Practical and Efficient Kitchen Designs

Providing you the knowledge to create your best space

Have you ever searched on Pinterest, or even Google, for the perfect Kitchen ideas? When you are researching for the perfect Kitchen ideas, are most of them out of the price range or just not practical for your space? I have first hand experience with being disappointed in what I thought was an unrealistic dream Kitchen. That was until my wonderful kitchen designing husband helped us, and so many others, use their spaces in more practical and efficient ways. I am so obsessed with all the tricks and tips he gives his clients when doing their designs, and wanted to share these tips with you! Who wants to go into their kitchen and bath renovation with practical and efficient ways to keep your home organized and functional all at the same time?

Here are my 3 biggest tips and tricks to helping you have a Practical mindset when buying a new kitchen!

Have an efficient Kitchen Design: Wherever you go to have a design done, online or in person, the designer should always get to know you, your personality will be shining through your home. They should be asking you how you are using the space, helping them truly understand the best way to design the kitchen for your needs. All Kitchen designers should know the “rules of the kitchen” (NKBA Guidelines for the technical type). What I am wanting to give to you is the knowledge and understanding to truly dig into the start of your kitchen designing process.

Have fun with it, this will be your kitchen for the next 10 or so years!  

The designer you work with should already know these tips but having the knowledge yourself will help you understand the reasoning behind the placements of your cabinets and how it will help with functionality of your specific room. Your stove, sink and refrigerator should be accessible from all points in your kitchen, it makes sense right? This works well since they are the most used items in your kitchen (aside from the dishwasher-- the worst chore in my opinion). Most professionals call this a work triangle. You should be able to access your main appliances from each point for a more efficient work space. (practicalcabinets.com)

The Size Standards of Cabinets

This is a big one, who here has hit their head on a cabinet before?... No one but me? Cool. Well this is a great tool to use, so it doesn't happen to you or anyone else using your kitchen. I don't want to get into the numbers and certain sizes of the cabinets, because I don't know about you, but the dimensions of a cabinet can get so confusing. Also if you are like me and don't really know how to use a measuring tape properly, you could really mess up your kitchen. Costing you way more money than it should have. If measuring is your thing and you know how to measure correctly unlike myself I have included a few links.  (How to properly measure your kitchen)

What I can tell you is this, you want enough space between the the wall cabinets and the base cabinets. This will help when incorporating the back-splash and under cabinet lighting (link to blog about lighting). You do not want to be so far out on the base cabinets that you can't reach the wall cabinets or the items in them. (having to get a stool everytime you need something in your cabinet can take up precious cooking time,and now your food is burnt)  So many people, including Kitchen designers can make this mistake. So having a little knowledge about the placement is better than nothing! (It also helps if you want to keep your designer on their toes). If a designer does not have to describe all the basics regarding the Cabinet size, they are able to go more in depth on the fun things you want to add.

Don’t feel like you need to know the exact dimensions of each cabinet, it took a lot of research for me to understand all the terms and measurements. Leave that to the designer, just having a simple understanding of them will help insure you are getting the right cabinets for your space.

Storage

One of my favorite things to do is look at all the cool new ways the cabinet world has come up with storage. Keep in mind all the storage options you have will mean nothing if it isn't planned right for how you are using your kitchen. Do you have little to no space for a pantry to store your groceries? Try incorporating a Utility cabinet with roll out trays. They have pull out drawers like spice racks. Waste Basket Cabinet (this helps with kids and dogs that think trash is fun ugh..) These are pretty much a must have in any new kitchen nowadays. No matter what storage add-ons you use, your designer should be asking how you use your space! This will be beneficial when finding the things you need, to help make working in your kitchen effortless and efficient for you and your family.

Although there are so many options to choose from when designing a kitchen, having the knowledge to understand your designer, and having your designer know you Will help make the process run smoothly. Whether you are helping design your kitchen or leaving it up to an expert. These tips will help make your kitchen suitable for you and make your kitchen efficient, leaving you more time to do the fun things in life. (unless you are really into cooking then that's fun too)  

Now that you have these practical tips to help make your kitchen efficient and effortless for you, drop a line and let me know if these tips helped you make your kitchen designing experience a breeze. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter and check out all the other helpful tips and tricks I have for your remodeling needs.

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