PLANNING THE DREAM KITCHEN
Everyone has a dream home. This fantasy differs for each individual. Certain home-focused and many general-purpose magazines contain hundreds of pictures annually of the “ideal” home. Decorating magazines and design gurus tell and show you how to create the perfect kitchen for your home. Every month or 2 various different types of magazines will devote page-after-page to the “perfect” home.
Among these many pictures, you will find probably find your dream kitchen. You may cut out the pictures or download the image from the net. You have embedded in your head, the ideal. Now, it is up to you to plan this dream kitchen. The best way to start is to sit down with a pen or pencil and paper or at the computer. Once comfortable, you can take that first step toward remodeling. You set down your goals.
You can use home interior planning in your home. Even with the smallest amount of experience, you can beautify your home. Take the time to read through the article below and you will find inspiration and knowledge that will help you in all of your interior planning activities and projects.
If you are interested in interior design, you may want to invest in art. A painting can serve as a focal point, especially if it matches your design elements. A painting can provide you with a starting place with your decorating.
IDENTIFY YOUR GOAL
It is crucial you know what your goal is in remodeling your kitchen. It will help you define what you need to do. It will also set you on the path toward the right decisions you will need to make to improve, alter, transform or simply update your kitchen. The process will belong. It can be convoluted. You can simplify it right from the start by being clear in your methods and approach. Right now, you need to define two things: the reason for your makeover – the Goal, and what you plan to do.
The goal does not have to be a complex one. For many it is simple. Your goal could be:
• more counter space
• improved lighting
• more storage space
• modern appliances
• more room to manoeuver
• more receptacles
• an updated look
• a new style
You may just be tired of the way the kitchen looks. Alternatively, you could have moved into this particular house with the very intention of changing the kitchen to reflect your lifestyle.
When you have identified your goal, you then need to consider what you plan to do. This is where fantasy and reality may collide. While you may want to tear down the kitchen to its bare walls, you need to consider other inherent or pre-existing factors. As a result, before you can actually discuss the new kitchen plans, you need to look at the old or existing kitchen reality. You have to look at what you have before you can fully analyze how you can realize your goal.
Interior design – How to budget for your dream kitchen
Tip: Anyone who is undergoing an interior-design project would be wise to incorporate mirrors into the room. Mirrors have two major benefits to any room they are in. First, they give the appearance that the room is larger than it is, and second, they reflect light making your room look brighter.
Tip: Speak with friends or family before you take on a project. This will help you to get ideas that you may not think of, which you can incorporate into your project. Also, this helps you to reduce the chances of making an error as someone else may be able to spot it.
ASSESSING THE KITCHEN YOU HAVE
It is a wise person who sits down and takes stock of what they have before they change it. This applies to many things, including kitchen remodeling. You should never start a job of any scale without ascertaining what is already there. Only when you understand what you have, should you compare it with what you need. Then, you can consider the room in terms of what you want. For example, you may have too few storage spaces. You need more. You want a certain model that demands more room than you have. Ask yourself, “Is there is there a solution?”
What becomes crucial is for you to organize. You need to compile a list of what already exists. You have to see the kitchen for what it is. Remove the rose-colored glasses. You need to look at the existing kitchen from every angle. In doing so, you will see what you have to work with. Look at the following:
• Storage Space
List the items you have to conceal things from sight. Consider the different types of storage space you have. Look at their location. Are they convenient? Are they accessible? Do they reflect your lifestyle? Are they sufficient? Do they suit your decor?
• Counter Space or countertops
How much do you have? Where is it? Do you like the style or look? Is the surface practical?
• Traffic Flow or Traffic Jam?
Is your kitchen space crowded? Does the traffic flow into your workspace – the kitchen triangle? Is there a gridlock at meal and/or snack times? Do you feel nothing is getting done as efficiently or effectively as it could?
• Lighting
What type of lighting do you have? Is it glaring or too dim? Are there sufficient light sources in the kitchen? Do they address the requirements of all the activities taking place?
