Kitchen Remodel Selections Checklist: Cabinets, Countertops, Hardware, and What Comes First
A kitchen remodel involves countless decisions—from cabinetry, flooring, and appliances to countertops, backsplash, plumbing, hardware, lighting, and paint. While it can be tempting to start with the finish or feature you’re most excited about, a thoughtful design begins by looking at the space as a whole and making selections in the right order.
When I'm planning a kitchen remodel in Phoenix, I start with the space itself. Before we can elevate the design, we need to understand how the kitchen needs to function.
Where will the appliances go? How will you move through the kitchen? Which cabinets need drawers instead of doors? Where will you actually store the things you use every day?
Those decisions create the foundation. Once we know how the kitchen needs to work, we can start making it beautiful.
Start With the Floor Plan, Not the Finishes
The first step in my kitchen design process is space planning.
I want to understand how the homeowner uses the kitchen before we begin selecting materials. Appliance locations, cabinet configurations, storage, work areas, and traffic flow all affect the final floor plan.
This is also the time to think specifically about what needs to go inside the cabinetry. If we determine during construction that a cabinet needs drawers instead of doors, or that we need different inserts and storage solutions, that change can affect more than the cabinet itself.
Cabinet lead times are a major part of a remodel schedule. Changes made after cabinetry is ordered can potentially delay everything that follows.
Functionality has to come first. Then we can elevate it.
Cabinets Don't Always Come First
There's a common assumption that you choose cabinets and build every other kitchen selection around them. Sometimes that's true, but not always.
The process depends on the type of cabinetry we're using.
When I'm working with a custom millworker, I often focus on flooring before finalizing the cabinet finish. A custom millworker has more flexibility to adjust a paint color or stain so the cabinetry works beautifully with the flooring we've selected.
Prefabricated cabinetry requires a slightly different approach. In that case, I like to have the cabinet style and color range in mind while we're looking at flooring so we can evaluate those materials together.
The goal isn't to follow a rigid checklist simply because someone says cabinets have to come first. It's to understand which decisions affect the others and make them in an order that gives us the best finished result.
A Kitchen Remodel Selection Order That Makes Sense
Every project is different, but there is a general sequence I tend to follow.
Once we've established the floor plan, my selection process typically looks something like this:
- Flooring
- Cabinetry
- Countertops
- Backsplash
- Plumbing fixtures
- Cabinet hardware and decorative lighting
- Paint
Appliances also need to be identified early because their sizes and locations directly affect the floor plan and cabinetry.
This doesn't mean we design each element in isolation. Quite the opposite. I'm considering how all of these materials will work together throughout the process.
By the time we're choosing the smaller details, we already have a clear design direction to guide those decisions.
Planning a Kitchen Remodel in Phoenix Before Construction Starts
One of the most important things a homeowner can do is make design decisions before the contractor needs answers.
Once construction is underway, the timeline becomes very real. Contractors need dimensions, products need to be ordered, trades need to be scheduled, and cabinetry can dictate when other portions of the project can move forward.
This is where waiting to make decisions becomes stressful.
A homeowner may suddenly be asked to approve hardware, confirm a plumbing fixture, select a backsplash, or make another decision while several other parts of the project are already moving.
I'd much rather make those choices thoughtfully ahead of time than make them because someone on the jobsite needs an answer that afternoon.
Small Details Can Have a Big Impact
Some of the least glamorous decisions can make an enormous difference in the finished kitchen.
Receptacle placement is a perfect example.
There's nothing like selecting a beautiful slab backsplash and then realizing an outlet has to be cut directly into an area you wanted to remain visually clean. Receptacles are necessary, of course, but their placement and appearance should be considered as part of the design.
Countertop edge details are another seemingly small decision that can significantly affect how the finished kitchen feels.
These aren't necessarily the selections homeowners think about when they're saving inspiration photos, but they're exactly the kinds of details I want resolved before installation.
A high-end kitchen isn't just about beautiful materials. It's about thinking through how those materials meet, where functional elements need to go, and what the finished space will look like from every angle.
Why Reselections Happen
Even with careful planning, sometimes we need to make another selection.
A product may go out of stock. A material may become unavailable. Occasionally, workmanship doesn't meet the standard we expected and something needs to be addressed.
Those situations are different from having to reselect something because it wasn't coordinated properly in the first place.
The more decisions we can make early, the better prepared we are to keep the project moving when something unexpected happens.
That's one of the reasons I don't like leaving major design decisions until construction is underway. We want flexibility for the things we can't control, not chaos from the things we could have planned.
Less Is More When It Comes to Decisions
Decision fatigue is real during a remodel.
One way I help clients avoid it is by not asking them to make every tiny decision themselves.
You hired a designer because you don't want to spend your evenings debating grout colors or trying to determine which hardware size looks best on a particular cabinet.
I typically present an option or two that I believe works for the design rather than putting ten possibilities in front of you.
Too many choices aren't helpful.
There are also details my clients trust me to handle on their behalf. That allows them to stay involved in the decisions that matter to them without feeling responsible for every single specification required to complete the kitchen.
The process should feel guided, not overwhelming.
When Design for a Day Is Enough
Sometimes homeowners come to me when they're already deep into a remodel.
The contractor is asking questions, selections need to be finalized, and they're overwhelmed by the number of decisions still in front of them.
That's where Design for a Day can be incredibly helpful. We can step into the process, provide focused guidance, help resolve selections, and give the homeowner direction when they're feeling stuck.
It's different from Full Service Interior Design, where we're involved from the beginning.
With full service, we have the opportunity to space plan, develop the design, coordinate selections, communicate with the contractor, and anticipate potential issues before they become expensive changes or delays.
Both services can provide valuable design guidance. The right fit depends largely on where you are in the project and how much support you need. You can also explore our interior design services to see how Bex Collective approaches different levels of project support.
Get Your Designer Involved Early
If I could give homeowners one piece of advice before starting a kitchen remodel, it would be this: get your designer involved early.
Your contractor and designer have different roles, and a successful remodel benefits from both.
The contractor is focused on executing the construction. As the designer, I'm focused on how the space functions, how the materials and details work together, and making sure design decisions are communicated clearly throughout the process.
I'm also there to help guide you through those decisions so you aren't trying to coordinate everything yourself while construction is happening around you.
The earlier we can establish the plan, the more confidently everyone can move forward.
A beautiful kitchen is the goal, but the process matters too. When the floor plan, selections, details, and construction requirements are considered before the pressure builds, the finished kitchen has a much better chance of feeling exactly the way it was intended to.
You can browse the Bex Collective portfolio for more design inspiration, or start the conversation if you're planning a remodel of your own.
