Custom kitchen remodeling may sound like a luxury, but in some cases it’s all but a necessity. People with disabilities may need a custom kitchen remodeling just to get a kitchen that’s easy to use.

Large families may need custom solutions to provide more food storage options and facilitate the preparation of large meals. Whatever your reason from wanting a custom remodel, if you go about it right, it doesn’t have to be complex or extremely expensive.

Let Your Imagination Lead
One of the first things you can do is start from your imagination. Go through your kitchen and note all the things you don’t like about it. Is the floor plan awkward and inconvenient? Do you have lots of storage space up high where you can’t reach it, but not enough down where you can? Are the countertops always getting stained? Is the whole room drab and dark?

Once you have a list of things you want to improve, considering what you’d rather have in its place. For instance, stain and scratch resistant countertops or lots of natural light. Don’t worry about how you’ll fulfill these ideals; just let your imagination run free and plan your dream kitchen.

Break Out the Pictures
Once you know what you want, look through kitchen remodeling pictures to get an idea of some of the ways other home remodelers have solved similar problems.

If you want more durable countertops, you might consider installing engineered stone Cambria Quartz or Zodiaq® from DuPont. If you long for more light but don’t have room for a window, you might put in a skylight. These semi-custom solutions can meet your needs without the expensive of a fully customized solution.

Get Truly Custom Kitchen Remodeling
For the problems you can’t solve with ideas from home improvement books and magazines, you’ll need custom solutions. Here’s where you can really get the kitchen of your dreams with everything just as you want it.

You might not have much storage room nearer ground level, but some custom cabinets could solve that by taking advantage of the space you do. Hate having to dig around in the cupboards to find just the right pan or cooking utensil? Get a custom-made storage device, such as a hanger or rack.

Unfortunately, though, that’s where a lot of home owners stop. They look at a few pictures in home improvement books or magazines, get some ideas for what they want to do with the kitchen, and then immediately either call a contractor or start buying fixtures and building material. By using kitchen remodel pictures that way, though, you’re missing out on a lot.

To get the most out of pictures, start just by getting as many pictures as you can. Buy magazines, check out remodeling books from the library, get online and browse contractors’ design portfolios, pick up a membership to a Web site that provides access to a catalogue of professional photos of kitchen renovations.

When you’ve got about all the images you can handle, go through them and write down all the features you see that you like. This includes floor plans, types of appliances, building material such as flooring and countertop material, as well as cabinetry styles and furniture.

At this point, don’t worry about whether or not a particular feature will work in your kitchen or whether you have room from all the stuff on your list (or whether or not you can afford it!). Right now, just brainstorm. You can pare your list down later.

Once you’ve got a list of features you’d like to have, go back over the kitchen remodel pictures again to look for styles that appeal to you. It’s entirely possible to have a well functioning kitchen with no particular style, but it will tend to look disorderly no matter how clean it is.

For a more appealing kitchen, try to settle on a particular style. This way you can choose appliances, flooring, countertops and other elements that will all look good together and create an organized, pulled-together appearance.

After you’ve made your list of idea features and selected a design style that suits your tastes, you can work on deciding exactly which of these ideas are going to go into your remodeling plan. At this point, you may want to call a contractor to take care of the practicalities.

If you’re doing the whole project yourself, though, it’s just a matter thinking through how each of ideas would work in your kitchen and eliminating the ones that are impractical.

If you enjoy collecting ideas about the kind of kitchen you want, but hate the idea of planning, you might be better off hiring a contractor who can plan everything from start to finish.

If, on the other hand, you don’t mind drawing detailed floor plans and hunting around for the ideal appliances, fixtures, and building material, you’ll probably be fine creating your kitchen remodeling plans yourself.

When you start your plans, the most important thing to keep in mind is detail. Make certain you don’t forget anything. Take careful measurements (several times if you feel the need) to make sure you know what kind of spaces you’re working with.

This will let you draw a precise, to-scale floor plan of your kitchen so you can accurately plan on paper. Interior design software can also help you with this. Software is particularly useful if you’re planning on changing your kitchen’s floor plan.

When you’re looking for flooring and countertop material, look at each option from as many angles as possible. Price is just one factor. Appearance, durability, and ease of maintenance are also important.

And don’t give up on a material that seems perfect for your needs just because you think it’s out of your price range. A little hunting around may get you that material for a lot less than you expected. The same principles apply to sourcing appliances and furniture, too.

