DIY Home Improvement Guide | Designing A Kitchen Part 1: The Layout

Designing A Kitchen Part 1: The Layout

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Designing a kitchen takes planning and foresight.  Due to how expensive it is to remodel or plan a kitchen from scratch, mistakes that are made can be very costly.  This means that extensive planning is necessary for a successful kitchen design.  An easy place to start is by working with your existing kitchen layout.  Using the existing layout will reduce the need for redoing electric, plumbing, and gas, but there will still be some that has to be done.  In most cases, you can get away with just updating the appliances, cabinets, and counter tops.  If that doesn’t meet your final vision for your kitchen, or you need to create more room for storage and appliances read on to learn about how to plan your kitchen layout.

Planning Your Kitchen Layout

DIY kitchen remodeling is pretty complex.  There needs to be strict budgeting since as much money will be spent on installation as it will on cabinets and appliances!  Doing these things yourself will certainly free up some money, but you have to consider the time you’ll spend sans kitchen, and the cost of meals while eating out every night.

Choosing Appliances

The first steps is to decide what appliance you need.  Obviously, kitchens need a dishwasher, sink, oven, stove, and microwave, but other options are available like a second oven or trash compactor.  It isn’t necessary to keep all of these in the kitchen, but they should at least be very close by.

Ideally, you want there to be a triangular layout between the stove, refrigerator, and sink since this is the common travel path when preparing food.  The triangular setup allows short movements between the three of them and counter space in between.  The alternative to that is the island setup that allows you to move circularly around the island to knock out all of the preparation.  Something to consider about an island setup is that it will require electrical to run in the ground and up through the island.  That’s fine if you are installing new flooring, but if the tile is going to stay you’ll have to tear some up to run the wires.

A common sense rule is that you don’t want your fridge next to your stove.  The heat from the stove/oven will transfer onto the fridge and make it work harder to stay cool.  Also, you’ll end up with a huge grease smear up the side of the fridge after every time you saute something!

Planning Storage

It’s very easy to get into the mindset that more equals better when it comes to storage, but smart planning can save you a ton of space.  Decide what’s going to be stored in the kitchen before deciding how much space you need.  You can extend the amount of existing storage by using accessories like a lazy susan or a built in trash can, or increasing the height of the cabinet rather than its footprint.

Planning Countertops

Countertops are an area of your home that will have the a very dramatic impact on the overall feel.  It makes sense to budget tight on other things and do extra work yourself just to have the perfect countertop.  Granite and marble are popular, but there are also butcher block countertops that can also function as a cutting board (with proper care).

Keep in mind that your counter tops will also function as eating surfaces and a place for the family to hang.  It must be easy to clean and sanitize, as well as have the visual impact that you want.  My recommendation is to allocate as much of your budget as you can to your counters since it’s one area that you’re going to have a hard time building and installing yourself!

Before The Final Plan

Before you finalize anything, spend some time in other kitchens to see how they feel.  Every kitchen has its own quirks and deficiencies, so spend time cooking in a friend’s kitchen to see how you like it, even if theirs is different that what you’re planning.  Sometimes, seeing something different that what you’re used to will spark new ideas for your own kitchen.  Also, some layouts are a pain to cook in for those that are left handed so you may want to take that into consideration as well.

Don’t make your final sketch on the back of a napkin!  Either hire someone to draw it out for you, or use a simple and free CAD program like Google Sketchups to create a digital version of what your kitchen will look like.  It will take a little bit of time to get the sketch done, but that time is well spent if it reduces your need to “wing it” through your kitchen remodeling!

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