Top Kitchen Remodeling Mistakes, From a Professional Designer

Over-improving. Your $300,000 home does not merit a $100,000 kitchen, unless you're a professional caterer or chef. (This is also true for professional-style appliances. Will you really use all those burners and BTUs?) While real estate experts will tell you that kitchen remodels return 80 percent or more of their value, this does not hold true if you dramatically overspend relative to the value of your home. Think in terms of a 10- to 25-percent investment relative to what you could realistically sell the house for tomorrow.

Incompatibility. In today's open-floor plan homes, clients ignore their home's architecture and their overall style at their peril. While you may adore the Tuscan or French country style, think hard about whether your chosen ideal will work with the surrounding rooms and the period of your house. Consider heirloom furniture that will share the same space, not pieces you're not planning on keeping. Consider, too, the ornateness or simplicity of moldings and casings - or lack thereof - in the room to "reality-check" yourself on whether the look you desire will look out of place in your home.

Trend-spotting. This relates to Mistake #2, but goes beyond. Don't choose a look for your kitchen based on its current popularity, but on how long you've loved it yourself and how it works with everything else you've loved and purchased. You may have the budget for frequent remodels, but I doubt if you have the stomach for them.