21 Dec Kitchen Design Secrets

Kitchen design secrets

Whether you are building a brand-new kitchen, renovating an existing one, or simply updating your current space, follow these ten “can’t miss” design principles to achieve your very own, award-worthy kitchen of distinction.

Design with the rest of the home in mind

The kitchen is the heart of the home. When designing and then decorating your kitchen, look outside the room’s footprint to see which elements, features, or colours from adjoining rooms can be integrated into the kitchen. Is there a unifying palette you might stick with? Can you integrate tile or wood from a neighboring space?

Be sure to consider the outdoors as an adjoining room. If the kitchen enjoys a great view of a garden space or water feature, use those hues to inform the kitchen colours. When the eye connects colours in the kitchen to those seen outside the windows, it expands the view and, by extension, makes the kitchen feel larger.

Respect family needs and space constraints

A kitchen designed for a household with a growing family will be decidedly different from one designed with urban-dwelling empty nesters in mind. Your ultimate satisfaction will come when you honour the way the kitchen will truly be used. This may require some soul searching or, at the least, a certain frankness about your needs. If the budget or space doesn’t allow for every appliance on the market, choose those that you know will get the most use and fit your kitchen layout best.

Use these appliance-buying guidelines.

When it comes to choosing appliances and the configuration of your kitchen, consider your current cooking style, as well as your ideal culinary prowess.

Add one bold element

One of the many benefits of a kitchen designed in mostly neutral tones is the opportunity to feature one impressive item—whether it be a painting hung on the wall, a sculpture displayed on a pedestal, or an item incorporated into the very fabric of the kitchen itself

Create harmony with symmetry

If you’re unsure just where to begin with your kitchen design, start by thinking symmetrically. If you put a bank of cabinets on one wall, match them on the opposing wall either with another bank of cabinets or an expanse of windows similarly sized and shaped. Our brains are attuned to order. We like to see matching shapes and patterns, and symmetry creates a sense of harmony. Keep in mind that you want symmetry both vertically and horizontally. When laying out shelves and cabinets, align their heights with the top of the refrigerator and range hood. This creates a finished, tailored look. If everything is of a different height, it can create a restless feeling as the eyes work to follow the erratic line around the room. Placing baskets atop shelves or a painting above a cabinet can trick the eye into perceiving that all the heights are in relative alignment.

Integrate appliances into cabinetry

If you’re not a fan of glass- or chrome-fronted refrigerators and dishwashers, consider adding a panel in the same style and finish as the cabinets. Most high-end and even many medium-range appliances now come with this option. The effect is to make the appliances blend into the surrounding cabinetry, resulting in a kitchen that feels less utilitarian.

Accent what is unique about the space

We’ve all heard the expression, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” The corollary in kitchen design could be, “If a space gives you beams, feature beams.”

Make it multi-functional

Home office, TV room, homework central—these are just a few of the ways today’s kitchens are used above and beyond their primary function as the place to store, prepare, serve, and enjoy food. The more functions that can be incorporated into a kitchen, the better—and you don’t need a cavernous space to accommodate all your needs. The television can be mounted on a swing arm support that pivots and tucks under the upper cabinets when not in use. The key is to figure out in advance all the different uses you’d like for your kitchen and then think creatively about how each space can be used for multiple purposes.