Once you get involved in developing your kitchen remodeling plans, you may find it starts to get a little overwhelming. If you find yourself in this situation, consult contractor with experience in kitchen renovations.

Of one the great things about contractors is that they have experience turning the vague ideas of home owners into reality. They’ll also be able to foresee problems you might be headed for, potentially saving you a lot.

Small DIY projects can be fun and cost-effective, but for something as major a complete kitchen remodeling project, sometimes it’s wiser to hire a professional. An experienced contractor before you help take your vague ideas about the kind kitchen you want and turn them into a workable design.

Investing the services of a skilled contractor can also save you from expensive, time-wasting mistakes. But how do you find a reliable contractor?

Ask Around
One of the most reliable ways to find a good contractor is to ask for recommendations from your friends and family or anyone else who might know. Tell anyone you think can offer suggestions: “I’m planning to remodel my kitchen. do you have any leads on good contractors with kitchen remodeling experience?”

This method not only helps you find proven-successful contractors, but can also lead you to small shops that rely on word-of-mouth advertising. These smaller business are likely to invest more effort into your project than would a large, heavily-advertised contracting business that works on projects as if they were on an assembly line.

Check Online
The Internet is an invaluable resource for checking out local contractors. The easiest way to get started is to check the phone book and check out the Web address of contractors listed there. Once you get through those, type something like “kitchen remodeling Boston” or “remodel my kitchen Denver” into your favorite search engine and see if you come up with anyone the phonebook missed.

Good contractor Web sites provide you with important stats like training and work experience, show you examples of their work, and present testimonials from satisfied customers. Browsing around online for a few hours for this information is far less time-consuming than trying to collect all this information by calling each contractor.

Check the Paperwork
A serious, qualified contractor should have the minimum liability insurance covering bodily damage and property damage that your locality’s law requires. Unfortunately, some part-time contractors or handymen posing as contractors don’t carry this insurance. That means you’d be liable for any injuries or damage that occurs on your property.

Many contractors who take their businesses seriously also join professional associations for home improvement contractors. While a contractor’s membership in such an organization isn’t essential to their ability to get the job done, it does show you they take pride in their profession and will likely put considerable care into doing the job right.

Read the Labels

Check the energy usage data for any appliance you plan on buying. The Energy Star Logo only tells you that an appliances uses anywhere from 10% to 50% less energy than standard models, but doesn’t tell you which one of the appliances with the logo is the most efficient. To find the best, you’ll have to do your own research.

Save More Water

Install low flow plumbing fixtures. Early models has a reputation for causing more hassle than they were worth, but current designs strike a better balance between water efficiency and practicality. These will help you save water—and lower your water bill—without getting in the way.

Go Natural for Lighting

Natural light is not only pleasant and easier on the eyes that electric lights are, it’s also a lot more energy efficient. Install windows and skylights in strategic locations, such as near the sink, to take advantage of the sunlight. Steer clear of recessed and track lighting, neither of which light efficiently. Use light colors such as white and yellow to add more brightness.

If your kitchen remodel design involves a complete overhaul of the lighting, consider installing LED (light-emitting diode) lighting. These are energy-saving, simple to install and don’t cause the problems, such as headaches, that energy-efficient fluorescent lights can.

Plan for Long-Term Gain

When you’re renovating a kitchen on a tight budget, it can be tempting to go for less expensive materials even though you know they won’t last very long. The problem, of course, is that in the long run having to replace these materials costs you more money and time. They also don’t add much value to the house, should you decide to sell.

If at all possible, save up a little more and invest flooring, countertops and cabinets made from high quality materials that are made to last.

Choose Safe Paints

If you need to repaint any part of your kitchen, opt for paints with low or no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). VOCs are chemicals that can vaporize in a normal household environment, entering the air and your family’s lungs. They’re bad for the environment and your health, so the less of them you put in use in your kitchen remodel design, the better.

A kitchen remodeling project has to be carefully planned if you expect everything to go smoothly, stay on budget and still truly meet your expectations. A detailed plan is the easiest way to avoid a disaster that you have to “re-remodel.”

Given the cost and time commitment of renovating a kitchen, it doesn’t pay to skimp on in this area. Get some graph paper and a pencil and map out a to-scale floor plan of your kitchen that includes all the fixtures, appliances and furniture. Interior design software is another option way to get this done if you’re not much of an artist.

