How to Design a Kitchen for Free
You can design a kitchen for free, no matter if you are adding on to your home, remodeling an existing kitchen, or working with an architect on a new house. The kitchen often becomes the hub of your home, and designing your own is the best way to guarantee that you will have years of happiness with it. After all, who knows better than you do what you want in your kitchen? Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Get out your do-it-yourself and design magazines to find ideas for your kitchen design. Design, architectural and do-it-yourself magazine photographers know just how to highlight kitchen design. Clip any photographs that catch your eye, and see if a pattern emerges in the layout and finishes you choose.
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Measure your kitchen. If you are working with an architect, he will be able to provide you with scale plans that not only give the measurements of your floor, but also show any windows and doors in your kitchen.
If you are designing your kitchen without the help of an architect, you will need to create the plan yourself. Using graph paper with quarter-inch squares, you can make a half-inch scale plan by counting each square as six inches. Carefully mark your kitchen measurements on the graph paper. Measure and mark your doors, windows, appliances and sink on the plan. Marking the appliances and sink will be important if you don't intend to call an electrician and a plumber to come in and move them.
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Choose standard or custom cabinets. If you choose to do your kitchen design with standard cabinets, you will need to get the cabinet specification sheet from your chosen retailer or manufacturer to verify that the cabinets you need for your layout are available.
If you are using custom cabinets, you will want to meet with your cabinetmaker to discuss any size and weight limitations he needs to use for drawers.
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Consider cabinet-door styles, materials and finishing choices. Even if you are going to use a free kitchen-design software program, you won't want to try all of the available material and design options. Limit yourself to two or three of the options available to you.
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Consider the countertop options available. Countertops are available in granite, marble, tile, wood, laminate, composites, and other materials. Glass, stainless steel, copper and many other materials can be customized for your kitchen. Take a look at all of the choices available and use one or two in your kitchen-design drafts.
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Consider cabinet hardware choices. The right hardware can improve your design and personalize your kitchen.
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Prepare a rough plan on graph paper or on the plan provided by your architect. Remember that you are designing your kitchen around your wants and needs. You will want to include enough cabinets and drawers to maximize your storage space and work flow.
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Use free kitchen-design software to visualize your kitchen and to formalize your plan. Kitchen-design programs are available online for free. They are user friendly and easy to access whenever you feel like working on your design. Or you could go to a home-improvement center, such as Home Depot, and use their design-center program for free. In fact, most kitchen dealers will formalize your plan and provide you with three-dimensional illustrations for free, if you are planning to purchase from them. Seeing your design with the choices you are considering will help you to choose a final kitchen design that works best for you.
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Tips & Warnings
Use a ruler to plot your cabinet layout. Compare your collection of magazine kitchens to your finished design, to make sure that you are not settling for something less than your dream.
