Free Yourself From Your #1 Kitchen Remodeling Blocker!

BOOK EXCERPT

The “Might As Well” Factor

“We didn’t actually overspend our budget. The allocation simply fell short of our expenditure.” (Keith Davis)

It’s human nature to want more than we can really afford. The American culture and economy is driven by advertising and trends. It’s very easy to justify an investment in luxury items, “We’re only going to do this once, so we might as well get . . .” It’s okay to splurge on one or two top- priority items, if there’ s a willingness to make tradeoffs. But if the “might-as-well” argument is applied to everything we think we want, and don’ t keep track of the investments logically, our target budget is meaningless. How many times have you heard, “Remodeling (building) always takes twice as long and costs twice as much.” You CAN be in charge of your investment! Designers have a responsibility to be the voice of reason — not to tell you what you can or can’t afford, but to offer questions like, “How much value is this (……) really going to add to your home?”

CASE STUDY (shared by a contractor): Homeowners had decided not to hire a designer to freshen up their kitchen with new countertops, backsplashes, and flooring. They were on the fast track for many mistakes (+$$$). Friends and family members could give advice, but it wasn’t the same as reasonable advice from an experienced professional who knew suppliers and showrooms.They fell in love with imported glass tile for their backsplash. After their project was finished, they discovered the same tile at a local “to the trade only” supplier that would have saved them time and money. Like most of us, they didn’t know what they didn’t know.

You have completed the Surveys, and have read the “Good-Better-Best” philosophy and spreadsheets. Now it’s time to gather product information and pricing for your project. By this time, you have ideas about changing your kitchen. What do you want and why? How do you want your kitchen to look, feel., and function? But if you’re still concerned about your investment and are concerned about what a contractor will tell you, there’s a quick way to calculate a guesstimate. Please read on . . . SQUARE FOOTAGE CALCULATION METHOD This estimating method is the quickest, but it’s not as reliable as the breakdown method on the next page. First, you must know the square footage of your existing kitchen. If your mortgage documents include an appraisal, the square footage should be shown there. If you don’t have the information, you can prepare your own square footage calculations. Just follow these simple steps:

• Sketch your kitchen plan (it doesn’t have to be to scale);
• Take overall interior dimensions of all walls, starting at a point and working around the perimeter, writing each dimension as you go;
• If your kitchen isn’t rectangular, break up the areas into rectangles or squares, as large as possible;
• Multiply the width times depth of each area to get the square footage of that area;

Add the sums of all areas to get the total square footage. Second, decide whether your remodeling project fits into the “good,” “better,” or “best” category (explained previously). Each category has a range of investment which varies 10% – 25% or more. Multiply the total square footage of your project by the investment per square foot from the examples to obtain a reasonable budget. Don’t forget to add at least 15% contingency for the “might as well’s” mentioned earlier. If your kitchen remodeling is a mix of good-better-best products and scope, add the totals for all of the category square footage investments and divide by three.

CASE STUDY: Homeowners prepared a preliminary spreadsheet in July to help choose products and select a contractor. Before they finalized the 20-year home improvement loan the following January, they prepared a revised spreadsheet. Products had increased a total of $15,000, which was easy to include in the loan. They weren’t in a financial position to personally pay the additional $15,000 from their bank account, but they could spread that amount over the period of their loan. The additional payment would be $62.50 per month.

“When you change one thing in your life, you will discover it is hitched to everything else in the world.” (Dr. Nelson Clements)