A fully functional and
properly designed kitchen is essential in any well designed home. Typical
layouts include the L shape, U shaped, galley, Country Eat-In, and Island.
The first decision is to
determine what layout you most like. Are there one or two cooks in your
family? If there are two, rule out the galley kitchen as the two cooks
will be constantly bumping into each other. Depending on the U shape's
dimensions, you may also want to rule this one out. My personal choice for
a two cook kitchen is the island layout simply because an island affords
the homeowners extra prep space. For an effective island layout, your
kitchen will need to be a minimum of 13' X 14' (bigger is definitely
better). Island size should be a minimum of 48" deep (two base cabinets
back to back) and at least 60" in length. There needs to be a minimum of
36" between the island and any other cabinet, appliance, or other
obstruction. In other words, you need a 36" isle running all the way
around the island.
Conversations tend to
migrate to the kitchen of any home, so keep in mind that no matter how
great your living area is, guests eventually will end up in the kitchen.
Plan for that now and you will eliminate a probable headache later.
How open is your kitchen
to the adjacent rooms? Is one of the adjacent rooms the living area?
Remember what I said about visitors migrating to the kitchen? The most
successful home designs have the main living or entertainment room
adjacent to the kitchen and open as much as possible to the kitchen. This
promotes entertainment and conversation between all of your guests.
Go to your local home
center and visit the cabinet section of the store. Most will have kitchen
idea planning guides available for customers to take home. Take several
home and sketch what you think is a good design that you would be
comfortable with. Cabinets come in three depths, 24" base cabinets (the
kitchen standard), 12" wall cabinets (the kitchen standard), and 18" deep
cabinets which are used for all sorts of storage and are installed in
laundry rooms and pantries. Let your imagination go! Don't forget to
locate windows, doors, and mechanicals on your design.
Major kitchen appliances
include, refrigerator, cooktop, oven, stove, dishwasher, trash compactor,
bun warmer, and sink.
Once you have several
sketches, take them to at least two professional designers and have them
evaluate them. The designer will make suggestions for improvement. Why at
least two designers? Simple, like an architect, designers have personal
preferences. You will really appreciate the design variations between one
designer and another.
If you have a specific
design question, no matter what the topic, email me and I will be happy to
respond!
michaelsdesign@lycos.com
