10 kitchen mistakes to avoid
The kitchen is the one unique place in a house where family members gather together. Whether you’re cooking meals for your family or hosting guests, you are likely to spend a lot of time in the kitchen – so it’s important that the room is welcoming and gives you that ‘home’ feeling.
Remodelling your kitchen could be a really great decision – because doing so will increase the value of your home. It will also create a fresh focal point in your home and make the time you spend in it all the more enjoyable.
However, before deciding to remodel, we’ve put together the following tips to help prevent any distasteful or unpractical outcomes from creeping into your designs.
1. Make sure you have enough bench space
As weird as it may sound, this continues to be one of the biggest kitchen problems. Bench tops should not only look good, but they should also be practical. Think about how much workspace you need now and also take your future needs into consideration.
2. Bigger isn’t always better
A frequent mistake people make is thinking that a bigger kitchen is more useful or looks better than a smaller one. Sometimes a smaller kitchen with a superb layout could turn out to be the perfect cooking space for you.
3. Less is more
However you decide to design your kitchen, don’t overdo it! Space can really open up a room, so be mindful about where to install cabinets and accessories – and don’t fill the whole room with cabinetry.
4. Practical, yet chic
The Golden Triangle, also known as the area between the sink, oven and refrigerator is now 1950s thinking. Kitchen design is now all about zones. Five Zones make up your kitchen: Food Storage, Hard Storage, Preparation, Cooking and Cleaning.
You should have easy access and not have any other obstructions, such as furniture. You need to ensure you can easily manoeuvre between all five areas.
5. The island design
Kitchen islands are very practical and chic. However, they can be impractical when placed in the wrong area.
Your kitchen island should not impair the zone flow, nor should it restrain traffic. You could place a sink within it to create even more counter top space in your kitchen.
6. Breathe in, breathe out
Adding a range hood above your stove top or a ceiling fan in the kitchen are great ways to create better ventilation in the room. There’s nothing worse than the scent of stale food or over-sensitive smoke alarms interrupting your dinner party!
7. On trend… but not so much
Be mindful of specific kitchen trends. Whilst animal or Mediterranean prints may be ‘in’ this year, they could be very outdated in the future. Classic patterns and colours are a much smarter choice for a kitchen that will last.
8. Say no to boredom
Every kitchen needs a theme – it has a story to tell. Make sure it matches your personality and lift up its ‘spirit’ with some unique elements, like colour, prints or objects.
9. Stick to your budget
Any real estate marketer would advise you to not go overboard with your budget. You shouldn’t invest more than 20% of your house’s value in a renovation.
10. Pay attention to your plan
Once you get started, follow your initial plan. If you change your mind there is a big chance you will expand your budget and end up spending more money than you initially intended. It’s important to spend time up front with your designer, getting great advice and finalising your plan.
These simple tips could save you a lot of time and money. Your kitchen is where all of the culinary magic and family bonding happens, so make it a room in which you enjoy spending time.
Our friendly and professional smarterBATHROOMS+ team is on hand to talk to you and answer any questions you may have about kitchen renovations. Visit our showroom at 77 Salmon Street, Port Melbourne or call us today on 1300 662 838 to arrange an appointment. Get advice guide from our award winning designers for your dream kitchen.
Inspiration and advice
Inspiration and advice
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