To renovate or not to renovate? Things to consider

To help you decide whether to renovate your kitchen or not, you could consider the question from a couple of different angles. There will be a bit of overlap at times, but at the end of the process there may well be a clear answer to the renovate or not renovate dilemma. You could start from a practical perspective.

Practical considerations

A bit boring perhaps, but it's necessary for most of us to take the practical aspects into account. Some of these will be:

• does the kitchen really need total renovation? Or is it basically a functional kitchen in good condition which could be revamped with minimum expenditure and fuss by upgrading one or more individual features such as lighting, tiles, cupboard doors and handles or appliances?

• can you afford to renovate? A total kitchen renovation can easily set you back tens of thousands of dollars. If this level of expenditure would mean some financial hardship, or if there is no certain benefit as a result of the renovation e.g. a significant increase in the resale value of your home, then maybe a full kitchen renovation is not the way to go. Perhaps you need to reduce your expectations and settle for a partial renovation, concentrating on any bits that really need fixing

Then again, if you can work around the practical issues, and if rather than avoiding the kitchen as much as possible you regard it as the focal point of your home, and love cooking and entertaining, you could make a decision to renovate your kitchen based on personal and lifestyle factors.

Lifestyle considerations 

Rather than applying a non-emotional, cost-benefit analysis to your kitchen renovation question, perhaps you should regard the kitchen as the central point of your life with family and friends, a facility which can add value far beyond the impact on your bank statement.

If you really do enjoy cooking, and spend a lot of time in the kitchen, then the worth of a kitchen renovation that looks fabulous as well as delivers an efficient and enjoyable place to work, and thereby adds to the enjoyment of family life and entertaining, simply can't be measured in dollars and cents.

Of course there is a practical advantage too. Home-cooked meals are less expensive and often healthier.

The choice to renovate or not renovate your kitchen is easy really – it boils down to how important the kitchen is to you.