It’s a widely known fact that house owners invest more money into kitchen renovations than on any other home related venture. This is hardly surprising, considering that the kitchen is the heart and soul of your home and a source of great happiness.

While kitchen renovations can be pricey, a well-planned, designed and constructed new kitchen area can add enormous value to your home; both while you’re an occupant and if you do eventually decide to sell. According to research, most kitchen renovations add around two thirds of their original price to the home’s overall value.

The following is a list of 7 invaluable ideas for those looking to renovate their kitchen.

1) Planning is everything

The planning phase of your new kitchen renovation will typically demand more time than it takes to build it. By planning wisely, you’ll greatly reduce the hassle and disruption attributed to the construction period. Along with this, you’ll also reduce the likelihood of exceeding your initial cost estimates. Which brings us to the question, how long do you need to dedicate to planning? If statistics are anything to go by, then you should look to devote at least several months.

Excellent planning will help prevent you from making any modifications to your design while the kitchen is being built. When this happens, building expenses rapidly escalate and this will affect your “approximately two thirds ROI” that was mentioned earlier.

2) Don’t go overboard with new kitchen devices

Kitchen appliances are central to creating a fabulous and functional kitchen space, but they also occupy the lion’s share of your kitchen’s expenses as well, so it’s essential that all items are thoroughly researched before you commit to buying them. In addition to budget, careful consideration must be given to the style of the appliance. While it may look magnificent in the store or brochure and be and outstanding device in its own right, will it complement the overall theme of your new kitchen design, or will it look out of place?

3) Try to retain the same basic dimensions of the existing kitchen space

If you are working on a limited budget, it’s very important that the layout of all existing utilities (power points and plumbing) remain in their current place. Making the decision to demolish pre-existing walls can create numerous problems, greatly add to the overall construction time and lead to inflated costs.

4) Understand the importance of lighting

Proper lighting is integral to creating a kitchen that looks remarkable and is an absolute joy to work in. The right style of lighting can help make kitchens appear bigger and more spacious than they really are and is crucial to ensuring that everything can be performed with maximum safety. Kitchen designers will always recommend that your kitchen has two separate styles of lights:

Function lighting – these are the lights that are tasked with illuminating the dark areas created by kitchen cupboards. It’s advised that two lights are designated to each area to prevent dark spots.

Atmospheric lighting – these include ceiling mounted lights, wall lights and indoor spotlights to generate the majority of light throughout your kitchen space. All quality contemporary atmospheric lights include dials that allow easy adjustment of the light’s brightness and even colour.

5) Avoid poorly made items and materials

Remember, your kitchen renovation is an investment. This is something that is going to enhance the quality of your home and its resale value. Don’t forsake quality and longevity just for the sake of saving yourself a few dollars initially. The best products are ones that are backed by substantial guarantees. For example, while a more expensive benchtop material may be a little pricier to begin with, looking after it correctly will ensure a pristine surface that will last for years to come.