MAKE YOUR DREAM KITCHEN A REALITY
Designing a Kitchen That You Will Love To Cook In
It’s important to carefully plan your kitchen,
whether it’s a new kitchen that you are designing,
or a remodel of your old kitchen, to make it a
space that you will enjoy cooking in and be proud
of when you have dinner guests over. This is the
time for you to plan for both comfort, style, and
most importantly to make it a highly functional kitchen for the cooking that you
enjoy. We have 17 tips for you to consider when you start planning and designing
your dream kitchen.
17 Great Tips for Designing a Kitchen That You Will Love
When you think about the center of your home, the first thing that most people
think of is the living room. But, the central part of the home when it comes to
function is actually the kitchen. Many hours of your day is spent in the kitchen,
starting with breakfast for a quick in and out as family members start their day. It
starts there, then transitions throughout the day for tea or coffee, lunch, snacks,
dinner, and desert. With so much activity, it’s important to design a kitchen
around functionality, speed, and usefulness.
1. An Organized Kitchen Lessens the Number of Steps
When you design your kitchen, think about those things that you do a lot, and
things that you do together, and try to place those things close together. A good
example of this is when you start your day off with making coffee. It’s a good idea
to keep your coffee mugs, grounds or kcups, creamer, chocolate, vanilla, caramel,
all close together within reach. Another thing to think about is when your meals
are done, the next step is putting away the leftovers. If you keep the aluminum
foil, plastic wrap, tupperware containers all close to where you will use them, it
saves you precious time by keeping them organized and close to where you need
them. k
2. Roomy Walkways In Your Kitchen
Make sure that when you desing the floor plan of you rnew kitchen that you give
yourself plenty of room between your cabinets, island, appliances, and bakers
rack. If you have been in a cramped kitchen before, you will know exactly why this
is important. A kitchen that is too tight and not enough room to walk around in
can lead to dropping hot plates, or just feeling cramped, so you won’t enjoy your
new kitchen as much. Give yourself plenty of room! A good rule of thumb here is
never go below 36 inches wide, and try to give yourself 42 to 48 inches for the
ultimate dream kitchen.
3. A Smooth Flow For Traffic in Your Kitchen
Traffic flow is another important thing to think about when you design your
dream kitchen. You don’t want to get bumped when you are cooking a hot dish by
the kids that come running through to grab a yogurt out of the refrigerator.
Design your kitchen so someone can come into the kitchen, grab something from
the fridge, and get back out the way they came, without having to bump into the
chef. Make sure your stove is not placed along a busy path of people running
through the kitchen to get to another part of the house.
4. Adding An Island to Your Kitchen
Having an island in your kitchen is a great way to separate the areas that family
members may congregate in for snacks as your cooking. It separates the socially
active part of the kitchen, from where you make the magic happen in the kitchen,
giving you your space to both be a part of the conversation but just separate
enough to keep doing what you are doing.
An island adds a great place for conversation, snacks, quick meals, and so much
more. It can also add additional useability to your kitchen if you want to have your
sink or a dishwasher housed in your kitchen island. You could add a cooktop to
give you more cooking space as well. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of
room to do it all in.
5. A Kitchen With No Corners
Well it may not be possible to not have corners in your new kitchen, but you can
think about corners during the design process and make the best use for them.
Think about how your cabinet doors will open, and how your appliance doors will
open. Make sure you lay out your cabinets and appliances to that they won’t end
up with limited mobility because they are in or too close to a corner.
It’s a good idea to keep your appliances away from corners, and make sure doors
won't be banging into each other if they both open at the same time, which
happens a lot in a busy kitchen. You can also think about using lower profile
handles and knobs that will help give them more mobility when opening up near
corners, or other appliances and cabinets as well.
6. Where to Place the Microwave
Where you place your microwave can make it more or less useful for everyone in
the house. For the older teens and adults in the home, having the microwave
about 15 inches above the countertop is a good place. If you have smaller
younger ones in the house, you may be better off having a microwave setup
below the contertop so that everyone can reach. Otherwise you may end up with
kids climbing up on chairs to use the microwave, which can lead to accidents.
7. Give Yourself Plenty of Landing Space Near Appliances
It’s important to give youself plenty of space to be able to quickly place hot items
coming out of the oven or microwave. It’s also important to have some space to
prep your ingredients. When you design your kitchen, give yousefl atleast 15
inches of countertop space on each side of your cooktop, as well as your
refrigerator. It’s also nice to have some room around smaller appliances like
coffee pots and your toaster to prepare your coffee, and toast.
8. Designing Your Countertops for Your Dream Kitchen
When you start thinking about the countertop space, you should consider the
types of meals that you like to make. Home chefs that like to cook a lot for their
large family, or group of friends, will need more counter space. It’s a good idea to
plan for more space between the stove and the sink, as this is where a lot of the
work is done.
