Thursday, November 1, 2012

Kitchen Design Basics To Get You Started

By Liz Lemmon


These days, your kitchen isn't just a place for you to cook and eat food. The modern kitchen has been transformed over the past several years into a focal point of finer homes and a central point of interior design in the home. These days, it isn't good enough to have a bright kitchen with with plenty of light. Your kitchen can even make or break a home sale when the time comes to sell your home.

Every years new appliances with more options and new fashions and materials in kitchen design are being introduced into the marketplace. Some of your friends and family may have updated their kitchens and you might be thinking that it's about time for you to renovate your own kitchen. Keep in mind that your kitchen is like no other room in your house. Your living room might get by with a new coat of paint in the latest color or some new furniture but your kitchen very well might be one of the biggest investments in your home that you will ever make. All of this should make you be very thoughtful and thorough in your planning of your new kitchen design.

Your initial step in planning your kitchen remodeling should be to make a wish list of what you really want in your kitchen. It might be more light or specific appliances or a kitchen island. Even if something might seem impossible, put it on your list anyhow. You never know how your design might develop. Also list what you like about your kitchen as it is and what you dislike about your present design or layout.

There are three main components to a kitchen. These include the stove, fridge and the sink. You will be working between these three areas so they need to be close together yet not so close that if you were to be cooking with a partner that you would be unable to work comfortably. Keep this triangle in mind as you decide where you're going to put your stove and fridge as they related to the sink.

A field trip to your local home improvement store might be in order to get more ideas. There you will see what is on the market when it comes to appliances and you very well may find something that you never knew existed or features that you might fall in love with. You can also begin to make decisions on counter top materials, cabinets and flooring. Many home improvement stores have small displays of cabinets,counter topsand flooring in mock kitchens so you can see and feel what the materials might be like in your own place. Some stores also have computers with software that will allow you to put together different options to see what they will look like together and also cost out your material list.

Be mindful of the many lighting options that you haveavailableto you these days. The days of having one central light in the middle of the room are long gone. Kitchen have become almost like an art gallery as under cabinet lighting, accent lighting and different lighting fixtures have been introduced to the market. While they might make your kitchen look stunning, they also have a purpose. Under cabinet lighting is helpful to illuminate your work surface while you're cooking and accent lighting make your kitchen more inviting after the meal is over and during those midnight snack runs.

With a little thought and planning you can create the kitchen design of your dreams. Take your time and be sure of your choices. Weigh the pros and cons of different materials and different looks as they pertain to space and efficiency of your kitchen. The planning might be the longest phase of your kitchen design but careful planning will save you time and money in the long run since the wrong decision can leave you with a kitchen that reminds you every day of what you wish you had done differently.




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