A custom kitchen remodel can increase the efficiency, function, value, and enjoyment of your home. Unfortunately, mistakes can make the project itself a huge time and cost sink.

Here are 9 mistakes people make when designing or remodeling their kitchen. You'll want to avoid these common mistakes on your next kitchen renovation project:

1. Improper Garbage Setup

Kitchens are huge producers of garbage. Organic food waste, bottles, cans, plastic containers, wrappers, and bags need throwing out constantly to keep a kitchen clean and sanitary.

Despite how obvious the need for proper disposal might seem, many kitchen designs don't adequately allocate space for the different types of waste kitchens create.

If you're planning to recycle, you'll need a separate container for your paper, glass, and recyclable plastics. You might also want to consider a trash compactor in your kitchen remodel design. Non-compacted containers can fill up quickly and take up a lot of space in your bins.

2. Excessive Trendiness

Some kitchen design concepts stay relevant for decades while others fall out of fashion after a single season. When making color, styles, and material choices, picking a brand new concept in your favorite home improvement magazine or Pinterest page could be risky.

You don't want to feel embarrassed when people are in your kitchen five years from now. Dated styles can even make it harder to sell your home at the price you want. Kitchen remodel experts can point you towards timeless design choices.

3. Lack of Lighting

Each kitchen remodel requires 3 main types of lighting: task lighting, accent lighting, and overall illumination. Lack of task lighting could make it difficult to chop vegetables, prepare meals, and even use your cooking surfaces. Improper accent lighting can make your kitchen look really dark or dull.

Overall illumination is obviously important for everyone who uses your kitchen. When designing your lighting setup, you need to think about how natural light from your windows will affect things.

A combination of fluorescent or LED ceiling lights, strip lighting, hanging lights, and track lighting can be used to fulfill a wide range of purposes.

4. Inadequate Ventilation

Just because a meal smells delicious the night you make it doesn't mean you want to experience its odor days later. That's why installing cheap ventilation that doesn't actually remove the air from your kitchen can be a big mistake in your kitchen remodel.

A quality air intake on a range hood will actually transport unwanted air outside. Not only does this remove odors, but it gets rid of excess heat from the stove top and smoke from high-temperature cooking.

Good ventilation also extends the life of your appliances, especially your refrigerator. Not making the investment here in your renovations can cost you a lot more in the long run.

5. Not Enough Storage

No kitchen really has enough shelf space for every single tool and gadget you want, but not creating enough storage real estate for the items you use most can make preparing meals a real chore. Many kitchen remodel projects make the mistake of not taking advantage of every storage opportunity.

For example, rather than investing in high-quality custom kitchen cabinets, homeowners will use a big part of their budget to purchase visually appealing fixtures, flooring, and countertops. While the initial aesthetic flare may seem worth it, the lack of investment in storage will be painful on an everyday basis.