How to design the perfect kitchen
You've heard that the kitchen is the heart of the home, but is that true about yours?
While there's no such thing as a perfect kitchen, there is one that's perfect for you. Your dream kitchen should reflect your personal taste and be functional at the same time, with the finishes and features that you'll use the most.
Not sure where to begin? Today, we're sharing a few tips to help you design one from the ground up. Whether you're building a new space or remodeling an existing one, keep these in mind as you plan your project!
1. Keep Function Top of Mind
Yes, you need the ability to chop, cook and sauté in your kitchen. Yet, that's not all you'll use this room for. Over the years, the kitchen has transitioned into the most important room in your home, used for a variety of different purposes.
When designing yours, begin by envisioning all of the activities that you anticipate doing there.
Will it be a hangout space for your kids after school? A drop zone for mail and homework? The central location where you dream of having tons of big family meals? Will you work on your laptop on one end, or watch television in another?
There is no right or wrong answer, but it's important to be realistic in your replies. At the end of the day, you want a kitchen that doesn't just look great, but also works hard for your family and meets all of your needs.
2. Design Your Triangle
There are few hard tried-and-true rules in kitchen design, and trends come and go. Still, there are a few guidelines that have stood the test of time, and the triangle is one of them.
In short, these are the three points formed between your refrigerator, cooktop and sink.
Ideally, these will form a triangular shape that optimizes your workflow as you move around the room. As far as technical details, most experts maintain that each leg of the triangle should be between four feet and nine feet long. Together, the entire span of the shape should be somewhere between 13 and 26 feet.
While you don't exactly need to be precise with these measurements, this layout is helpful. Otherwise, you could find yourself spinning your wheels as you run all around the kitchen trying to find what you need.
3. Don't Forget Lighting
It's easy to get caught up with other details of your dream kitchen and forget all about the statement that great lighting can make.
At the minimum, you'll need general lighting and task lighting. General lighting responsible for illuminating the majority of your space. This can include strategically-placed can lights, as well as gorgeous pendant lights over the island. Be sure to install dimmer lights so you can easily adjust the brightness according to the time of day or the mood you want to set!
Task lights help you perform important tasks in your kitchen. For instance, you can install under-cabinet lights to light up your countertop for meal prepping. You can also add a light over your sink for those times when you just need a glass of water and don't want to brighten up the whole room!
If your budget allows, you can also consider adding accent lighting, such as a strip of LED lights inside your glass cabinets. While these aren't necessary for most tasks, they can add a beautiful and unexpected touch!
4. Invest in Quality Materials
When it comes to the materials you choose for your kitchen, it's best to invest in ones that you know will last. Not only do premium finishes simply look better, but they'll also extend the lifetime and usage of your space.
This applies to your cabinets, hardware, flooring and of course, your countertops! Time-honored materials such as granite, quartz and marble simply outpace other, lower-quality alternatives such as Formica or tile in both form and function. A few of the advantages they offer include:
- More heat-resistant
- More durable
- More unique and varied appearance
- Easier to care for
- Less prone to damage and cracking
The best part? It's easy to browse our available slabs of granite and quartz online!
These designs bring personality and style into your home and come in a wide range of colors, sizes and finishes. Our team is available to help you find the perfect slab for your kitchen, taking your budget, layout and personal preferences into account.
To see how each choice would look in your room, use our virtual kitchen visualizer! With this tool, you can choose from more than 250 different colors of quartz, granite and marble. You can also customize the cabinets and flooring for a finished look.
5. Add Tons of Storage
You'll never regret adding more storage into your kitchen design. Even if your space has a small footprint, you can still maximize every square inch to make sure you're getting as much use out of it as possible.
If you regularly use small appliances, such as a toaster oven or coffeepot, consider whether you'd like them sitting out or stowed away for easy access. If it's the latter, you can store them all in a small-scale "appliance garage" with retractable doors. This way, you know just where to find them, but you've cleared up space on the countertop.
From your pantry to your cabinets, look for any unused or underutilized areas that you could turn into new storage. Don't forget to leave enough space below your last pantry shelf to store taller items, including paper towels, cereal boxes and bulk goods.
Today, there are plenty of organizers and gadgets designed to help you organize every part of your kitchen. Use these to your advantage to tidy up your pots, pans, silverware, spices and more!
The Right Touch For Your Perfect Kitchen
With a little planning, you can have the perfect kitchen for both your wants and your needs. The key is to visualize how you dream of using the space, and then choose the layout, lighting and materials that can bring those dreams to life.
As you design your new kitchen, we'd love to help. Use our online kitchen visualizer to choose the finishes you envision for your home, and contact us today to make them a reality.