I dream of a dream kitchen! Do you?? If you’re planning a kitchen remodel then you probably already know that there are seemingly endless decisions to make. Most people immediately start searching through Pinterest and Instagram to gather beautiful inspiration images on the latest trends, bold marble countertops, deluxe appliances, cabinetry colours and so on. But there is so much more that goes into designing a kitchen! I’ve found that some elements remain true regardless of your taste or budget. Here are six elements that I take into consideration with every kitchen design. If you want a functional kitchen design for your whole family to enjoy then this one’s for you!
1. Keep Full-Height Cabinets Together!
When considering your kitchen layout, it is a good idea to keep any full-height cabinets, like a pantry, together in one row at the end of a run of cabinetry or in its own designated section. This is so they don’t interrupt the flow of the countertop or block the work triangle (a kitchen work triangle is when your sink, cooktop, and fridge form a triangle which makes for an efficient workflow. The oven is not considered part of the triangle).
2. Choose Drawers Over Doors
When selecting the cabinetry layout, whenever possible I like to use drawers for the lower cabinetry over cabinet doors. Have you ever opened up a kitchen cabinet door only to find that there is A TON of wasted space?? In most cases, drawers offer a much better use of space. They may cost you a bit more, but they provide a lot of flexibility and customizable options that a standard cabinet won’t. There are so many great inserts available to keep you well organized – from pots and pans, oven trays, dishes, spices, and more! (Drawer insert photo courtesy of Sola Kitchens).
3. Take Upper Cabinets to the Ceiling!
Upper cabinets that end before the ceiling usually become major dust collectors, and who wants that?! So unless you have crazy super high ceilings, I always recommend bringing your upper cabinets right to the ceiling, even if that means it will end at a bulkhead or soffit. It will also make your kitchen look bigger and your ceilings look higher, not to mention give you added storage!
4. Create Clearance Above the Sink
Most commonly the primary sink (not including prep sinks) is placed either under a window or in an island where there is nothing to obstruct your head while working over it. However, sometimes this is not possible and a sink needs to be located below the upper cabinetry. If this happens, create a break in the cabinetry so that you can enjoy a spacious work zone.
5. Don’t Place the Microwave Too High
Gone are the days of microwaves doing double duty as exhausts over the range and ending up way too high for most of us to comfortably reach. For maximum convenience, your microwave should either be placed in the lower cabinetry or placed no higher than about eye level in full height cabinetry. You’ll often see them combined with wall ovens.
6. Choose Handles Based on Cabinet Size & Function
One size does not fit all when it comes to selecting the hardware for your cabinets. There are many kinds to choose from – knobs, pulls, latches, bin pulls, edge pulls, and the list goes on! I often like to place knobs on doors and pulls on drawers – it creates a nice, balanced mix. This is a great starting point but it doesn’t end there! I also take into consideration the sizes – the height of the doors and the width of the drawers and then I select the pulls based on proportion. I often use the rule of thirds to guide the process. For instance, if a drawer is 30 inches wide, the pull should be approximately 10 inches long. If another bank of drawers is only 18 inches wide then the pull should be approximately 6 inches long, and so on. However, when using pulls on doors, this guideline may need to be adjusted. For instance, if you have a tall pantry door that is 72 inches you probably aren’t going to place a 24 inch pull on it. In this case, you can scale it down a bit. (A note of warning – you do not want to end up with a million different sizes of pulls in your kitchen. Try to balance the rule of thirds with no more than about 4 different lengths of handles.) If you choose knobs for the upper cabinets and the lower doors then you have just simplified your process since you can use the same size knob on all of the doors! Phew!
There is sooooo much more I could go into here – but alas, I am out of time! Should I write a part 2 of kitchen design???
(Photo credits: Jules Lee Photography,)