Kitchen Details
The kitchen is the heart of any home and often ends up being a place where the whole family can spend time together. A poorly designed kitchen can leave you feeling unorganized and be a less inviting place to hang out. There are endless options when it comes to remodeling a kitchen and it can be an overwhelming project. However with the help of an interior designer, you can easily transform your kitchen into an efficient and welcoming space for your family and guests. The details that go into a kitchen are really what can make or break the space. Here are some tips on what to consider when beginning a kitchen redesign.
- Evaluating your space
When planning your remodel, a great place to start is by looking at the actual space you have to work with. Will you be using the existing kitchen space or are there opportunities to make the space larger? Sometimes it is possible to make the kitchen feel larger than it is without actually having to move walls. A professional interior designer will be able to see your kitchen with a fresh perspective and has more experience in the best ways to maximize your space. Designers also consider all aspects of the design at once, from the floor all the way to the ceiling. This ensures that the entire room ends up with a cohesive, finished feel.
- Consider traffic flow
Traffic flow is a huge factor to consider when planning a well-designed kitchen. Ideally, you want to create a work triangle between the sink, stove, and refrigerator. This is the most functional flow for a kitchen. Keep in mind that the refrigerator is typically the most used appliance. While it needs to be handy for the cook, other family members, and sometimes even guests, may need to access the fridge while other work is going on in the kitchen. Try to keep the fridge within a good working triangle while not having the direct path to it interfere too much with the other cooking and prep spaces. Correct placement of all appliances can make cooking and entertaining in your home easier and more efficient.
- Material Selection
Having to select all the different materials for a kitchen can be overwhelming. There are endless options for everything you will be choosing from countertops, backsplashes, flooring, cabinetry, sinks, faucets, and appliances. Not only do you want to make sure everything works well together, but also that it doesn’t become too busy or overwhelm the space, and you also want to make sure it flows well with the rest of your home. Many do it yourselfers seem to have a hard time through this process which is where the help of an interior designer will really pay off and make the process easy for you. The correct selection of materials is what creates the ambiance of the room.
- Plan ahead with cabinetry
When planning your kitchen remodel, spend extra time really thinking about your cabinets. There is much more that goes into cabinets than just the finish and style of them. While the outside of the cabinets will be a very big part of the overall design of your kitchen, what’s inside will make all the difference in the functionality for its everyday use. First, think about what makes the most sense for what to use each cabinet for. Drawers and wall cabinets closest to the dishwasher are great to store utensils, plates and cups as it will make it easier to put away when they are done washing. Pots and pans can be stored in large pull out drawers next to the stove. Once you figure out how you want to store everything, then you can begin to plan for added functionality with specialized cabinets and inserts. Cabinets can be made with all sorts of special inserts or racks to hold items like spices, cutting boards, knives, utensils, pots and pans, and trash cans. In corner cabinets, it is a great idea to add a lazy susan to be able to use the whole cabinet efficiently. One more thing to think about with cabinetry is a place to put your microwave. Leaving an opening for a microwave is great because it takes it off of the counter, increasing work space. There are so many possibilities when customizing your cabinets so make sure you do your research ahead of time.
- Light up your space
Lighting is very important in a kitchen and you want to make sure you have enough. You can also add accent lighting for extra ambiance. The best way to get sufficient lighting throughout the space is by adding recessed can lighting in the ceiling. Can lights will flood the entire room with light ensuring your kitchen is nice and bright. If you have an island or peninsula in your kitchen, you can add pendant lights over it for added task lighting that makes a very pretty accent as well. Finally, under cabinet lighting is a great way to add lighting into the space as well. It can really help add task lighting to your counters and also adds great ambiance. It can also really highlight your backsplash!
Since the kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the home, is makes sense to take the time in planning before the remodel to really nail the design through special details. If you take the time to plan all of these details, we promise you will end up with the kitchen of your dreams that all of your guests will admire!