I am a serial kitchen renovator. This is my *fourth* large scale renovation. I have also *never* ever implemented my original idea. In this house, where a kitchen renovation is currently underway, we lived here for about 5 months before we started the renovation, using Plan Four. We ended up at plan four because of budget issues, not because I didn't know what I wanted initially. But our space is awkward and by living in it I was also able to really pinpoint its issues and figure out how to deal with them. I also advocate living in the space and letting the house speak to you about what it needs, too. One thing I did was use the time in the new house to really streamline my kitchen possessions, and then, streamlining them again.

It's stressful enough moving, even into a dream house, but it's more stressful living there without running water in the kitchen for a week. Knowing the house a little better also makes you more ready to deal with the inconveniences of remodeling.

Welcome, leeber01!
Here are some questions I would ask yourself to help come up with the answer:
Do you have children? Will the kitchen renovation affect your other areas of the house (it affected our basement and I could not do laundry for 2 1/2 months). Do you have a big enough house where you can set up a "kitchen" elsewhere and place to do dishes? Are you the type of person that doesn't mind workers showing up at 7:30am and banging loudly while you're sipping coffee and waiting for them so you can start your day? Have you been through a reno before and/or lived in houses where you've thought out what you like/don't like about kitchens?
We gutted our kitchen after living in our house for three years. It was a matter of budget. Yes, I did change my mind here and there. BUT I strongly disliked living through the renovation, especially with small children. If I did it again, I think I would know enough (having been through one major gut job and several small projects) to have a sense of what to do before moving in. We're in a small house, and wouldn't consider moving again unless it was our forever house and we could afford to renovate the new house before moving in. That said, when we were under construction, I was glad to have a temporary wall with a door separating the construction zone from the rest of the house. If you do it after you've lived there, I highly recommend a temporary wall. Not perfect, but certainly helpful. Good luck!

We are at the end of our 2.5 month renovation of kitchen, fam room, laundry room, pantry. I would NEVER choose to live in the house while renovating if I had the choice!!!

Our second house, we gutted and renovated before moving in. I actually never saw the house before renovating as we were moving cross country and dh bought without me seeing it (with my agreement of course!). We did the layout ourselves and acted as GCs cross-country with a few assists from local family. It was a FABULOUS kitchen and I did not want to change a single thing.

On the other hand, we just moved into another old house and this one we are remodeling the kitchen down the road due to budget mostly. I also did not want to do this one right away because I wasn't really sure about layout. Plus, this one actually has the original kitchen rather than a dreadful 1970s update. So I want to see if any of the orginal stuff functions well enough to keep it.

So how's that for no help at all?

I would move into the house first, and live there a while. The next time I move, this summer, will be the third major renovation including kitchen that I have done, and I would never renovate without living there first.

I am planning on putting in a temporary kitchen with the old appliances in the basement for the renovation, to take some of the time constraints off.

We bought our house last March and plan to stay decades. We have not yet done our impending kitchen remodel nor really started the process. The original 1939 electric range with slanted burners and no hood is killing me! However, my own plans for what I really want continues to change and I hope I can wait another year before we remodel. I think living here and working in the kitchen on a daily basis is really helpful as I am constantly thinking of ideas, preferences, options. But I'm a slow mover on stuff like this.

Due to various issues I didn't have a working kitchen for *4 Years*, not 4 months...4Years. and I STILL would not renovate an existing house without living in it first.

I am so happy we renovated our kitchen and bathrooms before we moved in. Any "I should have dones" that I might have caught had I lived in the space first pale in comparison to the convenience and relative lack of angst that I experienced by avoiding living in the midst if a renovation. I know there are plenty of benefits to living with the space first, but you also need to know yourself and I know it would have been torture for me the other way around. For me, being able to do it the way we did was a luxury.

Live in it first. I wanted to reno our dated kitchen as soon as we moved in all those years ago. It ended up taking 12 years before we had the budget and time to do it. I've been saying ever since we did it how glad I am that we waited. I KNOW our kitchen and main area (we reno'd the whole house) wouldn't be nearly as nice, well thought out, or functional as it is now. Some of the ideas I had about how we'd live in the house changed after being in it and entertaining a lot. Yes, somehow having lots of people in your house many times points out the flaws in design and flow in a house. I also saw how we used, or didn't use in our case, the existing connections to the exterior yard and garden. We were able to correct so many things about the kitchen and house that I didn't even know were problems for at least the first year or more because we waited.

It is definetly a pain to pack and run a reno with little kids, but I think it's worth waiting to see how you and they use the kitchen first, especially if its your forever house!

Hmm, interesting variety of opinions. Some more details: we have two kids, a 4.5 year old and a 15 month old. It's a fairly big house and we'll have a second fridge in the garage and a useable sink right off the kitchen area, as well as a microwave set up. Maybe even a little hot plate? But yeah, we basically have no choice but to live through the renovations. It's just a matter of when it happens.

I felt really strongly about starting the kitchen ASAP but reading all the posts from experienced renovators/cooks is really making me rethink it. I *think* I know exactly what I want, but maybe I don't? The layout isn't going to be drastically changed, except for the opening of one wall (which is sort of major, I guess).

I've attached a picture of the kitchen in its current state from the real estate listing. Everything is in working condition but it's the original kitchen from when the house was built in the 1950s. There's an eat-in area with table on the other side.

Another waiter. Just finished our second kitchen reno, and both times, did not go with plan a or b. As we used the room, we were able to keep refining what would work for us, and the space we had to work with. Hubs became an expert in Google Sketch-up, and as new ideas popped up, being able to see in 3D were unbelievably helpful. And if you have to live through it regardless, no reason to jump in as soon as the moving truck pulls away. Best of luck, you will have the kitchen of your dreams.

