A kitchen layout and design are daunting to plan and renovate. There’s so many things to plan, materials to source, and an endless amount of details. But, worth it if your kitchen is a major frustration or just dated.
But you can plan a your kitchen layout, unique design and select amazing materials by asking yourself questions like why are you renovating and following these tips to make the process smoother.
Why are you renovating?
This may seem obvious, but sometimes people get caught up in the look of their new kitchen and need to remember why they are renovating. Do you need room for a dishwasher? Do you need to replace cabinets that are broken? Do you have no room for a coffee pot on the counter because your upper cabinets were mounted too low, or do you simply want a new kitchen?
Whatever the reason, you want to keep that in mind when planning the layout and style so you don’t stray too far from your original intent. And, you can have many reasons, not just one.
Are you moving walls?
If you’re moving or removing a wall, you’ll want to figure out which walls you are moving. First, identify which walls are load-bearing and, in general, try to only move those walls if you have the budget to install a beam. If you have a medium-sized kitchen, rethink making yours a large kitchen because you may not need it if you have a great layout.
I’m not a fan of large kitchens. I’ve seen many in my time as an interior designer, and it’s just excessive. You don’t need a kitchen 45′ x 25′ with double islands or a pantry the size of most kitchens. Most of those cabinets will be empty; seriously, what are people putting in those cabinets?
If you need more cabinet storage, take your cabinets to the ceiling and consider a small pantry for everything you don’t use that often, or if you have tall ceilings like 10′ plus, put items you don’t use often in those higher cabinets.
But, if you truly have a small kitchen, it might be a good idea to move or remove a wall so you can add a few more cabinets. Or combine kitchen and dining to make a dual-purpose space. But you only need 15-20 cabinets that are the ideal size, are organized well, and function.
Do you need to install larger appliances?
You need to choose your appliances before designing cabinet sizes and layouts. If you decide to design a kitchen layout before the appliances, you’ll have a massive headache trying to reconfigure it. The appliances you wanted may not come in the size you googled quickly.
I’ve seen a few homes (including mine, ugh) that have apartment-size appliances, and let me tell you, as a family of 4 who frequently have another family of 4 over, it’s really annoying. My dishwasher runs daily, and my sink is still full of dishes. So yeah, I will install larger appliances when I renovate the kitchen.
Make sure you look for full-size appliances. In general, a standard dishwasher is 24″ wide, a fridge 36″ wide, and an oven 36″ wide. You can go larger, especially the fridge or oven, if you cook a lot, but remember scale here. If your kitchen is 14’x14′ don’t do a 48″ oven and a 60″ fridge it will look out of place and make your kitchen feel unproportional.
Do you need more lighting?
A lot of kitchens do not have enough overhead lighting. Or have enough, but they are in the wrong place, or are installed right over the cabinet, making harsh shadows. Make sure you have the recessed lights about 1-2″ off the cabinet so the light shines on the counter, not the top or front of the cabinet.
You’ll want a light above the oven, fridge, and sink again; stand in front of the oven and look up; that’s where the light should be. Don’t worry so much about symmetry, you won’t really notice any lack of symmetry beause you’ll have good lighting.
If you have a peninsula or island, 1-3 lights, depending on the size. Odd amounts look better, so 3 is suitable for most situations. If you have a long island like 8′, go for oversized lights rather than 6 lights above; it will cost you less on electrical and look much better.
The working triangle
The working triangle is the minimum requirement for a good kitchen layout. It’s an imaginary triangle between the sink, oven and fridge. It makes for a streamline working area for cooking. It’s the first thing you’ll want to figure out for your new kitchen. Maybe your current layout is good, you just need new cabinets.
If you need to adjust it, try to find a new place first, they are usually the cheapest and easiest appliance to move, but if your working triangle is a mess try to explore moving all the appliances and see what you come up with.
Another element to think about is, does your working triangle get interrupted by people walking by to use the bathroom or something? If so, try to think about that as well. But some of us can’t avoid that interruption because of size constraints or budget, and that’s okay, try not to stress about it too much.
Work stations
If you have a large kitchen, you may want to lay out working stations instead of the working triangle. Because you may have the fridge just too far away. Think about creating stations. Dishwasher and sink, oven and pantry, fridge and prep area. You may have to add a second sink to make essentially two working triangles so you don’t have the headache of getting water when cooking.
Layout the cabinets
Now that you have your oven, fridge and sink sizes, it’s time to put the cabinets in place. Generally, “custom” or store-bought cabinets come in increments of 3″. However, more and more cabinet companies are making “custom” cabinet sizes. However, keeping them in that general 3″ increments is a good idea.
You’ll want to put cabinets where they make sense, like a spice cabinet next to the oven or glassware above or beside the dishwasher or snack cabinet outside the working triangle for kids to grab food while not interrupting you.
The best base cabinet configuration is all drawers. They fit more items and a more variety of things. Upper cabinets should be mounted 18″ above the countertop and have doors with wood or glass. Ensure they generally look uniform and the door swings do not conflict. Meaning they don’t open and hit each other.
Aisle spacing
If you’re adding an island to your kitchen layout, you want to ensure the distance between the perimeter cabinets and the island is about 36″-42″. That way, you can open the oven, dishwasher, or fridge without hitting the island and can use them without frustration.
Don’t go larger than 46″, which is plenty of room for two people to walk past each other, but you need a large kitchen to accommodate that. I’ve seen some things crawling on social media right now or people bragging about their 56″ between perimeter and island, and it’s just excessive. You don’t need that much space, and frankly, it is annoying to take a hot pan out of the oven and take a few steps to the counter.
There are elements and principles that inform design, like balance, scale, and proportion. But I get that sometimes people have the money, so why not. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Don’t get crazy with customizations.
Customizing your space is a good idea, but do not go overboard. Every single cabinet with some custom piece, custom hardware, and custom lighting just goes overboard and can rapidly increase the budget.
You’ll want a garbage pull-out, plate storage, spice rack, and utensil compartments, but other than that, you don’t need the other random customized cabinets.
Your design style
What do you want for the door style? Do you want stained or painted cabinets? Is your home colonial or modern, and is that the style you want for your cabinets? You can search popular cabinet styles that are traditional, craftsman, or modern. You can mix painted with stained or do 2 different colors of paint.
The style of your home
I would match the door style to the style of your home because it’s difficult to make a modern kitchen in a colonial home, but if you are up to the challenge go for it. Keep in mind you want to consider resale value when changing up the interior style. That’s not to say you can’t put a unique spin on it, but just let it inform your direction, not dictate it.
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