The list of improvements most homeowners want to make to their homes or apartments is usually a long one, unless you’ve designed every last detail yourself. In many cases, the rooms you find yourself most frustrated with may be the kitchens and the bathrooms. This makes sense of course — they’re the rooms we spend some of the most time in and each person has different needs or tastes. What might have worked in a kitchen for one person may not work at all for the new homeowner. Other homeowners may not have found a dishwasher or ice maker necessary, while the current homeowner relies on those two devices. If you’re installing dishwashers or installing ice makers, you’ll want to be sure to have a good plumber on hand — plumbing DIY is probably not your friend here!
How Can I Make My Kitchen Work On a Small Budget?
If you’re trying to remodel your kitchen, think about the necessities. What do you really need more of? Counter space? Storage? Seating? Appliances? Once you’ve figured out your priority, focus on that. Installing dishwashers or an ice maker isn’t too difficult and you might have a little money left in the budget to get a kitchen island for extra seating and storage!
Once you can prioritize, allocating funds and budgeting becomes much easier. If you feel like your kitchen is too small or dark, try painting the walls a lighter color. Get movable storage, like a trolley or portable island for extra storage or counter space that you can store away in another room when not in use. Even if you do a small kitchen remodel, that return on investment could be great — as much as 82%! Repainting dark cabinetry and keeping your counters relatively free can also help make a space look bigger, as can well placed mirrors or staging towards windows.
What Can I Do About the Bathroom?
Unfortunately, bathrooms tend to be one of the areas of the house that are often the victim of bad design. Windowless, small bathrooms, or bathrooms with negligible storage space can be disheartening. The National Association of Home Builders actually reports that bathroom renovations are one of their most requested jobs, comprising almost 80% of total renovations.
If you’re doing a bathroom remodel, you’ll want to think about your plumbing — fix that leaking faucet or those leaking pipes now! A plumber can help with any and all plumbing questions, replace faucets and sinks in a jiffy, and even help you save on energy and energy bills with new models. For example, if you replace your old toilet with a low-flush toilet, you could save as much as 18,000 gallons of water per year!
Keeping your bathroom minimal and tidy can often help give a small bathroom some more space. Over the door storage or shower storage can help keep things tidy, and there are plenty of small bathroom racks and shelving units that can be installed as well.
What Should I Be Paying Attention To In Terms of Plumbing?
In either the kitchen or the bathroom, plumbing is probably going to be important, especially if you’re installing dishwashers, new sinks, or toilets. Keep in mind that the average household loses about 10,000 gallons of water annually due to leaks. You could be doing 270 loads of laundry with all that wasted water! About 10% of homes are guilty of leaking 90 gallons of water every day — you could be saving 10% on your water bill if you fix those leaks now!
Make sure your pipes are well insulated as well — if the temperature gets below 20 degrees, your pipes are at risk for freezing and breaking. Even just a three millimeter crack in your pipe can release around 250 gallons of water today — costly and also dangerous to your possessions. Floors, furniture, appliances, and other materials near the break can be easily destroyed in this time.
To make your kitchen and bathroom more livable, consider installing dishwashers or other necessary appliances, prioritizing what remodels you want to do first, and playing with storage and color to make a space look bigger.