There are a few important matters you should get squared away before you begin remodelling or buying new cabinets for your kitchen or bathroom. If there’s one thing that custom cabinet makers dislike, it’s shoppers who are unprepared, and as a result, are always changing the specifications of a job right up to the last minute. As well as creating headaches for the cabinet maker, it adds costs to the project.

If you want to avoid these frustrations and cost blow outs, do some planning before you meet a cabinet maker.

Follow a few tips to help you:

• Set a Budget for the Project

Regardless of the simplicity or complexity of the job, whether it will be a straight forward door replacement or a complete kitchen refurbish, set a realistic budget. The cabinets are usually part of the rebuild or remodelling. There should be an itemised breakdown of the project costs, including the cabinets.

A budget is a form of discipline for you and the contractor(s) involved. Common sense tells you that setting a dollar figure can mean the difference between a great job at a good price, or a cost blowout that might kill the project completely – unfinished.

Cabinets in a kitchen or bathroom job make up about 40-50% of the total cost.

• Accurate Measurements

If you can use a tape measure, do this part of the project first to get an idea of space available and where you can fit in the changes, if any. You don’t have to be an artist, but try to draw out what you want. Just a simple diagram with some measurements thrown in will be okay. Then when you speak to your cabinet maker, you can present your ideas a little more accurately. Don’t worry about being quoted from your drawings. Eventually a professional will come out and take some precise measurements and even help you set a budget to get the job started.

• Check Stock Cabinet Options

It might sound silly coming from a custom cabinet maker, but there can be significant savings available if what you need is already made or at least half made. Customised cabinets are the rage at the moment. Cabinets generally are a standard size so a cabinet maker can offer to provide customised doors, drawer fronts, latches, and hinges to make your cabinets look a little more custom made.

You can call this ‘semi-custom.’

• Have an Overall Style Plan

You should have an idea of what you want for your final look in your kitchen or bathroom. Flick through some magazines or check a few websites to find a style you like. Once you show them to your cabinet maker, then you are virtually on the same page. After doing these few preliminaries, you can start talking to your cabinet maker.

Less headaches, save money and save time before you even start the job.