Getting Started on Your Kitchen Remodel-4 Space Planning Questions you must consider

13-1_1554212191By changing your existing notions of what your kitchen is, you then have a whole new way of looking at your home design.  Answering these five basic questions will help with you getting exactly what you need and a kitchen remodel plan that really works for you.

  1. How do you really use your kitchen? Do you like to entertain with the kitchen being the center of the scene?  Is it just for meal prep?  Do you want your kitchen to have multiple uses, perhaps function as “command central”, including having a place for a desk, meal planning, bill paying, and even laundry? Do you want to include a space that accommodates family gathering, and a place for homework or projects?  Or, is the kitchen an efficient place for cooking only?  Addressing the function first can completely alter the design of the space—even with the exact same space to start with.  Not knowing could very well lead to another boring and ineffective space that does not truly support your goals.
  2. How much kitchen stuff do you really need?  Can you pare back on cabinets and add seating?  Do you need bigger storage and less counter tops?  Can you store some of the stuff in other rooms, or do you want to bring things from storage into the new space?   One man’s perfect walk in pantry is another’s inadequate space.  It matters to consider how you like to shop—storage for larger quantity items, or just enough to not lose the stock you have accumulated in a mess?   Some like to have multiple places for refrigeration and frozen storage, or do you prefer smaller storage spaces set aside for specific uses, such as bakery drawer, recycling cabinets, or storage (cold and or dry) for canned goods, pop, or wine and fresh produce?  Do you have supplemental storage as a root cellar, freezer, or fridge?  Thinking these things through will help identify wasted space, needed space, and space that goes unused, and perhaps should be unplugged!
  3. Don’t let yourself be limited by what exists now with walls that define the existing kitchen.  Consider if you can move the kitchen, expand it, change a window location, open up a wall or close off the space to be more effective.  Bring in your designer and contractor and have a brainstorming and planning session to think of the possibilities.
  4. How do you use appliances and can you change them in location or type to achieve better results?  Appliances and what you consider your “must haves” in appliances for your new kitchen remodel play a big part in the overall design.  It is the second most important thing that drives your plan—after you have considered space available, you need to determine appliances and locations that can or cannot change in the remodeling process.  These considerations can go beyond the “usual” large fridge, dishwasher, oven, and microwave and include exhaust requirements depending on stove top size and BTU, or multiple appliances.  Take a look at smaller or urban situations and you won’t find gigantic appliances, but rather efficient kitchens for cooking smaller meals, with less energy.  These kitchens do well with smaller cooktops, built in steamers, smaller refrigerators, and highly efficient smaller ovens.

Knowing these answers will go a long way towards eliminating what just won’t work for you in the design process, so you can focus on what does!  And be sure to research Kitchen and Bathroom Remodeling Costs – Tips to Keep Your Remodeling Project Under Control if you are planning a kitchen remodel.

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