How to Prepare for a Kitchen Remodel: 5 Must-know Tips for Homeowners
Your kitchen is the center of your home; it’s where you cook, eat, and hang out. If it’s not functional or comfortable, remodeling makes sense. But being without it while you make updates can feel overwhelming.
If the prospect of losing your kitchen for a few weeks or more seems daunting, here are five tips to prepare for your kitchen remodel and our advice on how to cook during the kitchen remodel process.
How to Prepare for a Kitchen Remodel
#1 Determine Your Budget
Setting a budget should always be your first step when planning any home project. Your budget influences every decision, from choosing between DIY and professional help to selecting materials and finishes. It can determine whether you go with standard or custom cabinets and even shape the overall scope of your remodel. Depending on your budget, you may need to prioritize certain upgrades over others or find a balance—compromising in one area to splurge in another.
#2 Decide Who to Hire
The second key decision in a kitchen remodel is determining which aspects of the project require professional expertise. While some tasks, like painting, may be DIY-friendly, others—such as installing cabinets, countertops, or reworking plumbing and electrical—often require skilled professionals. This is where working with a kitchen designer can make all the difference. A designer helps you plan a cohesive, functional layout that aligns with your vision while ensuring that every element—from cabinetry to lighting—works seamlessly together. By collaborating with an experienced designer from the start, you can avoid costly mistakes and streamline the process as they coordinate with installers, builders, and other trades to bring your dream kitchen to life.
#3 Order Materials
Selecting your materials is the fun part! Once you’ve chosen them, you need to order them. If you’re working with a remodeler or builder, it’s important to know who will manage that process: will it be you or the contractor?
If you’re doing the renovation yourself, you’ll need to plan to ensure that your materials are available and will arrive on schedule. Having no kitchen for three extra weeks because you forgot to order your cabinets in time would be a huge pain, as would having them earlier than they could be installed, making another space in your home unusable because you have to store the cabinets there.
Your designer, contractor, installer, or supplier can help you determine when to order the materials you need for your project and what you need. While items like countertops and major appliances are obvious, depending on your project, you may also need a lot of less visible materials, like lumber, screws, and drywall.
Standard Supply & Lumber offers standard, custom, and even semi-custom kitchen cabinets from top-line brands and kitchen countertops in popular materials like quartz, granite, butcher block, and more to meet every style. Plus, we carry all the other materials you’ll need for your renovation, from lumber to doors to hardware and tools.
#4 Expect Delays and Timeline Changes
No matter how well-prepared you are or how perfectly you’ve planned your remodel, there are some things you can’t plan for in advance. Supply issues can occur during your renovation process for various reasons and could push out your completion date by days or weeks.
Knowing to expect these possible delays will help you ensure that you’ve planned enough time for your project, that you remain flexible, and that you have options for fulfilling your cooking and food preparation needs, as well as accessing your home.
#5 Consider How You Pack Up
When remodeling your kitchen, you’ll need to pack up the room to some extent. Being thoughtful about how you approach this process will make your life easier during the renovation process. Consider how you cook and store food during this time (see below for tips!), as that may affect which items you choose to store packed away in boxes, and which items you keep out for use in another location in your home.
If you’re busy, need your renovation completed quickly, have valuable items you want to ensure are packed properly, or are moving out of your home during the remodel, you may want to consider hiring a professional moving service. Even if you’re not moving, these companies offer efficient and professional packing services that you can take advantage of to make your remodeling process smoother.
How to Cook During a Kitchen Remodel
Knowing how you’ll cook and eat can ease some of the stress if you want to feel prepared for your kitchen remodel. How you cook during your kitchen renovation will depend on the scale of your project, and may change as the work progresses.
For remodeling projects of shorter duration, you may rely more on eating out, whereas for longer remodels, you’ll need to be able to make your own food.
- Dining Out & Takeout – Rely on restaurants and fast-casual dining when your kitchen is entirely out of commission.
- Meal Prep Services: Choose from meal kits (which require cooking) or fully prepared meals (which you can just heat and eat).
- Grocery Store Prepared Foods: For quick meals, Take advantage of deli sandwiches, salads, rotisserie chicken, and hot bar options.
- Use Small Kitchen Appliances—Move air fryers, slow cookers, rice cookers, electric skillets, and microwaves to another room for easy home-cooked meals.
- Grill Outdoors—When indoor cooking isn’t an option, Cook meats, veggies, and even foil-pack meals outside.
Ready to Remodel?
Now that you know how to prepare for a kitchen remodel, are you ready to dive into yours? Whether you’re making some minor updates or doing a full-scale renovation, Standard Supply & Lumber has everything you need for your kitchen remodel. With countertops, cabinets, tools, lumber, and hardware, we’re your one-stop shop for kitchen remodeling. If you need help designing your dream kitchen, our Elevations Design Studio experts can help you create the perfect kitchen for your budget and tastes.