Kitchen Remodel Checklist: What to Decide Before Demo Day

Written by the AMG Proline Team, kitchen and bathroom remodelers serving Chicago and the suburbs for more than 25 years.

A good kitchen remodel checklist is not a shopping list. It is a decision list. By the time the first cabinet comes off the wall, the choices that control your budget and your calendar should already be locked in, written down, and ordered. The projects that run long almost never run long because of the demolition. They run long because a decision was still open when the crew needed an answer.

We have been remodeling kitchens across Chicago and the suburbs for more than 25 years, and the pattern is consistent. Homeowners who walk in with their decisions made get a smoother project, a firmer price, and a finish date they can plan around. This kitchen remodel checklist covers the eleven decisions we ask every client to settle before demo day, in the order they actually matter.

Why a Kitchen Remodel Checklist Matters Before Demo Day

Once demolition starts, your kitchen is out of service. Every open decision from that point forward is a decision made under pressure, with a crew waiting and a clock running. Cabinet orders in particular have lead times measured in weeks, so a cabinet choice made after demo means the room sits empty while the boxes are built.

Decisions also stack. Your layout determines your plumbing. Your plumbing determines your cabinet run. Your cabinet run determines your countertop template. Change one thing late and the ones downstream change with it. Settling the list up front is what makes a fixed written price possible in the first place.

1. Decide Your Layout and Whether Walls Are Moving

This is the first item on any kitchen remodel checklist because everything else depends on it. Are you keeping the existing footprint, or opening the kitchen into a dining room or living space? Opening a wall changes the scope from a finish project to a structural one, and it brings framing, possible beam work, and inspections into the schedule.

Walk your current kitchen and be specific about what is not working. Not enough counter space beside the range. Traffic cutting through the work zone. A refrigerator door that blocks a walkway when it is open. Those complaints are what a good layout solves. Bring them to your designer rather than bringing a floor plan you drew yourself.

2. Decide Your Budget and Where It Flexes

Set a real number, then decide in advance which parts of it are firm and which can move. Most kitchens have one or two things the homeowner genuinely cares about and a long tail of things they do not. Naming those priorities early lets your contractor put the money where you will notice it.

Also decide how you want the price structured. A fixed written price and an hourly or cost plus arrangement lead to very different conversations three weeks in. We quote fixed written prices so the number you approve is the number you pay, and that is only possible when the decisions on this list are settled before we start.

3. Decide Cabinets First, Because They Set the Schedule

Cabinets are the longest lead item in most kitchens, so they belong near the top of your kitchen remodel checklist. Decide door style, finish, and construction before you decide almost anything else, because the order needs to be placed early enough that the boxes arrive when the room is ready for them.

Decisions to close out here include stock, semi custom, or fully custom construction, painted or stained finish, door and drawer style, and interior storage. Drawer banks instead of lower doors, a pull out for trash and recycling, and a spice or tray divider are all easier to build in now than to retrofit later. If your ceilings allow it, decide now whether cabinets run to the ceiling or stop short with a soffit or open space above.

4. Decide Countertops and See the Actual Slab

Pick your material category first, then pick the specific slab. Quartz, granite, and marble all behave differently in a working kitchen, and the right answer depends on how you cook and how much maintenance you are willing to do. Your designer can narrow the field quickly once you say which of those you care about.

Then go see the slab in person. A three inch sample under showroom lighting is not the same as a full slab with its veining, movement, and color shifts. Visit our Crestwood showroom or the slab yard, look at the actual piece, and approve it before it goes to template. Decide your edge profile at the same time, and ask where the seams will fall so there are no surprises on install day.

5. Decide Appliances and Plumbing Locations

Appliances are not a late decision. Their exact dimensions determine cabinet openings, and their requirements determine the rough in work that happens while the walls are open. Buy or at least fully specify your appliances before demo, and give your contractor the spec sheets.

Two decisions here carry more weight than the rest. A professional range with a high powered hood may trigger makeup air requirements, which is far cheaper to plan for than to discover. And moving a sink or adding a pot filler means moving supply and drain lines, which is straightforward while the walls are open and expensive once they are closed. Decide sink style, faucet, and disposal now as well, because an undermount sink has to be selected before the countertop is templated.

6. Decide Electrical and Lighting

Kitchens carry more electrical load than any other room in the house, and older Chicago homes were not wired for the way we cook now. Decide where every outlet, switch, and fixture goes while the walls are open. Retrofitting an outlet into finished drywall and tile is possible, but it is never clean and never cheap.

Work through three layers of lighting rather than one. Ambient light for the room, task light over the counters and sink, and accent light for islands, glass fronted cabinets, or a display area. Decide on under cabinet lighting now because it requires wiring behind the cabinet run. Settle dimmer locations, pendant placement over an island, and whether you want any of it on smart controls.

7. Decide Flooring, Backsplash, and Paint

Decide flooring before cabinets are installed, because the order of operations depends on it. Flooring that runs under the cabinets and flooring that stops at the toe kick are two different installs, and the choice affects appliance height and dishwasher clearance.

Backsplash can be decided slightly later than the rest, but do not leave it open. It is the item most often left to the end, and it is also the item most likely to hold up a final walkthrough while a special order tile ships. Pick tile, grout color, and layout pattern along with everything else. Paint colors for walls, ceiling, and trim can be confirmed once your cabinet and counter samples are in hand, since those two set the palette.

