Kitchen Refresh vs. Kitchen Remodel
Which one should you do?
If you’re here reading this then you’re thinking about updating your kitchen and you may be wondering if a kitchen refresh will do, or if you need to go all in with a kitchen remodel. With so many people spending more time at home these days and low interest rates to refinance home improvements, kitchen updates are HOT right now and a great investment.
Let’s be honest here…kitchens are the heart of your home AND kitchens can make or break the sale of your home. A gorgeous, well-appointed kitchen leads to multiple home offers, while a bad, outdated kitchen can leave you hearing crickets and drumming your fingers on your old laminate or worse, white-tile countertops (please get rid of those ASAP). So what’s a homeowner to do?
What's a kitchen refresh?
A kitchen refresh is a less expensive alternative to doing a full kitchen remodel. So, instead of tearing everything out (including your hair;) you’re leaving parts of your kitchen intact and making cosmetic changes. There are different levels to a kitchen refresh and costs will depend on how far you go with your refresh.
What’s included in a kitchen refresh?
As I mentioned above, there are several levels or combinations of updates in a kitchen refresh. These levels aren’t cut and dry and you can mix things up and have any combination of changes. It’s about what your needs are and what works best for your home and your budget.
Level 1 Kitchen Refresh
This is the most basic and budget-friendly refresh. While it will update your space, it won’t make as dramatic of a change as a higher level refresh would. You might include:
A new coat of paint on the walls
Updated knobs and hardware
New accents, accessories or window coverings like a roman shade.
Level 2 Kitchen Refresh
Moving a long with a few more upgrades, a Level 2 refresh might include:
Adding a new faucet
Adding or updating pendant lighting chandeliers
Repainting kitchen cabinets (professionally painted gives the BEST results)
Adding a new backsplash
New lighting (pendants or chandelier)
Updating the hardware (knobs and pulls)
A new coat of paint on the walls
New accents, accessories or window coverings
Level 3 Kitchen Refresh
With a Level 3, you’re really starting to make some changes that will make a bigger impact. Again, you decide how much or how little you want to update, but here are some more changes you could make.
New countertops (quartz or natural stone is best)
Adding a new faucet
New sink
Repainting kitchen cabinets (professionally painted gives the BEST results)
Adding a new backsplash
New lighting (pendants or chandelier)
Updating the hardware (knobs and pulls)
A new coat of paint on the walls
New accents, accessories or window coverings
Level 4 Kitchen Refresh
Alright, now we’re really stepping things up. The main difference here is that we’re changing the cabinet doors. This is not replacing the whole cabinets, but just the door fronts. This is a good option if your cabinet doors are outdated or ornate and you want a cleaner look like a shaker style. It’s an added expense, but one that makes a big difference in the overall look. And while you’re changing the door fronts, you might as well add soft-close hinges so your new doors don’t slam shut.
Replacing cabinet doors (leaving the cabinet boxes in place)
New countertops (quartz or natural stone is best)
Adding a new faucet
New sink
Repainting kitchen cabinets (professionally painted gives the BEST results)
Adding a new backsplash
New lighting (pendants or chandelier)
Updating the hardware (knobs and pulls)
A new coat of paint on the walls
New accents, accessories or window coverings
Level 5 Kitchen Refresh
Here we are at the highest level of a kitchen refresh. This is basically everything you can do without gutting the whole kitchen. And with all this work, you might say “well, if I’m doing all this construction already, why not just tear out the whole kitchen and start fresh?”
At this point you could and you have a decision to make. But, if you’re not changing the layout and you can work with some of what you have then you may want to do a more extensive kitchen refresh rather than gutting your whole kitchen. If your cabinets are in good shape and you like your kitchen layout then this option still makes sense for you. Kitchen cabinets are one of the most expensive parts of a kitchen remodel so you’re still likely saving by doing a kitchen refresh. At this level you might consider:
Replacing some cabinetry or building a custom island while leaving perimeter cabinets intact. (For example-if you’re removing a mircowave and replacing with a hood or adding open shelving).
Updating appliances
Replacing cabinet doors (leaving the cabinet boxes in place)
New countertops (quartz or natural stone is best)
Adding a new faucet
Adding a new sink
Repainting kitchen cabinets (professionally painted gives the BEST results)
Adding a new backsplash
New lighting (pendants or chandelier)
Updating the hardware (knobs and pulls)
A new coat of paint on the walls
New accents, accessories or window coverings
What about flooring?
I’m going to say it straight here. If you don’t like your current floors now, then it’s very unlikely you’ll like them any better after a refresh. You’ll have done all this work and invested all this money and will still be saying “I really don’t like my floors.” It’s a waste to leave them and do all the other work in my personal opinion.
Doing a refresh without tackling what really bothers you about your space is like putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still going to be a pig. (Quick side note…no disrespect to pigs who are actually highly intelligent animals which I find rather cute. After all, I’m an animal lover;) But, you get my point. If you don’t like it now, you won’t like it after. So, plan and budget accordingly. I’d much rather squirrel and save for what I want, then invest good money into something that isn’t really what I want that I’ll have to change in a couple of years.
How much does a kitchen refresh cost?
You’re not going to like this answer, but it’s true. It depends. A kitchen refresh can cost a few hundred dollars to 20K+. It depends on the size of your kitchen and the scope of work. Some parts of a kitchen refresh cost more such as countertops and appliances.
Another expensive part of a kitchen refresh is cabinet painting. In order to get the most durability, I recommend professional painting. Yes, you can buy kits at home improvement stores and DIY this, but as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.” Kitchen cabinet painting is a lot of work and the prep and degreasing isn’t easy (but it’s super important). So, I recommend going with the pros on this. Depending on your kitchen size and location you might spend 2K-5K. It’s worth the investment if you can get several more years out of it. You don’t want to see brush strokes on your cabinet doors. It doesn’t look good and is tougher to update down the road.
