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How Long Does it Take to Remodel a Kitchen?
Remodeling a kitchen is a fairly extensive process—but how long does the whole process take?
Well, the answer isn’t as simple as a number of days or weeks, as it varies depending on a few different variables. For example, if the remodel is a complete overhaul of the kitchen, it’s going to take longer than if you’re installing new flooring or fresh cabinetry.
If you were to break it down to a general range, you would find a typical kitchen remodeling project to take 3 to 9 weeks. Granted, this can be expedited with a clear plan, budget, and the right team to handle your kitchen renovation. Our kitchen renovation team at Puustelli, regularly finishes projects within 1 to 3 weeks!
In extreme cases where the plan is not as clear and the scope of work is large, these projects can take 4 to 5 months to complete. But, this can be easily avoided with some proper planning and a quality team.
While this might sound a bit daunting, it’s important you remember you’ll get a beautiful new kitchen that is both well designed and more functional than ever before.
Things to Consider Before Remodeling Your Kitchen
Before you even hire a contractor to work on your kitchen remodel, there are a few essential things to think about and consider before taking that first step.
Brainstorm Your Ideal Kitchen
Maybe you’ve always hated your kitchen, or maybe you just want a fresh modern style—either way, you’ve probably thought of your dream kitchen and everything you’d love to have. From the style to the layout, features, colors, and more, think about your ideal kitchen if you could have it all.
Start building a dream board and clip out pictures or inspo from magazines, books, online, and put it together with paint swatches, tile samples, or other design details. This can help you visualize your new kitchen before you make any big decisions. Pinterest is another great place to start building ideas and getting the first iterations of your kitchen design organized.
How Do You Want to Use Your Kitchen?
Like they always say, you never want too many cooks in the kitchen. Bumping into each other as you’re trying to make a meal can be difficult (and annoying). Therefore, the best kitchen is a functional kitchen. And you’ll want to make sure the way your kitchen renovation project will set you up for easy cooking, dining, cleaning, and navigating. When planning your kitchen renovation, ask yourself these questions:
- How many people are in the house and use the kitchen?
- Do you plan to entertain a lot?
- Do you want a kitchen island that allows for dining at the counter?
- Do you use your stove, microwave, or oven the most?
- Is your fridge too far from the oven or prep surface?
- What would make cooking in your current kitchen easier?
These are just a few of the things to think about when coming up with the design for your kitchen space. For example, if your fridge and oven are right across from each other right now, that probably gets pretty annoying when more than one person is cooking or prepping in the kitchen. The doors can’t be open at the same time, and everyone needs to be in the same place at the same time. Your new kitchen can separate the appliances, so it’s much easier to navigate and get around.
Do You Want New Appliances?
When you do your kitchen remodel, it’s a great opportunity to invest in some new appliances. After all, once you see your new design, in the end, you’ll wish you had new appliances to go along with it, right?
Outdated appliances can also be an issue waiting to happen if they are past their prime. Also, if you bought your house over ten years ago, chances are your appliances may be using more energy than they need to and driving up your energy bills. Stainless steel appliances continue to be one of the most used in modern design, or even white appliances to match a light-colored kitchen.
Either way, consider replacing them all at once, and you can get some pretty great deals and discounts from big box stores. Not to mention it is best to take care of any electrical wiring or plumbing in one go.
What Parts of Your Kitchen Will Stay?
A great way to save time and money on your kitchen remodel is by keeping some aspects of your existing kitchen but either pairing them with the new stuff or revamping it to look fresh and new. If you’re keeping your appliances, this makes the remodel super easy as you’re just changing out cabinets, shelving, countertops, maybe the sink or fixtures—it can go much faster than other remodels.
What’s Your Budget? And What Are Your Must-Haves vs. Deal-Breakers?
Laying out a proper budget is key to getting the kitchen you desire, but don’t overspend and put yourself in a compromised position. To come up with your budget, making a list of your absolute must-have features plus what costs would be your deal breakers is super helpful to get you on the right track.
Must-haves might be a certain color cabinet or countertop or a stove with a built-in griddle. These things can be put at the top of your budget list and are things you aren’t willing to budget on. Or, they’re things you’d be willing to put more budget towards in order to get.
To get a complete picture of the timeline for a kitchen remodel, it’s best to first understand the overall process.
The Standard Kitchen Remodel Process
1. The Initial Meeting
First things first, you’re going to want to meet with the design team, contractor, or whoever the necessary party is based on how you’re approaching the remodel. If you’re doing it DIY, then you still need to lay the groundwork for your remodel by starting to outline what your new kitchen will look like. If you’re meeting with a design team, then this is the time you’ll begin to craft a blueprint for your ideal new kitchen. Visiting a showroom is always a great idea so that you can start to ideate your dream kitchen.
2. Home Visit
A home visit is also needed so that the design team can get a feel for your space. During this time, they’ll take notes and measurements to make sure that when it comes to designing the new kitchen, no small detail is missed. Typically, both this step and the prior one are complimentary. The initial visit to the showroom may also be optional if you already know what you want for your kitchen.
3. Design Agreement + Design Workshop
Now comes the really fun part! A good designer will lay out the scope of the project in detail and go over the project in its entirety with you, as well as provide an agreement that can be signed off on. Once the agreement is signed, the real design can get started. Even if you have a general idea of what your new kitchen will look like (for example, maybe you already have the perfect kitchen cabinets picked out), you can never be too specific when remodeling a kitchen. Now is the time to pick out all the small details that fit your taste and style preferences.
4. Contract Signing + Installation
Once all the details are fleshed out, and every “t” is crossed and “i” dotted, a final contract will be signed. Then, the installation will begin!
So, as you can see, there are some variables that factor into the renovation timeline for a kitchen. For example, if you are really busy during a certain week and can’t take the time out of your day to have the designer come to the home or take a look at the showroom, it can add some time to the overall process.
Our process is very similar to the one we just outlined. We always try to be flexible to meet when you are available to ensure that, from start to finish, your kitchen remodel doesn’t take so long that it becomes a burden. We work efficiently but without cutting corners to ensure a speedy but professional process.
Once Installation Starts, How Long Does a Kitchen Remodel Take?
The timeline for a new kitchen once installation starts can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks, depending on the size of the project and the materials used.
At Puustelli, we can wrap up a kitchen remodel in 1-1.5 weeks. This is because the materials we use are easier to put together than a traditional kitchen, there is much less cutting, and adjusting needed to make everything fit together. This will help streamline the process and make it much more tolerable on your end as well.
Contact us today if you’re interested in remodeling a kitchen with us and learning more about our authentic, healthy, and eco-friendly Scandinavian cabinets!