Kitchens are more than just a place to reheat your dinner in the microwave. Nowadays, they are the heart of the home, where we entertain, bake, relax, catch up with what the family has been up to, do the paperwork, and much more. So, for some people, designing a new kitchen can be exciting. But there is a lot of pressure to get it right and, since kitchens are quite complex, there are plenty of opportunities to mess it up, especially if you excitedly rush in and obsess over the high-tech gadgets you will never use. However, if you take the time to plan properly, you’ll end up with the perfect kitchen. Here’s how.
Look at How You Want to Use the Kitchen
You might think you know what you want from your new kitchen because you’ve looked at a few pages on Pinterest, but don’t get carried away. Instead of focusing on what it looks like, take the time to decide how you will use the space to separate your wants from your needs. For example, do you have friends over often for drinks in the kitchen? Do you do a lot of cooking from scratch? How big is your family? Will you all eat meals at the same time around the dining table? Do you prefer to hide away all your appliances for a minimalist look or do you want them on display, so they are easy to access? Sit down with your partner and write these answers down.
Contact a Professional to Get the Layout Right
When it comes to the perfect kitchen layout, it’s always best to work with a reputable kitchen designer since they will have plenty of experience, having probably worked on hundreds of homes before yours. You don’t just have to work with one company either, especially if you can find some that offer a free initial design service. Try not to be too descriptive in the beginning and instead give them some creative freedom. They may come up with ideas you have not even thought about, so take your time with this by playing around and experimenting.
Choose Stylish Furniture
Once you’ve gone through the trouble of choosing the perfect countertops, appliances, and flooring, you’ll need to make sure the furniture you choose complements your color scheme. As this will be a new living space, you want it to fit in with the rest of your home and reflect the people that live in it. If you’ve added an area for a nice wooden dining table, make sure to add some comfortable and colorful dining room chairs. If you have added shelving, include a few plants or pieces of artwork. You need to make sure it has both function and personality.
Don’t Forget to Include Lighting
Lighting might not be the first item on your list of things to do when it comes to a kitchen renovation, but it plays a very important role. Get it wrong, and your kitchen may end up looking too clinical, but get it right and it’ll look warm, friendly, and inviting. Don’t just focus on ceiling lighting either, as kitchens nowadays have under-cabinet lighting, wall lighting, and even floor lighting. Pendants over a kitchen island look particularly stylish but make sure they are dimmable if you want to create an ambient setting in the evening.
Consider Other Important Details
Many other important details can get overlooked when designing a kitchen. A big one is ventilation – how can you improve air circulation in your kitchen? When it comes to efficient extractor fans, consider exploring a variety of range hood kitchen designs. Another kitchen detail that get overlooked in storage. Do you need more space for storing plates, pans and drinkware? By adding new cabinets to empty walls or expanding the size of existing cabinets, you can create more storage space so that you’re not so restricted when it comes to kitchen utensils.
Designing the perfect kitchen is simple if you take your time and create a plan before you dive in headfirst.
