Home Series: Design Tips For Your Kitchen – Consult with Bruce Coleman, Vancouver Mortgage Broker
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Design Tips For Your Kitchen
Your home’s kitchen is in many ways an important focal point. Great meals and good times evoke lots of fond memories about kitchens for many people. And, if you plan to sell your home sometime in the near, keep in mind that the kitchen is often one of the most scrutinized areas and can affect whether a potential buyer will make an offer or move on.
However, if you’ve lived in your home for awhile or just bought an older home, then now might be the perfect time to consider upgrading your kitchen. It’s an expensive project which means you have to take the time to plan carefully.
If you have sufficient equity then you might want to consider using a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) to pay for the renovations. Kitchen renovations have a great ROI, especially if you’re preparing to sell so it’s very possible you will add more value to the home and recuperate a big chuck of this expense.
First Steps of Kitchen Re-Design
First, step back and look at your kitchen and ask yourself how you might want the kitchen to look like if you were a prospective buyer. Ask yourself what the kitchen lacks and look at it from the ceiling down to and including the floor itself.
Of course, it all depends on the amount of space that you have to work with and how much you are prepared to spend because there are a broad range of materials to consider. You also have to consider the age and style of your home. You can do anything from a rustic approach to ultra modern, but consider that the style of the kitchen should mesh with the style of your home.
Should you go too far in upgrading the kitchen and the rest of the house looks a bit “tired” it could dissuade a buyer because they might think they will have to upgrade the rest of the home.
Consider such ideas for lighting, the availability of wall sockets, the type of floor and how the kitchen might be re-designed to be more functional and take better advantage of the available space.
There are many design ideas out there to consider, but start with the basic precept used by most kitchen designers which use a triangle concept which takes into account the accessibility between the two main appliances being the fridge and the stove and your food preparation space which are your counters.
You also have to consider how much counter space might be taken up by other appliances such as the coffee maker, toaster, microwave and other kitchen gadgets. This is one of the reasons why you also have to consider the electrical needs of the kitchen before you start filling in space with new cabinets and counters.
The Basic Kitchen Floor Plan Concepts
Getting the floor plan just right is vital for an efficient kitchen design because there is a natural pathway between the two main appliances in relation to the sink. The shape of and size of your kitchen doesn’t really affect the floor plan because designers have pretty much seen it all.
Here are some of the basic floor plans to consider.
U-Shape Design
A design such as this is comprised of 2 legs of equal length which has the fridge and stove opposite to each other. Often, there is also a third appliance such as a dishwasher which is situated to be equidistant from the other two appliances.
L-Shape Design
In this design scenario, which usually applies to rectangular sized kitchen, the two main appliances or two of the three appliances are situated along the longer leg of a the rectangular kitchen and the third appliance is situated at the shorter end.
G-Shape Design
Here you have a bit more flexibility because you either of the plans described above. This type of space usually has a peninsula which separates your kitchen work space from either the formal dining room or your living area. It is something like an area which is used as a breakfast nook for example.
Galley Style Design
Some kitchens are especially small and generally use this design where the stove and sink are situated directly opposite from each other and can often be found in a condominium or rental apartment.
Final Steps
You will want someone who specializes in kitchen design and remodelling to help guide through the process and in selecting materials. This is not a typical DIY project nor should it be contracted out to general contractor who has limited experience in this area.
