Common Kitchen Remodeling Mistakes to Avoid

Your kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in your home. It's where you cook, eat and congregate as a family. So when deciding to remodel this popular room, it's important to make the right decisions. With all of these important decisions to be made, there are bound to be mistakes. Luckily, due to trial-and-error of many remodelers before, there are some common mistakes people make and easy ways to prevent or fix them.

Changing your plans halfway through your remodel. It's far more effective to thoroughly plan and take your time when considering what you want your kitchen remodel to look like. Not spending enough time or doing enough research can lead you to want to change your entire vision halfway through. These design changes will increase your stress, budget and timeline, so it's best to be extra prepared and stick with your original vision.

Not enough storage space. Kitchens require tons of storage for utensils, food and cleaning products. Utilizing your cabinets, pantries and other storage spaces is crucial. Look into space-savers such as storage racks and cabinet pull-outs for your remodel. You can never have enough storage space!

Paying too much attention to trends. The latest trends in kitchen cabinets, islands or tiles may only last for a few months. You should consider if something that's so trendy will still look good a few years from now. It's best to stick to a classic look and layout and then feature small accents that incorporate the trend- that way they can be replaced and changed with something new to suit your taste.

Ignoring the lighting. Lighting is one of the most important aspects of any room in your home. Lighting is especially important in the kitchen, since you need clear vision for cooking and working effectively. Take into consideration the placement of the lighting, the type of the lighting, and the amount of natural light coming in from windows.

Forgetting about kitchen smells. It's inevitable that your kitchen will sometimes smell from the previous day's meal, but there are certain decisions that can be made to help with the bad odors. The first is proper ventilation. A good ventilation system will help to improve the quality of the air, keep your kitchen cleaner and provide a more pleasant smell by venting the odors. The second decision dealing with smell is where to conceal the trash in your kitchen. You want to make sure there is enough room for a sizable garbage bin (unless you want to be dumping the garbage three times a day with a smaller bin). You also want to take into consideration recycling options and make sure the bin concealed to prevent odors.