After finishing our massive kitchen renovation, I noticed several expenses that hit our monthly budget unexpectedly. None of these were game changers, but they did add up to a decent chunk of money after not having a kitchen for about eight weeks. Although they may seem somewhat obvious now, these were misses that we didn’t see coming when we originally started our journey. After looking back at our monthly expenses, I have found these five things that you need to budget for when you are considering a large scale kitchen renovation:
Food – Everyone knows that staying home to eat is typically cheaper than going out to a restaurant. However, ready-made food at your local grocery store is ALSO quite expensive! All of those microwave meals from the freezer section are super convenient when you don’t have a kitchen, however, they can run you up to $4.00 each. These costs will DEFINITELY add up, so make sure and watch out when you are grocery shopping! At this dollar amount, you could grab some fast food and not have to worry about any dishes. Either way is your call, but please be mindful that eating at home without a stove will probably run you more money than you typically spend to cook a meal. Make sure and increase your food budget a little bit to cover these extra expenses.
Paper Products – I HIGHLY recommend using disposable products you don’t have to wash while you are without a kitchen. I typically do not do this because it is not environmentally friendly and is often expensive. However, for these few weeks, it really can make your life easier. Even if you choose to wash dishes in a different sink, keep in mind that the sink will most likely be smaller than what you are used to, so washing dishes can and will be challenging.
Paint – Don’t forget to add at least one small can of paint to your budget, even if you are sticking with the same wall color. The new cabinets will probably not be the exact same size as your old ones, so there will be spots you need paint. There is also a good chance that your walls will get scuffed up during the process, so you need to make sure you have extra wall color for quick touch-ups. Below is an in-process picture of our renovation. We had an old phone jack removed, as well as some extra lighting added, so the dry wall had to be altered. This resulted in us definitely needing more of the existing green wall color! 🙂
If you are replacing any lighting, you will also most likely need additional ceiling paint. The same goes for trim paint, because you may have areas that are accidentally hit during the construction process. Below was a picture of our window trim that was hit when the cabinets came out. This was a super easy fix, but we still needed paint to complete the project. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly for you all. However, I am willing to bet that you are going to need at least one tiny can of paint. These things can really start to add up, so make sure you budget for them in advance!
New Hardware – Open spaces are very popular these days, so you will probably want all of your hardware (door knobs, new lighting fixtures, etc.) to coordinate. Please don’t forget that you potentially will have to also replace hardware in the adjacent rooms, since you will be able to see them from the kitchen. This is definitely an expense that will catch you off guard if you aren’t carefully watching.
We have bronze doorknobs throughout our home, however, we went with brushed nickel in the kitchen to match the faucet and pulls. Since our family room is open to our kitchen, we changed those door knobs to brushed nickel too, as well as the overhead fan. Again, it is personal preference, but the rooms really do start to flow together when all of your hardware coordinates (in my personal opinion).
New Lighting – Even if you aren’t changing any fixtures in your new kitchen, if you are adding under-cabinet lighting, you will potentially have to change your basic overhead lightbulbs. You want to make sure that the “color” of your new lights (soft white, cool white, etc…) matches your old ones. Otherwise, you are going to be able to tell that the bulbs are different colors. Go to your local hardware store and select which “color” you like best. Then, make sure that all of your bulbs are the same. You don’t want some of the bulbs to project a blue hue, while others project a yellow.
As you can see below, we have recessed lighting in our ceiling. We had to replace everything, because our new under cabinet lighting was a different color. While this wasn’t a huge expense, it was still unexpected.
Another watch out – When you are replacing the ceiling lights, be mindful of the fact that there is a chance that the new and old lights are not the same diameter. If your new light is smaller, you will be touching up your ceiling paint. Otherwise, you will have a ring of old paint around your new fixture (since the new light doesn’t cover up as much of the ceiling as before). I told you that you would most likely be purchasing some new paint! 🙂
Have you done any home renovations? What tips would you offer to those who are considering an upcoming home renovation project? Please feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks, and have a great day!
Want to read more about our kitchen renovation? Click here and here.
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