If you want to have your kitchen renovated, here are two essential steps you'll need to take before you begin making any arrangements with your contractor.

Draw up a comprehensive budget

When planning your kitchen renovation, it's important not to simply pluck an estimate out of thin air. If you've never had this area of your home renovated before and are therefore unsure about the cost of things like cabinetry, fixtures, lighting and countertops, visit a kitchen showroom in your local area. This will help you to gain some insight into the costs of various features and give you the chance to see what different types of materials look like in person, which will, in turn, make it easier for you to assess their appearance and quality.

Once you have a better understanding of the general costs that are involved in a kitchen renovation, it's time to take some other factors into consideration. For instance, if you have plans to move within the next few years, it's generally advisable to view the renovation as an investment, which will increase the future sale price of the property. In this case, you should only spend an amount which you are confident you can recoup when you eventually sell the house.

When devising a budget, you should also think carefully about your personal priorities, as this will help you to determine how much you should spend on each aspect of the kitchen. For example, if you have a large family which includes both pets and children, you may prefer to splurge on high-end flooring which is not only stylish but also durable enough to withstand the heavy foot traffic, breakages and spillages that are associated with a busy household. On the other hand, if you're a keen amateur chef, you might prefer to spend more of your renovation money on state-of-the-art kitchen appliances and robust, high-quality countertops, rather than flooring or cabinetry.

Make the necessary preparations

Before the kitchen renovation gets underway, you'll need to do some preparatory work. To begin with, pack up all of the contents of your kitchen cabinets, as well as any furniture, small appliances and window dressings. Additionally, even if you're not having the walls repainted, it's a good idea to take down any mirrors and artwork you have hung on the walls, as there is a good chance that the labourers could accidentally break or destroy them whilst lugging equipment and building materials in and out of the room.

If you intend to stay in your home throughout the project, you will also need to decide how you are going to prepare and eat your meals whilst the kitchen is in an unusable condition. If possible, try to set up a small, temporary cooking and dining space elsewhere in your home. If the renovation will take more than a week or two, it might be worth purchasing a couple of inexpensive portable kitchen items, such as a hotplate, a countertop fridge and a mini-oven.

To save yourself the hassle of trying to prepare food during the renovation, you may want to whip up few large batches of your family's favourite meals before the project begins and store them in your countertop fridge, so that when dinner time rolls around each day, all you'll need to do is pop one of these meals into the mini-oven to reheat it. Additionally, if you know that the water will be turned off during the construction work, you should purchase plenty of bottled water. If there isn't enough space in your bathroom to wash dirty dishes, you should also pick up a few packs of paper plates and plastic cutlery.