How to Customize Kitchen Design Plans
When you find inspirational kitchen design plans in home improvement books, you can utilize a variety of ideas for your own kitchen from a wide spectrum of designs. Scaling back on sizes of appliances or cabinets to fit your kitchen requires detailed planning. Focus on fitting in what matters most to you. Take time to make lots of notes about what appeals to you, so that your kitchen is exactly what you desire it to be. Start your planning by figuring out your ideal kitchen. Then scale back to accommodate what you can afford. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Sketch pad
- Pencil
- Graph paper
- Measuring tools
- Exact floor plan/square footage
- Design books
- List of appliances
- List of cabinets needed
- Samples of flooring
- Samples of wood stains
- Color chart
- Photos of light fixtures
- Colored pencils
Instructions
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Use a sketch pad to draw the general plan you desire. Measure the exact space of your kitchen to determine the size of appliances and cabinets to install. Use graph paper to sketch the kitchen from a bird's-eye view and from a straight-ahead view looking into each separate wall area. Allow space for each window or door in your drawings. Define exact window and door measurements to allow for expanding these areas, if needed.
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Review design books to make sketches and start a list of notes. Write down your favorite appliances and special colors or finishes. List cabinets and shelving you prefer. Note any special counter tops or floor finishes that appeal to you. Include tile work, sinks, bars or pantry ideas you want to incorporate. Define your ideal kitchen and start to prioritize expenditures.
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Select appliances you want to buy that will fit your defined budget. Choose the refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and microwave oven in styles and brands that leave room in the budget for cabinets and flooring, plus additional items. Invest in a nice refrigerator, for example, that might cost $1,200 versus $2,40 if you only have $15,000 to spend altogether.
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Visit kitchen showrooms to review styles of cabinets up close. Make it a goal to purchase cabinets in a color and style your family likes, if you can't afford top-of-the line cabinets. Save money by buying white painted cabinets versus oak, for example. Incorporate the taste of both spouses by choosing cherry cabinets mixed with light maple cabinets for an upscale "hybrid" design.
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Select patterns and colors for walls and floors that are cutting-edge, since a dated kitchen hurts the market value of a house. Find good designs in home improvement books but match practical needs with your budget. Switch color patterns or textures to fit what you deem aesthetically pleasing. Replace black-and-white tiles in a checkered floor pattern with brown-and-gold tiles, for example. Draw the new choices on your sketch pad and color with colored pencils to test the colors. Never install wall and flooring materials without doing some preliminary drawings, since it's expensive to change major décor.
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Tips & Warnings
Customize lighting and other kitchen accessories to fit your personal taste. Replace track lighting shown in a kitchen design book with recessed lighting, for instance. Use hanging pot racks or special shelving that puts your personal stamp on the new kitchen.
Make choices you can live with for many years. Select a décor that most people would find appealing to assist in enhancing resale value of your home.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit modern kitchen image by Melking from Fotolia.com
