Kitchen Remodeling Design and Ideas

 "What is the focal point of a kitchen"? Those were the search terms our website was viewed under recently and it was an extremely interesting question so I thought I'd take a second to address it.

Every kitchen is unique as well as every customer but, often times we find certain similarities that help us focus the direction a kitchen might take. Here are a few things to consider while thinking about a new kitchen design.

1. Kitchen sink location: Why is this important? With many kitchens, the sink is often located directly under a kitchen window. This is an extremely common element and one of the first things we take into consideration when talking to customers about new kitchen designs. It's the first decision a homeowner should think about, where they want the sink. That tells us where we will be placing our new sink base cabinet. If it is to be centered on that window, it allows us to have a starting point to begin building our new kitchen cabinet design around.
2. Dishwasher location: Typically, you will find your dishwasher located in close proximity to your sink. Why? Because your sink base cabinet offers both a water supply and drain location. We need both of these for our dishwasher to operate which is why you will often see a dishwasher located to the immediate right or left of a sink. It also makes a lot of sense in terms of location because often the homeowner will be rinsing off dishes and stacking them right into the dishwasher.
3. Range/Cook top location: I am referring to the cook top or range... not the oven. Many times, these are one unit but quite often we install separate wall ovens (often double ovens). An oven unit tends to be used by setting a temperature, inserting whatever is being cooked and basically leaving it alone until it either needs to be checked on or removed. Cook tops are a different beast, we tend to find that there are usually saucepans and pots coming on and off of a cook top many times during the preparation of a meal. Therefor, we like to position a cook top in close proximity to the sink and dishwasher if possible.
4. Refrigerator Location: This tends to be the last major piece of the puzzle. We always want it close enough that food can be grabbed quickly during the cooking process but, we also want it in a place that family members can access it for a quick drink or snack while another family member might be preparing a meal. It also helps to be positioned in such a way that when groceries are being brought into the home from a vehicle, grocery bags can be placed onto a nearby counter top before being stored away. (We all do this. You know you've done it.... carrying in multiple plastic bags of groceries from the car like it's a carnival game, seeing how many you can loop onto each finger before it gets too heavy to carry or before your hand gets ripped off... My personal best is 9. Feel free to post your best in the comments section below!)

So, what does this have to do with deciding the focal point of a kitchen? Well, if you know WHERE you are going to put the main parts of your kitchen... it becomes a lot easier to place the rest. That being said, these locations begin to tell you what the focal point of your kitchen is instead of you having to decide that and then somehow making everything else magically happen.

Here is a design we've been working on with one of our customers:

As you can see, the sink is centered under the kitchen window. We wanted to place the dishwasher to the right and the cook top along the turn of the cabinet line. We didn't want a continuous line of wall cabinets on either side. It just felt boring and predictable. What we are working towards is accenting the cabinetry. To the left of the sink, we are thinking about taller, glass door cabinets.... and to the right, a raised hood structure above the cook top.

Much of this will be tweaked as this is a work in progress, but you can see simple ways of creating multiple focal points within the cabinet lines of a kitchen using the fixed elements we mentioned as anchors to our design.

In case you were wondering where the fridge and oven are.....

You can also see the microwave has been installed into a base cabinet in the center island. It's another element that is often important to the layout of the kitchen. Some people use them frequently, other use them just to heat up left-overs and make tea.

The one great thing about modern microwave ovens is that they can be mounted into the upper cabinet lines above the cook tops with incorporated ventilation systems which can take the place of a "hood" for a standard cooktop.  If you are looking to install a 6 burner, LP Viking range.... this won't cut the mustard but for a standard four burner range it can be a great way to reduce cook top ventilation costs.

When it comes to an individual kitchen project, many of these variables will change. Bigger budget kitchens can have sinks in the island, downdraft or center hood cook surfaces, multiple wall ovens and more.

If you are talking about a kitchen design that is LESS than the average cost of a European sedan, then those locations will be the first steps in determining the 'Focal point' of your new kitchen.

Cheers!

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