additionally combine them with white, gray, or wood, they will give the kitchen a very individual touch. A deep hue is a bold move, but it is also an absolutely simple way to add character to your kitchen.

Furthermore, the combination of white and black, and white and wood, or gray and white looks charming. Giving the interior a cozy atmosphere, wooden or wood-coloured furniture will be an excellent choice.

You can also choose different finishes of kitchen fronts: matte, glossy, or semi-gloss. If you like a modern style, choose smooth fronts, and if you like the classic one, you should think about something more decorative. The choice of fronts will also be a question to consider. Modern kitchens will fit simple handles or no handles (we open the cabinets by touch). In classic arrangements, it is worth considering nice eye-catching handles.

5. Implementation of lighting

Ceiling lighting in the kitchen is one of many lightning variants, but a very comfortable one. Instead of one lamp, you can choose a few points of light that will take over the role of preliminary kitchen lighting – LED lamps, e.g., installed in a suspended ceiling.

The food preparation area is one of the most important places in the kitchen. Lighting above the kitchen countertop can be in the form of point or linear LEDs.

The character of the kitchen is largely influenced by the lighting of the table where you will eat meals with the family. If you have planned a place for 2-5 people, one point of light will be perfect here. However, if the table is larger, put two hanging lamps.

Consider which kitchen lighting, warm or cold, will hit the spot. If the room is bathed in sunlight for most of the day, cold light will do just fine. However, if you use the kitchen with artificial lighting (e.g., when there is no window), use fluorescent lamps that give warm light, otherwise, you will cool the interior even more.