The kitchen is the heart of the home and one of the busiest spaces in the house. A well designed kitchen can elevate your house décor from good to great. The kitchen is also usually one of the spaces that is often remodeled since it has to be both functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. Remember, there is a lot of foot traffic in the kitchen area, so your kitchen design has to suit your lifestyle. It also has to be easy to keep clean and efficient to use.
Coming up with a design that is effective can be daunting. However, there are simple guidelines that you can follow that will take you a few steps closer to having your dream kitchen. The myth that remodeling and kitchen design are hard concepts will be bashed after you follow these useful tips.
Use the golden triangle layout
The golden triangle, also known as the kitchen work triangle, is a layout where an imaginary line is drawn from the cooktop, refrigerator, and sink. Putting these appliances in a way such that a line can be drawn from one to another and form a triangle is thought to be the model kitchen set up. Understanding how the golden triangle works will help you come up with a design that suits your tastes.
For the kitchen work triangle to be effective, there should be no furniture or cabinetry that will interrupt the triangle area. Your main traffic shouldn’t pass through the triangle. The purpose of this type of set up is to ensure minimum steps in this type of kitchen layout.
Factor in the island position
Kitchen islands are popular and are a fantastic way to add seating and counter space in the kitchen. They also can add extra storage in the kitchen. As opposed to having a flat countertop, you can have a custom island built for you with details like dishwasher drawers and prep sinks. You can also have a custom built-in wine storage and open shelving for your cookbooks. If your design is to have a kitchen island, ensure that you allow 36 inches of space around it.
Consider the different types of layout design
There are many types of layouts and themes for your kitchen that you can pick from. The popular designs include the zone design, corridor or galley design, L-shapes layout and the U-shaped layout. The zone design breaks up the kitchen into different areas. It allows space for many kitchen helpers and ensures that a working station exists for eating, cooking and cleaning. With this design, all family members can interact in the kitchen. The corridor or galley design is for small spaces. In this layout, the kitchen has more length than width. The sink is usually on one side and appliances or range on the other. Corridor kitchens work best with open shelving because closed shelving visually shrinks the space, increasing a feeling of confinement.
L-shaped kitchens consist of two neighboring upright walls with the main wall of cabinets and either the sink or cabinets placed in an L-shape. They can either be large or small and can either have an island or not. This layout gives you more privacy when cooking and pushes traffic out of the workspace.
Play with lighting
Transform your kitchen into an elegant room with lighting fixtures. You will need to get warm, modest lighting that will brighten up the room and give and provide and ambiance needed for conversation or personal reflection. The lighting fixtures you choose should complement the overall theme of the kitchen design and not overshadow it.
For example, putting light fixtures that are traditional and old school in a contemporary kitchen will affect the design of that kitchen. You also want to incorporate natural lighting into your kitchen by determining what kind of kitchen you will use.
As you design your kitchen, do not be afraid to be daring with your design. Play with color, appliances design layouts, and cabinetry. If you are looking for custom kitchen cabinetry in East Gwillimbury, you can talk to us today and we can advise how this can fit into your ideal kitchen design.