Despite having very successfully renovated a kitchen I never saw, much less lived with, if you are going to have to live through the renovation anyway, I would be inclined to wait.

You have to live in the house through it either way? Wait! Especially with young kids. Mine were 5 and 1 when we started and 6 and 2 when we moved back into the house. Even living away from the house during the work was stressful with young kids. I feel like I wasn't really present with my kids a lot of that year because of the reno. These months of your littlest one are very precious, as you know. Why not settle into the house, the neighborhood, and the community first and feel grounded there before you start? Get your kids rooms decorated and help them adjust while you see how the kitchen works/doesn't work.

Take that time to draw floor plans and post them here, consider storage, research hardware and counter options, and visit plumbing and appliance showrooms. Do you have your appliances picked? Your floor plan drawn? Drawer stack sizes decided? These things all take time. Lots of time. JMHO, of course, but I wouldn't rush it if you'll have to live in the house anyway.

Agree with breezygirl. Now that I know you'll be in the house anyway, why not wait a few years? You'll be really ready, and you won't miss that precious time with your little ones. I still feel guilty for spending so much time on the reno and so little quality time with my then 2 and 5 year old.

My personal preference would be to get it done. I see the benefit in moving into a house and seeing how you use the spaces before you do large-scale renovations - is the dining room really used as such? Is the place you've planned for a guest room really more suited to the home office? But a kitchen is a kitchen, you're going to cook and eat there. Plan it, do it, get it over with.

If you have already remodeled and lived in multiple houses and thought about houses a lot and have used critical eye regarding every house you have walked in, then you may already have the insight and experience to remodel without having lived in the house.

Most of us do not have that understanding and insight about houses prior to having remodeled and learned from that experience. I have spent too much money on many different good and bad remodels. I can quickly remodel in my mind and get it right for 80 to 90% of the function. Even so, that last little detail will probably miss me if I had not lived in the house.

One of the things that I notice about other people's houses is that it is amazing to me that how undemanding some people are when it comes to how their house functions. I won't say anything because I am polite but egads, not for me. Even so, the owners are tickled to death about their own remodels because it is new and shiny. If you are okay with good enough and new and shiny, then you will be fine either way.

It really depends on what is important to you; if want it done quickly without the hassle and get it 90% right, then you should remodel before you move in.

If that 10% not well done will drive crazy, then remodel after you move in.

As I am getting older, I am in the camp where good enough is okay enough for me and I want the convenience! I also know that I am okay with 90% good enough. My priorities have changed. So the answer depends where you are in your life!

By looking at your photos of the kitchen, I'm inclined to agree with the majority....live in it for a while. The kitchen is not horrendous and could be tolerated. We have custom built a home from the ground up acting as our own GC's and I STILL had regrets about decisions that were made quickly.

We are getting ready to start a pretty major reno on our current home after living here for 2 years. We actually planned on renovating when we first moved in, but ran into some issues with codes, etc. that kept us from anything for two years. While it was a headache, it's ended up being the biggest blessing because we have totally rethought and changed our mind from the initial plan, which I would have regretted had it been done.

Enjoy your kids at that age. We built our first home when our son was ages 1-2 and I was so consumed with the building that I missed out on a lot. I feel like I'm starting to get that way now with this reno (ds is now 9 and I now have twin 5 yo dd's in the mix who don't understand why our house even has to change!)

Good luck with it all!

Thanks for all the input, everyone. It's given me a lot to think about. The advice to enjoy the time with the kids was a really good reminder as to why we're moving--to have a better space to be a family together, not for me to get totally sucked into a renovation project. :-)

I do think I have a really good sense of what works for me in a kitchen space and I've been part of enough renovations to be realistic about it. But, I think I'll have to agree with most of the people who posted and my husband and not jump on the kitchen remodel right away. I don't think we'll wait years, but definitely at least a few months. Packing up and moving is a big upheaval as it is!

I guess I'll just have to be happy adding to my inspiration file for a while. Thanks, everyone!

Work on your layout as a hobby until you get it right. Post it here for some impartial help.

Once you get that worked out enough to know the scope of the project, then dream a while on the finishes. Many times, that's the most flexible portion of the project, and on a long project, a lot of people are already tired of what they picked by the time that the end of the project rolls around. Be sure that your choices aren't just "design ADD" where "oooo I LOVE every zen modern kitchen that I see on Houzz.....look there's a Tuscan one too!" It's fine to have an infatuation with many different looks, but only marry the one that suits your home's bones, and your family's living style.

Minimalism is my personal sought after style, and it works with my house, but not as much with my design samples everywhere just this side of hoarding lifestyle. I'm hoping that redoing my home office will help with that, but I'm trying to be realistic by making sure that every single piece of furniture that I own will hold "stuff" and keep it from becoming clutter.

Be similarly realistic about your home's bones and living style. A winery in Tuscany might be your retirement home sometime in the future, but decorating a 1980s Colonial Revival like it's that winery will not work with those bones. Maybe a painting of Tuscany, and use some of the colors with traditional wood cabinetry could work....but not the overly faux glazed and faux distressed and grapes and leaves and olives and wrought iron wine caves...etc.

My advice would be to wait. The reason I say this is because you are moving into a new to you home. This home (I am not sure what year it is) could have surprises that may take priority with your finances before a pretty kitchen would. I am sure that you did a home inspection/but still you never know.

Also with having a 15 month old in an unfamiliar space, it may be safer to wait a bit :) I have no kids myself but I get the impression the little ones move quickly and quietly.