A lot can be said about a kitchen remodel: it can improve your home’s market value, it gives great ROI if you’re planning to sell in a few years, it improves your home’s sustainability … and so on, and so on.
You’ll get no arguments from here. The kitchen plays one of the biggest deciding factors in a home purchase. Most potential homeowners look at the kitchen and bathroom when shopping for houses. The better the kitchen, the better the home. So as far as a kitchen remodel is concerned, we’re all for it.
However, even we acknowledge the importance of timing.
If you’ve just settled in your brand-new home, remodeling your kitchen might not be the best thing for you to do. You might want to give yourself some time to get used to your current living arrangements before switching things up. Yes, there are a dozen different benefits to remodeling your kitchen. But on the flip side, there are also a few good reasons as to why you should hold off any major home improvement projects so soon after moving in.
Let’s look at both sides of the story.
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KITCHEN REMODEL: WAIT, NOT YET
1. Experience Your Home As Is
When you first saw the house, you may have had a grand vision for it. You may have looked at the rooms, the hallways, the floor plan, the features and thought; “This would look better if…” or “I should change that.”
Now that the home is yours, you fully intend to make that vision a reality.
But here’s the thing; until you start living in a place, you can never really tell what works and what doesn’t. You need to establish some sort of routine for you to truly see the “flaws” or disadvantages in the current design.
For instance; you may have fully intended to knock out the kitchen island to give you more space. But three months in, you start to realize that the island gives you more surface area and storage options. Getting rid of it, at this point, would be extremely detrimental.
In a kitchen remodel—or home renovation in general—your decisions should be informed by your personal day-to-day experiences.
2. Take A Break
Let’s be practical for a minute; you just bought a brand-new house. You just moved in. You literally just packed up your whole life and started fresh.
The physical toll alone is exhausting—never mind adding emotional and financial components to the mix.
You’ve already tackled one huge, life-changing project. There is absolutely no pressure for you to jump straight into another one. Even if you have the finances and resources for it. Even if you aren’t as tired as you expected. The stress of a move coupled with the stress of a renovation is not something we recommend you combine.
Take a well-earned break from real estate projects for a while. Give yourself at least half a year to settle in and get acquainted with your new space before you start thinking of fresh new home improvement projects.
But on the flip side…
KITCHEN REMODEL: SURE, GO AHEAD!
1. Make It Your Own
Every residential renovation project is a chance for you to turn your house into your home. Rather than pay to have a custom house built from scratch, buying a new one and renovating different sections at a time can give the same great results for much less.
What’s more, customizing your living space through remodels can create a sense of emotional attachment. In the case of a kitchen remodel, you’re transforming what is probably a very generic-looking room into a kitchen that you can proudly call your own.
2. You Might Make It Safer
When you buy an existing home—especially one with existing wiring, pipe work, electrical systems, etc.—you can never really tell the status of the infrastructure. Things may work fine on the surface, but behind the walls? It’s a different story. There could be old, exposed wires mixed with slightly newer ones. There could be frayed cords and haphazardly repaired cable.
You won’t know unless you get a professional to look at it.
If a professional recommends an overhaul for safety reasons, then a kitchen remodel immediately becomes necessary for you—and your family’s—health and safety.
Overall, most professionals recommend living in a home for six months to a year before deciding on any major home improvements. Minor repairs or renovations, fine. Those are to be expected. But a full kitchen remodel immediately after moving in? If you aren’t careful, it has the potential to be either your best decision or your worst one ever.
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