What to Avoid When Designing a New Kitchen

Working with a kitchen designer can mean a space that is uniquely your own and that actually works for your needs in particular; this can mean having room for all your specialty small appliances that you use every day or having space for entertaining guests every weekend. However, there are some things you'll want to avoid when designing a new kitchen even though they may seem like good ideas when coming up with that new design. Note a few precautions and then discuss these with your kitchen designer as needed.

Making the kitchen too big

An open and airy kitchen can sound like a great idea and especially for entertaining guests, but keep in mind how convenient, or inconvenient, it would be to use that space on a daily basis. If you need to virtually wear roller-skates to get from the sink to the oven or pantry, that large space may seem downright cumbersome over time. Consider if you might have the kitchen flow into an eating area along a benchtop for guests to relax rather than making the kitchen itself too large.

Closing it all in

The idea of lots of cupboards and cabinets can seem very appealing in your new kitchen, but be careful about closing in the entire space. Your kitchen might seem claustrophobic if every wall is covered by cabinetry, and especially if you opt for tall cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. To compromise on an open and airy look where you still need storage space, choose to have glass door fronts for at least some of those cabinets, or have open shelving rather than cabinets along one wall. You can still use the shelving for storing decorative platters and your best dishes while keeping the kitchen space open and airy.

Too much of the same

Opting for white cabinets and white appliances or wood cabinets and brown appliances to match may seem like a good idea, but a monochromatic design can soon look tired in a kitchen. You may be hesitant about adding color but note that you can simply break up the look by choosing stainless steel appliances next to wood cabinets or opt for a black oven and black refrigerator in a white kitchen. You might also ask the designer about painting one accent wall a nice, neutral color so that you don't have just one shade in the kitchen or choose a splashback in a colored glass, tin, or other material that adds to the kitchen's colors.