Homeowner Guest Post: Lisa’s Kitchen Renovation, pt. 2

by Shera Nuss July 25, 2013

Last week we met Lisa Law, the Brooklyn Heights homeowner who recently finished her budget-friendly kitchen renovation with tS member NYC Pros. Now that you’ve heard the backstory, as documented by Lisa herself, this week Lisa reveals the outcome of her fully-updated kitchen, along with a very helpful rundown of her anticipated budget & the actual cost of the project.

I love my new kitchen! Although I had picked every element of the new kitchen, I was concerned that the finished whole was not going to be equivalent to the sum of all the parts; would it work cohesively in the end? There were a few stressful times, and I did have to make some quick decisions that could have gone awry, but ultimately, I set out to achieve some major objectives and I believe I more than met them all. I have more cabinet space, more countertop space, larger appliances, it feels much more modern and homey, and it was done in a fairly budget- and time-conscious way. In fact, my kitchen now makes the rest of my apartment now look pretty shabby!

The Budget

I generally stayed within budget. As I said, it was a “renovation-on-a-budget.” I had originally planned to spend $6,000, which increased to $9,000 when I decided to replace my appliances. In the end, I hit almost $11,000, but that was because of a couple of “extras” that I did not account for – delivery charges, taxes, etc. I also asked Peter to install some new medicine cabinets in my bathroom. Renovations can be addicting, I just did not want to stop!

Type	Item	Estimate	Actual
Range Hood	Zephyr Breeze I Series AK1124	$209
Stove	Summit Pro Series TNM616RW	$739	$1,009
Refrigerator	LG LRBP1031T	$805	$950
Countertop and Sink	Countertop	$1,200	$1,500
Cabinets	Cabinets	$2,500	$2,671
Contract Work	Contract Work	$3,200	$4,000
Sink	Kraus KBU15	$230	N/A
Delivery	Ikea Delivery Charge		$64
Backsplash	Merola Tile Tessera Tile	$251	$274
Vinyl Flooring	TrafficMaster Floor Tile		$136
Parking Charge	Ikea Parking Charge		$100
Backsplash	Additional Merola Tile		$152
	TOTAL	$9,134	$10,856
	DIFFERENCE	-$1,722

30 Days After

For me, the hardest part of having a new kitchen was figuring out where everything goes afterwards. I suppose in hindsight, I should have planned where my dishes, silverware, cleaning supplies, pantry items, etc, would be kept. My objective was just to maximize storage efficiently, as best I could, but I didn’t actually think about which cabinets would store which items! Lucky for me, I put in enough drawers and cabinets that I just about found a place for everything. Minus a few tall items, like my Swiffer. Oops – note to self for next time.

I’ve also put my kitchen through a few test runs at this point, having hosted two dinner parties already, one for my family (party of 7) and one for a few girlfriends (party of 4). The new arrangement deftly allowed my fiancé and I to cook and clean together, with minimal fuss. My kitchen report card after 30 days? I still heart it – it’s so bright and clean and modern, I’m 100% glad I did it!