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Careful planning is necessary to ensure a kitchen is both beautiful and functional. These are 20 ideas from our home interior design agency to remember while you design your dream kitchen.
The kitchen is the centre of activity in your home, used for everything from hurried breakfasts before you run out the door to family feasts and having a cup of tea with friends. The kitchen should be where you love cooking, cleaning, dining, or entertaining. These suggestions will assist you in creating a kitchen that you'll love, whether you're remodelling an existing kitchen or building a new one.
Follow our recommendations on planning, organising, and must-have features when designing a kitchen layout to create an attractive and effective space for all your needs.
1. Eliminate unnecessary items:
Consider your most common activities while planning the arrangement of your kitchen. Putting everything you need to finish a work close to each other will save time and effort. For instance, keep your coffee items, such as mugs and grounds, close to the coffee maker. Your sleepy early-morning self will thank you for this! Similarly, keep plastic containers and wraps in one convenient location next to a work area for wrapping leftovers. Place the flatware and dishes next to the dishwasher to make unloading easier.
2. Provide spacious walkways between counter areas and island:
Ensure adequate space in your kitchen's floor design between the island and the cabinets allows easy movement. Pathways in a kitchen should typically be at least 36 inches wide. For example, a one-cook kitchen should have an aisle 42 inches wide, while a two-cook setup should have an aisle 48 inches wide. Kitchen islands and peninsulas should be planned accordingly.
3. Encourage people to go through the kitchen.
While laying out a kitchen, traffic flow is an essential factor to consider. The cook should refrain from frequently running into guests as they enter and go. Ensure the hob is not situated along a busy corridor if traffic flows through the kitchen to another interior space.
The kitchen's working area can be distinguished from the social portion of the kitchen with a centre island. It prevents family members and friends from getting in the way while allowing them to talk with the cook. Additionally, ensure that anyone working in the kitchen or cleaning area and bystanders may reach the refrigerator.
4. Keep away from corners.
While selecting where to place cabinets and appliances, pay attention to the corners. Include space for the door's clearance and swing direction in your kitchen design to ensure that cabinet and appliance doors are entirely functional. Appliances should not be placed in corners, and doors should not slam into one another when they are opened simultaneously. Low-profile handles could be a good choice if you must manoeuvre around a tight corner. On the other hand, too-prominent handles on knobs pulls, and appliances might make it challenging to access corner cabinet doors next to them.
5. Determine the microwave's proper height.
Depending on the cook or how kid-friendly the kitchen is, a microwave oven's ideal height and placement may change. A good microwave height for adults is 38cm above the countertop level. However, an installation underneath the counter may be safer and more acceptable if children use the appliance.
6. Ascertain the island's purpose.
Form always comes after function in terms of kitchen islands. Before considering the design, consider how you want to use the island in the interior space. Plan adequate space if, for instance, you wish to cook and eat at the kitchen island so that the stove is securely isolated from the eating area. The island can also accommodate other components like a sink or dishwasher for increased usefulness.
7. Provide a landing area close to appliances.
Appliance landing spaces offer a location to rapidly set hot goods that have just come out of the oven or microwave. It helps prepare components as well. Include at least 38cm of counter space on either side of a burner and a refrigerator when planning the arrangement of your kitchen. Landing space is also crucial close to other compact equipment like a coffee maker or toaster.
8. Consider the countertop finish.
To help you choose a countertop, consider your demands for meal preparation. For example, those who enjoy cooking need more counter space than those who rarely cook or only make simple meals (preferably between the range and sink). Also, including two countertop heights can facilitate baking and benefit children who assist with meal preparation.
9. Use two of each kitchen appliance.
When organising your kitchen, think about purchasing two of your most often-used pieces of equipment if you have a big family or a lot of culinary demands. For example, a second microwave and a mini-refrigerator or refrigerator drawer placed at the edge of the kitchen work centre can distribute the burden and keep snackers out of the cook's way. For a place for the kids to hang out after school, add a snack bar with stools.
10. Set up the range.
Consider keeping crucial cooking supplies in the area immediately surrounding the range. Place a shelf next to or behind the range to store spices, utensils, and cooking oils close to reach. Include extra deep drawers for cookware near the range or beneath a cooktop when designing the arrangement of your kitchen. S-hooks on the side of the range hood can be used to hang commonly used pots and pans for a more open kitchen design.
11. Store knives carefully.
Knives can be hung on the backsplash with a magnetic strip. Put it over the section of countertop that is generally used for ingredient preparation. This keeps harmful objects out of children's reach and makes identifying the proper knife for the job simple.
12. Facilitate recycling.
Designate locations for rubbish and recycling to make sorting as simple as possible. Set up a cabinet with distinct metal, plastic, and glass containers. Old newspapers and other recyclable papers could be stored in a spare drawer.
13. Put accessible goods in order.
Consider what you intend to store in the pantry and the height of storage containers or commonly used items before organising it and other food storage locations. When you know everything will fit in the pantry, you may install pantry shelves at the proper height. At the planning stage for the kitchen, you should also choose whether or not the pantry will hold any small appliances. If so, set aside sufficient room for those items as well.
14. Provide a bulletin board.
Create a message centre and place it in a prominent location next to the refrigerator. Place a whiteboard, chalkboard, or bulletin board on the wall to make a place to write down shopping lists or reminders. Calendar, notepad, and writing implements should be kept in a nearby drawer or baskets hanging on the wall.
15. Think about the sockets.
In sections of your kitchen where you intend to use a coffee maker, toaster oven, blender, and other countertop equipment, be sure there are plenty of electrical sockets. Put numerous sockets on the island and along the backsplash so you can have power wherever you need it. Consider adding USB connections and sockets to a drawer to create a covert charging station for gadgets for even more personalisation.
16. Shorten kitchen clean-up time.
Cleaning the kitchen is made simpler by thoughtful design choices. Glass refrigerator shelves, for instance, can catch spills that wire shelves can't. Sinks that are flush-set or under-mount don't have a rim that could gather crumbs. Glossy coatings tend to reveal dirt more than matte ones do.
17. Separate blocks of cabinetry.
Completely cabinet-covered kitchen walls can seem weighty and dull. You can break up large blocks of doors and drawers by including fascinating elements like glass doors and display shelving. Adding windows or wine storage between cabinet spaces is another option.
18. If your kitchen is small, use light colours.
Dark colour palettes can make the interior feel smaller and less appealing. Add soothing colours to the kitchen cabinets to enlarge a tiny space. Simple window treatments should be used to cover large windows to maximise natural light in the room.
20. Choose a point of focus.
Choose one standout element in your kitchen design as the focal point. The focal point may be a decorative backsplash tile, elaborate flooring, a large range hood, vivid kitchen cabinetry, or patterned countertops. Once you've decided on the focal point, accentuate it with a few extra subtle yet striking accents.