How to design a kitchen?

Wednesday, July 04, 2012
How to design a kitchen:

Your kitchen is a place of reunion for the family whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner or during late night talks after a long day at work. For this and many other reasons, your kitchen should be comforting for you and designed to get the most of this valuable time with your family.

Planning your kitchen design is the same as preparing any other job; you first need to assess your needs and your requirements (Are you a big family? Do you need large space for cooking?  How much space do you have?). After having taken these needs into consideration, you can start looking into the design of your kitchen.

When searching for a design, you can choose to completely change your kitchen or to remodel or redecorate if your appliances still satisfy your needs.

If you choose to redecorate, you can simply add a few landscape portraits or some floral images with calm colors for a fresher and more stylish appearance of your kitchen.

If you choose to change or remodel it, here are some design tips.

Try to place appliances with the greatest usage (sink, stove and refrigerator) close with open access to and from them to ensure easier cooking. After taking care of appliances, make sure you install countertops to work on, and these should be of durable material because they will receive the most activity. One idea could be mosaics, which satisfy the requirements, do not need continuous care and handling and can also provide amazing decorative appeal.

Stone marble mosaic tiles with patterns matching the overall design could also serve for kitchen floor use and will prove to be long-lasting, easy to clean and will create an ambiance.

When choosing a new design, pick one with colors that will be hard to go out of fashion.

The most common mistakes in kitchen designs are the lack of ventilation and lighting; it is recommended that you highly concentrate on those while implementing the design. A ventilated kitchen will give better quality for your family gatherings whereas lighting should be concentrated on small task locations such as the sink, the stove and the countertops.

Also you also keep in mind consideration for the electrical installation.

It is ideal to customize your kitchen in a way to make you feel comfortable with your surroundings.  You can install kitchen backsplashes customized, in addition to personal touches such as putting up your favorite plants, pictures and photographs. A new trend in 2012 for kitchen designs is glass backsplashes which adds a striking effect and is easy to clean.

Always keep in mind room for storage; design your kitchen pantry in an organized way, easy for all kitchen users.
Moreover, sometimes you need to have a kitchen island because of the extra work space you will want. Place your island in the right spot; avoid having it in the way of your work flow and try to make it functional by adding a sink or a stove to the island.

Same ideas could be applied when designing a small kitchen; in that case you can add mirrors for a larger effect. Last but not least, discuss your design ideas with all household members bearing in mind that they will be the ones using it.
If you do not have the time to go seek new ideas and decorations, you can always shop online. You can check some other kitchen design ideas at: http://www.channel4.com/4homes/rooms/kitchen/kitchen-design-ideas