What It Means To 'Slow Renovate' Your Kitchen, And Why It Might Be The Low-Stress Method You Need

A kitchen renovation doesn't have to be a stressful project completed at a breakneck pace. If you aren't about to sell your home (or aren't making emergency repairs), it may be worth it to take your time. A slow renovation is a more intentional, gradual, and mindful approach to addressing challenges or concerns in your kitchen or just making tasteful upgrades. To get a better handle on the process, we spoke with Carmine Argano, owner of Creative Design Ceramic Tile & Bath, to get his tips for putting this trend into practice during a kitchen renovation.

According to Argano, a slow renovation is "a phased, intentional approach to updating a house over time instead of doing a full gut-and-replace all at once." You might consider this approach to a kitchen renovation if you want to keep your kitchen renovation affordable or if you aren't in any hurry and want to choose each design element carefully. "Rather than hiring one crew to redo everything in a single block of time, a slow reno breaks the work into digestible chunks, often room-by-room or trade-by-trade, so homeowners can spread out costs," Argano explains.

This means you'll have time to weigh the pros and cons of different kitchen flooring materials or make sure you're choosing the right kitchen backsplash option. You can truly embrace and enjoy the process, rather than rushing to finish, and you'll have the time and freedom to make every choice with care and intention so that you can get what you truly need out of your kitchen renovation. "Slow renos mean living with partial work," Argano adds. "Plan for mess, noise windows, and patience. It's worth it for many owners, but you have to be mentally prepared."

There are so many benefits to a slow kitchen renovation. When you take a more methodical and mindful approach to your renovation, you can prioritize projects more intentionally. It will also be easier to budget for the most expensive parts of remodeling your kitchen, like replacing your cabinets, over time rather than all at once. "You can spread the bill over months or years instead of paying a lump sum," Argano notes, which is helpful if you "don't have a big renovation budget up front." It may be easier to find a great deal on a high-end kitchen countertop material or budget for an expensive statement lighting fixture.

Argano adds that "living with incremental changes lets you test materials, refine style choices, and avoid buyer's remorse." It's also a great way to prioritize sustainability in your kitchen remodel, according to the Long Island-based contractor, who says that this approach results in less waste. "Waiting lets you buy during sales, source gently used or surplus materials, and take advantage of small-batch discounts," Argano explains, which are typically less expensive. Plus, as Argano says, "If you discover a better layout or product later, you can adapt before committing to expensive long-lead items."

Ready to take a slower approach to your kitchen renovation? Argano gives us some final advice on how to approach the project. "Slow renos range from deliberately tackling one project a year (for example, replacing countertops this year, cabinets next year, floors the year after) to doing a set of critical systems first (electrical/plumbing) and finishing aesthetics later," he warns. "The key is planning the sequence so short-term work doesn't needlessly get ripped out later."