Step1
Read 85 Plan a Remodel. All of the information there applies to designing and remodeling a kitchen as well as an entire home.
Step2
Visit kitchen showrooms, open houses and home design stores, and take photos of what you like. Flip through magazines, and watch remodeling and cooking shows on television. Create two lists: a functional wish list (appliances, cabinet arrangements, islands) and a list of style preferences (surfaces, colors, finishes).
Step3
Assess your storage needs. Count and measure pots and pans, plates and silverware, appliances, tools, linens, foods and ingredients, wines, special display items (vases, platters, artwork) and electronics (computers, televisions, radios). Use this information to determine how much cabinetry you need. Cabinets can tally up to half the cost of your new kitchen, depending on quality and material and whether they are stock units or custom-made.
Step4
Have all plumbing work done before the cabinets go in, when the walls are open.
Step5
Plan lighting and the placement of electrical outlets at this time, too. Three types of lighting are typically used in dream kitchens: ambient (for the room), task (for specific workstations, such as stoves or sinks), and spot (for display of food or decor). An electrician should also run television cable, telephone wire and computer network wire when the walls are open.
Step6
Choose surfaces carefully. Kitchens are hot, wet, messy places, so look for surfaces that balance cleanliness, durability and attractiveness. Ask about features of various surfaces--does will that gorgeous granite you covet, for example, become discolored under a hot pot?
Step7
Price out and prioritize all the elements of your dream kitchen, and reality-check this information against how much you're willing to spend. A kitchen remodel should not cost more than 15 percent of the total value of your house; if it does, you're overimproving. A new kitchen will return, at best, 80 percent of its cost in increased home value.
Step8
Make some strategic cuts to your plan, with an eye toward staying in budget without sabotaging your overall goals. Sensible cuts include keeping your current appliances (upgrade them later) and choosing semicustom cabinets rather than custom.
Step9
Factor in the cost of a professional design. A kitchen designer typically charges 6 percent of the finished cost of the project, but may also work by the hour (at a rate of $50 to $150 per hour).
Step10
Understand how space and proportion work in your kitchen. The classic kitchen work triangle--the total distance between sink, stove and refrigerator--should be 12 to 26 feet (3.7 to 7.9 m). Working aisles should be at least 42 inches (107 cm) for one cook, 48 inches (122 cm) for two. Base cabinets plus countertops should be 36 inches (91 cm) high, but can be 42 inches (107 cm) high if they incorporate a seating area with stools. The bottoms of wall- or ceiling-mounted cabinets should be at least 18 inches (46 cm) above countertops and higher over stoves. Check local building codes.