8. Decide Hardware, Fixtures, and Finishes

Cabinet knobs and pulls, faucet, sink, light fixtures, and any exposed hardware should all be decided as a group rather than one at a time. Mixing metals deliberately looks intentional. Mixing them by accident, because each piece was chosen in a different week, does not.

Order hardware early even though it installs late. Small items are the ones that quietly delay a final punch list, and a back ordered set of pulls can hold up the day you were supposed to get your kitchen back.

9. Decide Permits and Approvals

Find out what your project requires before demo, not during it. Work that moves plumbing, alters electrical, or touches structure generally requires a permit, and requirements and review times vary from one municipality to the next across Chicagoland. Confirm what your village or the City of Chicago requires for your specific scope.

If you live in a condo building or an HOA, add that approval to your kitchen remodel checklist as its own line item. Buildings commonly require a certificate of insurance from the contractor, set allowable work hours, and may need elevator or loading dock reservations. Association architectural review can add weeks on its own, and it runs on a meeting calendar you do not control. Start both processes early.

10. Decide How You Will Live Through It

Most kitchen remodels take roughly 4 to 8 weeks depending on scope. Decide now how your household will function during that window, because figuring it out in week one is stressful and expensive.

Set up a temporary kitchen somewhere else in the house with the microwave, coffee maker, and refrigerator you will actually use. Decide where the crew parks, which door they use, and where the dumpster sits. Agree on daily start and stop times. If you have pets or small children, decide how the work zone gets closed off. Plan on eating out more than usual and budget for it as part of the project rather than as a surprise.

11. Decide Your Contract Terms and Timeline

Before anyone swings a hammer, you should have a written scope of work, a written price, a payment schedule, and a start and finish window in hand. Read the change order process specifically. Understand what happens if you change your mind mid project and what it costs, because that is the clause that matters most once work is underway.

Confirm licensing and insurance in writing too. AMG Proline is licensed and bonded in Illinois, license number 104.020448, and we provide certificates on request. Ask any contractor you are considering for the same.

Your Kitchen Remodel Checklist at a Glance

Print this section or keep it on your phone. Every item should have an answer before demo day:

• Final layout confirmed, and a decision on whether any walls move
• Budget set, with priorities named and a price structure agreed
• Cabinets ordered: style, finish, construction, and interior storage
• Countertop material chosen, actual slab approved, edge and seams reviewed
• Appliances purchased or fully specified, spec sheets delivered
• Sink, faucet, and disposal selected before countertop templating
• Plumbing relocations identified
• Outlet, switch, and fixture locations marked
• Lighting plan set, including under cabinet wiring
• Flooring chosen, with the under cabinet question answered
• Backsplash tile, grout, and pattern selected
• Paint colors confirmed against cabinet and counter samples
• Hardware and fixtures selected as a group and ordered
• Permit requirements confirmed with your municipality
• Condo or HOA approval started if applicable
• Temporary kitchen set up, access and work hours agreed
• Written scope, price, payment schedule, and change order terms signed

Work Through the Checklist With Us

You do not have to answer all seventeen of those on your own. Working through this kitchen remodel checklist with a designer is faster than working through it alone, and it catches the dependencies that are easy to miss when you are looking at one decision at a time.

AMG Proline handles design, permits, cabinetry, countertops, plumbing, electrical, and finish work with one team, from our showroom in Crestwood. Come see slabs, doors, and finishes side by side, or we will come to you. Learn more about our approach to kitchen remodeling in Chicago, or request a free quote and we will walk your kitchen, talk through the list above, and put a fixed written price in front of you before anything gets torn out.

Call (708) 979-3298 to set up a free in home consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should be on a kitchen remodel checklist?

A kitchen remodel checklist should cover layout and whether walls are moving, budget and priorities, cabinets, countertops, appliances and plumbing locations, electrical and lighting, flooring, backsplash, paint, hardware and fixtures, permits and any condo or HOA approvals, a plan for living without a kitchen, and a signed written contract with a change order process.

How far in advance should I finalize my kitchen remodel decisions?

Every decision should be settled before demolition begins. Cabinets in particular need to be ordered weeks ahead because they have the longest lead time of any item in the kitchen, and the room should not sit empty waiting for them to arrive.

Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel?

Work that moves plumbing, alters electrical, or affects structure generally requires a permit, while a cosmetic refresh often does not. Requirements and review times vary between the City of Chicago and each suburban municipality, so confirm your specific scope with your local building department before demo day.

How long does a kitchen remodel take?

Most kitchen remodels take 4 to 8 weeks depending on the scope of work. We give you a clear timeline before work starts and keep you updated at every stage.

Which decision causes the most delays in a kitchen remodel?

Cabinets. They have the longest lead time in the project, and every day a cabinet decision stays open is a day added to the back end of the schedule. Countertop slab approval and special order tile are the next two most common causes of delay.

Should I buy appliances before the remodel starts?

Yes. Appliance dimensions determine cabinet openings and their requirements determine rough in work that happens while the walls are open. Purchase or fully specify your appliances before demo day and give your contractor the spec sheets.