5 kitchen catastrophes to avoid

Many consider the kitchen to be the heart of the home, and we completely agree. It’s the social hub for your family unit, hosting everything from breakfast bar eggs with homework to late night red wine chats, so it’s important that the space is a good one.

Before you embark on your journey to designing your dream kitchen and bringing it to life in your home, you would be wise to empower yourself with the knowledge of what the usual kitchen renovation mistakes are, and how you can avoid them.

Failing to focus on appliances

One of the most catastrophic mistakes you can make when designing a kitchen is to leave consideration for the appliances until the end. Although you might be more interested in the in your cabinetry colours and finishes, you’ll find yourself in trouble if you haven’t properly considered the required cabinetry clearance for your fridge.

Failing to focus on appliances is a recipe for disaster. Be sure to select your whitegoods early on in the design process, measure up, and incorporate them seamlessly and elegantly into you kitchen design.

Forgetting about storage

Another common blunder is underestimating the amount of storage space you will need, and neglecting its importance in your kitchen design. Everyone uses their kitchen differently, so it’s important to tailor the storage spaces to your specific needs.

If your home is always full of frozen fruit for smoothies, make sure you get yourself a big freezer. If your family are avid recyclers, make sure the rubbish storage can accommodate a separate recycling bin. If your partner is partial to hosting a dinner party, you’re going to need somewhere to store all those pots and pans, and knives and forks.

Modern storage innovations such as pull-out pantries and storage within island benches should definitely be taken advantage of to help maximise space and create a sleek overall aesthetic with improved functionality.

Being unrealistic about workspace

Workspace is just as important as storage. Making those morning smoothies will be no easy feat if there isn’t any space for the blender, or a easy-access powerpoints, for that matter. And cooking up a feast for your guests will quickly become messy and uncomfortable without adequate bench space for chopping, mixing and serving.

Make sure your new kitchen design includes ample bench space and thoughtful ergonomics to coincide with the way you intend to use your kitchen. Increasingly popular island benches have done wonders to solve the problem of crowded benchtops, and they conveniently double as a perfect spot for casual dining as well.

Choosing the wrong materials

The materials you select for your kitchen can make or break it. They contribute enormously to the look and feel of your culinary space but also have a huge effect on its functionality.

White laminate cupboards are likely to appear grubby over time, compared to multi-tonal timber cupboards which are better at disguising signs of age and use. But opt for a chic, Scandinavian-style timber benchtop and you might discover that moisture absorption is causing warping. A beautiful reconstituted stone benchtop such as CaesarStone, on the other hand, will stand the test of time and retain its look and shape for many years to come.

When it comes to materials,  our expert designers know exactly what benchtop solutions will best suit your needs and cooking style, ensuring your kitchen looks and works well now and in the future.

Ignoring a sense of style

 You might see your kitchen renovation as an opportunity to inject some much-needed modernity into your otherwise borderline dated home. And while we encourage our customers to be imaginative and adventurous in their renovation approach, we always remind them that the kitchen should still be stylistically relevant to the rest of the home.

This can be achieved through choosing materials, colours, patterns and geometries that are echoed in other areas of the home. For example, run the timber floorboards from the living room into the kitchen, or install the same charming brass tapware that exists in the bathroom.

Once this sense of coherence has been sufficiently established, don’t be afraid to add trendy twists to your kitchen, such as glowing downlights to highlight your splashback – or an exotic mosaic splashback, for that matter. With the stylistic foundations already laid, these twists will embellish the design without making the kitchen look entirely outlandish within the home.

Before you throw caution to the wind and begin to make headway on your kitchen renovation, stop for a second to consider the above. Speak to one of our smarterBATHROOM+ experts today on 1300 662 838 or book a free in-home consultation to make sure your kitchen renovation process and result are seamless and catastrophe-free.