06 Jul Upgrade Your Kitchen or Start Again?
This is a common conundrum and we have experience of both options. If you’re struggling to decide whether to upgrade your kitchen or start again, read on!
If you have a kitchen you are pretty happy with and you think it is in good order, perhaps it just feels like it needs a refresh? You may debate whether to just choose a few elements to change. Often the cabinet doors or ‘fascia’ are the obvious choice here to make big visual difference. This is logical and surely a more cost effective solution than starting from scratch?
In our experience, this is not always the most cost effective or practical solution which can be frustrating. So we thought we’d share some of the challenges we’ve come across in what should be, a simple upgrade.
Material and labour cost
If you are changing the fascia, these are often the most costly elements of a kitchen and incur the most labour. This means that your material and labour costs could be much higher than you were anticipating. Additionally, this cost is sometimes higher than if you’d just purchased new carcasses and fascia in the colour and material you wanted.
Fit for purpose
It is not until you start removing doors, shelves, fixtures and fittings that you see what shape the carcass is in underneath. Often a well loved and used kitchen is not in the same shape structurally as when you installed it!
This is due to the weights and usage the carcass has endured, but also issues such as, delamination, damp damage or even vermin in an older house. These issues may all have played a role in the general wear and tear on the carcass.
Once you start unscrewing fascias in order to replace them, the wood, screws and overall integrity of the carcasses can be compromised. Fitting the new elements then becomes more complex to ensure everything is robust and fit for purpose. This increases your labour costs.
Mix and match
Upgrading an older lower end kitchen with bespoke doors can work well but in our experience, often the existing carcasses are not designed to hold solid wood doors and fixtures and fittings. This method can then actually damage your kitchen structure, again costing you more money.
Maximising space and budget
If you simply change the doors and cabinets, you can’t really use the opportunity to sort out the little niggles in your kitchen that you’ve just learnt to get around. Maybe it’s the sink plumbing that you can’t really reach, the cooker hood extractor not working properly, worktops drowning in kitchenware or that one faulty ring on the hob. Imagine everything working, having enough storage for all your clutter and not struggling to access any of it. Tempting isn’t it!
The truth is that a beautiful bespoke kitchen will maximise your space and you’ll achieve a style and practicality which are just not possible with an upgrade of a few elements. We’ve also found that you’ll spend nearly the same amount as you would on a large upgrade. So a new kitchen, designed, project managed and installed for you, won’t necessarily cost you more.
Upgrade your kitchen or start again, the next step
Chat to us about a free in-home design consultation and let’s explore all the options available to you. Drop us a line at info@kitchensbespoke.co.uk. If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out our projects page.
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