• Eating Area
Do you eat in the kitchen? Where do you eat? Does dining in the kitchen impede any other activity?
• Garbage/Recycling Bins
Is there space in your kitchen for the different types of garbage? Do you need to sort? If so is there room to do so?
• Cabinets
What type do you have? Are there enough? Where are they located? Are they, practical and functional? Are they decorative?
You need to note any problems you see in the design, the materials, the layout, and the style. You should consider all the aspects and components of your kitchen. You should look at their functionality. Do they fulfill their purpose? Do they do so without problems? Only after you consider the practical aspects should you consider their look or style.
Tip: Use brightly colored fabrics to add a bit of life to a drab room. A few toss pillows or a throw in a brightly colored fabric can add instant appeal to an otherwise boring room. Continue the theme with a piece of artwork or a vase of flowers featuring the same color, tying the room together.
Kitchen extensions: Planning and costing your dream kitchen
Tips: Have you ever heard the old saying about taking off one piece of jewelry before you leave your home? The same rule applies to interior planning. Once you finish decorating a room, give it a good look and spend some time editing down your design. Even if you love every pillow, plant, or picture in your home, you don’t want a room to look cluttered.
MAKING INFORMED CHOICES
As you go through your kitchen, you will note what you like. Consider retaining these features. You will also see what you want to change. As you list your kitchen’s characteristics, both the positives and negatives will become obvious. It will quickly become apparent what works and what does not. Your next step is to consider the overall picture. To do so, you need to ask yourself several questions. Looking at your kitchen’s assets, consider:
• What is the function of the kitchen?
• What do you do there besides cook?
• What is the position of the kitchen in your household?
• What is the current style of the kitchen?
• What type of cooking and other activities occurs in the kitchen?
After you have the answers to these questions, you can go on to list what you want from your fantasy kitchen. This combines both your goal or goals with your desires and dreams. This process will temper your fantasy kitchen. It will add a touch of realism. The next chapter addresses this very issue as it looks at the kitchen scheme.
You will learn how to identify your goal, assess what you have and make the right choices.
Tips: If you’re working on designing for a small space, adding light can greatly increase the feeling of size in the room. Adding light fixtures and using appropriate drapery can increase the amount of light in the room. Mirrors are also a great way to increase light and increase the apparent size of a small space.
Extra care should be taken when designing a room containing a fireplace. The things that you put on your mantle should be appropriately balanced. Your entire room can be thrown off if the items on the mantle are unbalanced.
Kitchen tour! and Kitchen remodel details!
Always keep functionality in mind when you’re designing a room. You need to consider your day to day usage of the room. Ask yourself if certain features will inhibit your day to day usage. Will it become hard to maneuver around? Will it become distracting and hinder you? Your room should be functional above all else.
Avoid clutter in your interior-design project at all costs. Whether the problem is too much furniture or too little storage, overcrowded, busy spaces need to be streamlined and simplified to function properly. It is impossible to relax in your home if the environment is as hectic and frenzied as your life.
When choosing colors of paint for your house, consider natural sun exposure. When you think about the room and how much sunlight it gets, it helps you pick a color that brings about a greater brightness and cheers up the room.
If possible, you may want to cinder integrating your house with your hard. If you don’t have a great deal of natural light in your home, consider setting up an outdoor living room right outside your back door to give the effect of another room in the house. This is particularly useful when entertaining guests.
A fresh plain coat of paint can make a room look wonderful. But don’t limit yourself to that. Consider using stencils to make some nice designs on the wall to add another layer to the room. There are tons of different techniques for making patterns on your wall that can make the room look even better than it would with just a regular paint job.
Make sure that people can easily move inside your home. If your home’s design has tons of clutter in the pathways, you and guests may feel like you have no space. This makes your home seem smaller than it really is. Therefore, allow at least three feet of space for the primary pathways.
You should now see that it does not matter if you have any experience at all with home interior planning. You can do more than you may have ever thought possible. Put the information from this article to good use in your home. Before you know it, your friends will be commenting on the beautiful things you have done around your home.