9. Adding More Appliances to Help Get Things Done
If you like to cook for large groups, or if you have a large family, you may want to
think about adding more appliances. Double ovens, or larger cooktops with more
burners will give you more space to cook. A second microwave, or toaster oven,
can help as well.
10. Organizing Your Cooking Space
Organize your kitchen to store your cooking essentials in the space directly by the
stove. Add a cabinet, or a shelf, behind your stove to store your oils, spices, and
cooking utensils to make them more accessible. Plan your kitchen cabines to give
you some extra space to store your cookware close to the stove and cooktop.
Some people even like to add S-hooks on the side of their range hood to hang
their most often used post and pans for easy and quick access.
11. Extra Hose To Fill Your Kitchen Pots
Adding a swing out tap by your stovetop, or a longer hose in your kitchen faucet
that can reach the stovetop, will enable you to fill up your pots and pans right on
the stove. This is an extra convenient and time saving way to fill up your large pots
and pans and not have to carry them over to the stove after your fill them up.
12. Add A Magnetic Knife Strip to Your Kitchen
A magnetic knife strip on your backsplash in your kitchen where knives are
commonly used will save you time and make them more accessible as well. Place
it where you do a lot of your meal preparation. This will make it easier to get to
the knives you need, and also keeps those dangerous knives out of reach of your
children as well.
13. Add A Kitchen Message Center
Setting up a message center in your kitchen will help the whole family stay on task
and be reminded of things that need to get done. A bulleting board can keep
everyone in the loop on day to day tasks. It’s also a good place to keep an ongoing
grocery list, or list of wants and needs of the family. This is also a good place for
reminders about chores, and appointments as well.
14. An Electrified Kitchen
Well, maybe not electrified, but plenty of outlets is a must. When you are
designing your kitchen, make sure you have plenty of outlets for your appliances,
for your kitchen gadgets. Think about where you will need to plug in a blender, a
mixer, an electric carving knife. Also keep in mind any type of decorating you do
throughout the year, are there any areas of the kitchen that may need some extra
plugs? You may also want to throw in some usb type outlets, or some outlets for
where you may want to plug in your laptop.
15. A Kitchen With Quick Clean Up
One thing that is near and dear to my heart is to have a kitchen that is easy to
clean up. Put some thought into what will make it easier for you. A stove top with
a flat surface area is easier to clean than a stove with the trays and coils. A
referigerator that has glass shelves is easier to clean than one with wire shelves
that let drips and crumbs fall all through the different levels. Flush set or
undermount sinks don’t have the rim that traps crumbs that can be difficult to
clean. Matte finishes look cleaner so they require less cleaning, as compared to
glossy finnishes.
16. Plan Your Kitchen Colors
If you have a small kitchen, you will want to use light colors as dark colors make
the room look smaller. Use soft shades on your cabinets to make the room look
bigger as well. Incorporate simple window treatments to let in more natural
lighting to brighten up the space.
17. Design A Focal Point for Your Kitchen
Design your kitchen so your guest will have a focal point to key in on. Make it
draw their eyes in to make a bold statement. Planning for some flashy backsplash
tile, fancy flooring, a gorgeous large range hood, bright kitchen cabinets, or
patterned countertops can all serve as the element to grab your guests attention.
Once you select the focal point, you can add to that area with some quieter types
of details, but still beautiful and eye catching to give your kitchen an amazing
style.
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ’s
How much does a typical kitchen remodel cost?
The size of the kitchen, and your tastes and style will dictate what the costs will
be. A typical small scale remodel will cost about $10,000 to $20,000. A mid scale
remodel, with some upgraded appliances and finishes will cost you about $20,000
to $50,000. A high end kitchen remodel can cost between $70,000 and $100,000.
How do you remodel a small kitchen?
Planning a remodel for a small kitchen is important to consider how you will use
the space in more efficient space saving ways. If you are going to do your remodel
yourself, it’s important to make sure you have the necessary tools and materials
to be successful. If you can afford to higher a kitchen designer, they will be able to
incorporate ways to make more useable space and get your more organized as
well to make you really enjoy your new kitchen.
How do you budget for your kitchen remodel?
When you are planning your budget for your kitchen remodel it’s important to
make sure you thing about all apsects of the remodel, and where you want to
spend more money vs where you want to save money. Cabinets, countertops, and
appliances are the most important place to spend a little more when you can.
Then you can think about the rest of the remodel, which includes the flooring,
backsplash, lighting, the sink, and the fixtures. Lastly, you should consider the
decorative touches, such as paint, window treatments, and artwork. You can
always add more to this last area over time.
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