Without careful planning, remodeling projects can drain your patience—and your wallet. This is especially true with kitchen installations, where little oversights can balloon into delays, budget stretches, and functionality issues you’ll have to live with for years.

The good news? Our kitchen installation guide will help you avoid these common kitchen remodel mistakes.

Lack of Planning

Ripping apart outdated cabinets and flooring can be fun. But demolishing your old kitchen is always easier than putting it back together, especially if you enter the project without a plan. Before anyone swings a sledgehammer, you need:

• A budget: What do you need, and what can you afford? Start with the must-haves: functional cabinets, countertops, and essential appliances. If you have additional money to play with, start building your wish list. Just remember to set aside 20% of your budget for unexpected expenses.
• A timeline: While timelines vary based on project scope, a professional kitchen installation generally takes 2-4 weeks. If you’re tackling the job yourself, that timeline can double or triple, depending on your construction experience.
• A project plan: If you’re tackling the job independently, you need a project plan with drawings, measurements, supplies, and contractor schedules. This will keep your timeline in check and ensure you avoid kitchen layout mistakes.

Cabinets: Common Kitchen Remodel Mistakes

Inaccurate Measurements

Even minor mismeasurements can lead to cabinets that don’t fit properly, have gaps, or require expensive (and time-consuming) modifications. This is the Wyoming Building Supply advantage: In addition to free consultations and design, we’ll also measure every inch of your new space to ensure pinpoint accuracy.

Inadequate Layout Planning

In addition to fitting in your space, kitchen cabinets should accommodate your workflow. Without proper planning, cabinets may block doorways, collide when you open doors or get in the way of appliances. These kitchen layout mistakes can seriously impact your kitchen’s functionality.

Not Considering Ceiling Height

Another kitchen mistake to avoid? Failing to account for ceiling height, which could mean awkward gaps or storage that looks disproportionate to your space.

Not Inspecting Cabinets

While we source cabinets from trusted manufacturers, we still recommend inspecting cabinets upon arrival. This allows you to check for color consistency, identify quality issues, or spot signs of shipping damage before installation.

Countertops: Kitchen Mistakes to Avoid

Choosing Appearance Over Functionality

Selecting a countertop material or style on appearance alone is a common kitchen remodel mistake. For example, white marble countertops look elegant and are quite durable; however, if you have small children or are prone to spilling (think red wine, beets, coffee), white marble can stain.

Designs That Do Not Age Well

Countertops come in almost any color or pattern you can dream up. But before you spring for that funky, 1970s-inspired orange counter, consider how it will age—and how it may impact resale value.

Awkward Seam Placement

While we offer custom orders, most countertops come in slabs that are 10 feet long. If you have a large kitchen, seams are inevitable. Minimizing seam visibility requires planning. Our team has a knack for hiding unsightly seams behind sinks, under cooktops, and in corners rather than long runs.

Your Cooking Habits

Your countertop material should match your cooking habits. If you’re a diehard chef, you’ll get more out of durable materials like quartz or granite—materials that stand up to hot pans and spills. Casual cookers, on the other hand, will likely be fine with porous materials like butcher block.

Hardware: Common Kitchen Remodel Mistakes

Overlooking Deep Drawer Organization

We love a good, deep cabinet drawer. But without dividers and organizers, they quickly turn into chaos. We recommend investing in adjustable dividers, cookware shelves, or custom inserts to make every inch of your cabinet count.

Forgetting Soft-Close Mechanisms

The sound of a cabinet door slamming shut isn’t just loud—it puts unnecessary wear and tear on your investment. Soft-close hardware has become a standard in modern kitchens. Trust us: Once you have them, you’ll never go back.

Choosing Inadequate Hardware

Slim drawer pulls look charming. But while they might work fine if you have smaller hands, they can be frustrating to grip for people with larger hands. Choose hardware that is stylish and functional—in other words, brawny enough to withstand years of grabbing and pulling and sleek enough to look timeless.

Mixing Kitchen Hardware

Mixing hardware styles is an art. In the right hands, it can create visual interest; in the wrong ones, it can look haphazard and confused. If you’re feeling whimsical and want to mix and match, just be sure there’s a common element that ties all your hardware together.

Looking For Design Without the Drama?

Want to breathe new life into your tired kitchen while avoiding common kitchen layout mistakes? Wyoming Building Supply offers end-to-end kitchen remodeling services. Not only will we help you select the right products, we’ll transform your rough ideas into a design—then help you bring it to life. Contact us to get started!