The first thing to consider here is the kitchen floor plan itself. If current one suits your needs, of course, you’ll only need one map. If you’re planning on improve the layout of the kitchen, though, you may need to draw several floor plans before you come up with one that’s practical.

When you create your final kitchen map, include absolutely everything you plan to change, repair or enhance. It’s easy to remember the cabinets and large appliances, but don’t overlook the windows and furniture, either.

One of the biggest reasons it’s important to plan the whole kitchen remodeling project through in detail is budgeting. After all, it’s hard to calculate how much you’ll need to spend if you haven’t even decided what to buy.

Knowing your budget ahead of time also ensures that you won’t run out of money halfway through the project, leaving the kitchen a mess until you come up with the funds to finance the rest of the remodeling. If you know ahead of time that funds will be tight, you can plan the project in stages. Finish one up one phase, such as installing new countertops, completely before you start on the next.

The only time you need to be concerned primarily with value-adding renovations is when you plan to sell your home within the next couple of years. If you do, then you can probably go ahead and remodel in a way that may not exactly suit you, but that you know is more valuable. For instance, you might add pricey granite countertops even though you actually prefer the look of less expensive ceramic tile countertops.

Naturally, your kitchen floor plan is one of the first aspects you’ll never consider. Of course, no matter how big a kitchen, it always seems like there’s never enough space. You may never fully solve that problem, but redesigning your kitchen’s floor plan to make it more convenient for your family’s habits. If you’re kids are always running around as you stand at the stove to get at the fridge you may be able to move the refrigerator out of the way.

The next major decision in remodeling your kitchen is the design style. You primary style influences your choice of flooring, countertops, and cabinets. While nothing’s wrong with the eclectic look, choosing one distinct style gives your kitchen a more appealing, put-together appearance.

One of the biggest benefits is that it won’t look messy as fast as a kitchen with no specific style. If you were remodeling just for the buyer, you might opt for the traditional style or a style that fits the houses architecture, such as a rustic style kitchen in a log cabin home. If your remodeling just for your family, though, anything you like goes.

Next comes choosing flooring, countertops and cabinets that meet your needs. For example, while hardwood flooring adds value, it may not be the best if you have a busy family that includes young children and a few pets. In that case, you might want vinyl or laminate flooring.

If fact, if you need something really tough, you can even use roof tiles. Choose all your kitchen items this way and you’ll be remodeling your kitchen for the way you life everyday, rather than the amount it might add to your home’s price if you ever want to sell.

Because of this, it’s one the first rooms a woman inspects when walking through a house for sale. It’s easy to spruce up a living room or bedroom with a few interior design tricks, but if the kitchen has an inconvenient floor plan and out-dated appliances, either the family will have to pay for remodeling or the woman of the house will just have to put up with the inconvenience.

Collecting ideas for home kitchen remodeling can be a little overwhelming when you start looking at all the options there are for flooring, appliances, countertops and other pricey kitchen enhancements. If you’re looking at your kitchen remodeling project as a way to add value to your home, though, you’ll want to focus on a few specifics.

Kitchen appliances like the stove, refrigerator, dishwasher are some of the first things to consider upgrading. Stainless steel is preferable because it’s easy to clean and rust resistant. The neutral silver color also suits well with almost any color scheme.

Kitchen flooring is a major factor in the visual appeal and value of the kitchen. While a number of options are available, for increasing value, hardwood flooring and tile flooring are the main two to consider. High quality hardwood floors create a warm, homey look and are also fairly easy to maintain. Tile is another option that provides a lot of design flexibility and is relatively easy to clean. Depending on the floor plan, you may want to go with hard wood is some areas and tile in others.

Kitchen countertop remodeling is another cost-effective way to add value. Among the top choices for this are marble and granite. While not cheap, they have a lot of visual impact and can last for decades.

If these materials aren’t in your budget, consider ceramic tile or solid surface countertops like Corian or Swanstone. If practical, try to have your floors, countertops, and cabinets match to create a consistent look.

Home improvement centers offer an endless array of appliances, flooring, countertops and other eye-catching kitchen enhancements, but quite a few of them will complicate your kitchen renovation project without adding much value to your home. Home kitchen remodeling for added value becomes a lot simpler when you stick to the renovations that will give you the best return on investment.