Are you ready to tackle that kitchen renovation that you have been dreaming of for the last few months or years? That’s great news, but are you ready??

How much planning have you put into this project so far? Have you collected hundreds of pictures of kitchens and narrowed it down at all?

What if we were to tell you that you need to know what style you want for your kitchen before you start choosing cabinets, countertops, flooring, and more?

That would probably put a damper on your major plans, especially if you have no idea what style you want!

To find your style, we recommend pulling out all those pictures that you have been collecting and look at them carefully. You will soon see a pattern between them all, although it will be subtle at first. Separate those pictures into piles, with modern kitchens going into one and traditional, and transitional going into others. Once you have completed those piles, you may realize that you prefer one style over another.

Now is the time to go back through the pictures once again, most likely starting with the pile of your favorite style and pull out the ones that have the features that you love the most. You may realize that you love dark wood floors or large islands or pendant lights. The options are endless, but only you will be able to tell what you love the most.

Plan on seeing unique features in multiple pictures and not loving any of the kitchens in your pictures as a whole. This is common and will allow you to know that you have done everything the way that you should have. After all, you don’t want the same exact kitchen as someone else!

At this point, you will want to use sticky notes or use a notebook to take notes of the features that you love from each photo. You may look at one picture with the small baking nook with marble counters and decide that you need that in your kitchen, while still falling in love with the color of the granite countertops in another photo.

You can even take notes on the items that you don’t love including how the crown molding transitions or how the glass on the cabinets are unfrosted. This is a great way to know what you do not like, which makes it easy to avoid those items when picking out materials and items for your kitchen.

At the end of this process, you will know your style and you will have a good idea of how you are designing your kitchen. Then it will be time to call a designer and a builder and get kitchen renovation moving forward.