The kitchen is a high-traffic area in your home and while it is the designated area for cooking, the kitchen often serves as a multi-functional family room. It is the extra room to watch TV, the quiet place to get some work done, the immediate dining room when no other is available, and so on. As such, your kitchen should be a functional room, and not necessarily a pretty one.
A functional kitchen is a family kitchen that you really want to cook in. You may not know the first thing about getting your home to be a functional one. Here’s how:
If you consider you can handle the job, it is perfectly possible to complete a DIY kitchen; however, with such an important project most people opt to use a kitchen design and installation company. There is no need to worry that the designer will overshadow your abilities. The person is there to help you and work hand-in-hand with you. All you have to do is give the interior designer your ideas and preferences. Their role is to take them and come up with a practical and workable plan. The designer knows more about the major elements of layout, proportion, and storage than you. So, leave them to do their work after you have shared your dream kitchen ideas with them. Anything that you can’t agree on, compromise and negotiate.
Just how much money do you want to spend? While you and your kitchen designer are brainstorming ideas, reveal your intended budget. While sharing ideas and coming up with a workable plan, your designer will craft the plan based on your intended spend. However, note that kitchen renovation is not a cheap exercise because there will be plumbing and electrical work as well as the installation of the units and worktops.
Your dream kitchen must be based on functionality, mainly how you cook and how you use your kitchen. Here your idiosyncrasies are taken into consideration. Things, such as, are you left handed, or right handed? Do you like cooking on a big stove or a small one? Do you like your frequently used utensils in close reach, or are you the type of person who likes everything neatly packed away? These things may look minor, but they are very important. It makes no sense designing a kitchen that you feel restricted in, or in which the ergonomicsare just not right.
Your kitchen windows, cupboards, and equipment must take precedence. The things that affect the functionality of your kitchen are the priority. Leave the frivolous things out. Yes, it’s your dream kitchen, but the things that can be considered extras cost. Your designer will provide guidance.When looking for a vintage look to your kitchen, wood can help a lot. Bringing in things like wooden counter tops and tables to can offer this look. Adding simpler items such as DIY window shutters to control the light in the kitchen can also give it a warmer feeling.
This is where you will get the bulk of your ideas. You can personally visit homes that you have access to and check out the kitchens. Take pictures for future reference. In addition, you can surf the Internet for design ideas, and practical examples of dream kitchens. Share your research findings with your interior designer who will make sense of what you have found, and determine what is workable and what is not.
You can test the plan after the interior designer has done it. They can use modelling to achieve this. You will get a look and feel for your new kitchen even before that actual renovation begins. If something is not workable, change it and test it. This will save time and money.
Follow these steps and you will definitely end up with the ideal kitchen, one that is free of clutter and chaos. Your multi-functional space will be well designed and functional. You will not only enjoy cooking in it, but carrying out all the other activities that you just happen to also do in the kitchen. Your kitchen might even become the favourite room in the house.
XOXO
Debbie