So many activities take place in a kitchen; some of them include drinking, cooking, socializing, cleaning, eating and so much more. Because the numerous activities carried out in the kitchen, it needs to be functional and beautiful no matter your kitchen layout, organization and design style. Achieving a practical and elegant kitchen design is possible once you can avoid these 10 mistakes.
So before you start creating your dream kitchen, look at these ten kitchen layout mistakes most people make.
1. Obstructing the Kitchen Triangle
The kitchen triangle is the sink, stove and refrigerator. It is known as the kitchen triangle because it has the highest amount activity that needs unobstructed access and careful planning. The sink is an area that records the most action out of all the three. Also your stove, refrigerator and countertop workstation requires easy access.
Most kitchens are designed with the sinks in a poor location. Your sink needs to be near the plumbing because of the placement of the pipes. You can hire a professional plumber to relocate the plumbing in your kitchen to accommodate the best placement for the sink.
Despite your kitchen layout (U-shaped, island, L -shaped, galley) or kitchen’s size. People will be tripping over each other if the work triangle is too small and food preparation could become tedious if the work triangle is too large, the sum of all the legs in a work triangle should not be less than 10 feet or greater than 25 feet.
2. Wasting Storage Space
There are a lot of stuffs found in the kitchen. It requires a large portion of space and this can get tricky. Placing all your appliances in areas that are easily accessible is quite tough. Not only that, most items often hidden behind kitchen cabinets are oddly shaped, such as stand mixers and food processors.
The general size of the kitchen area may be limited. built-ins are expensive and insufficient storage in a kitchen is one big design flaw. With adequate planning and forethought you can minimise the amount of wasted kitchen space. Consider installing long upper cabinets with molding for extra storage space, if your kitchen is small. By placing lighting or greenery along the molding, the attention is drawn up. It is advisable to install cabinets over the refrigerator, because not utilizing this area for large or seasonal kitchen item is a waste of storage space.
You can make out 4 square feet of space for storage, once you install shelves in the lower kitchen cabinet.
3. Inadequate Counter Space
The lack of counter space is among the biggest complaints about a kitchen design. By adding an island or breakfast bar to an L-shaped kitchen creates an open horizontal surface area in a kitchen.
4. Poor Lighting
Poor lighting is not acceptable in a kitchen. It is a room that needs as much light as possible especially when you are handling kitchen tools and sharp knives. Sufficient lightening in a kitchen is a safety precaution plus it improves the design and atmosphere of the kitchen. Your design elements will be better you can show. The more light you have, the better.
There are 3 kinds of lighting, and they include accent lighting, task lighting and general lighting for overall illumination. Make sure all the main work areas have sufficient lightening. It is important to add lighting directly to each spot that needs it. The beauty of the kitchen can be enhanced when you use pendant lights or a series of mini-pendants lights in your kitchen. For breakfast bars and kitchen islands make use of a series of mini-pendants lights while you can use pendants for kitchen sinks. By Installing under-cabinet lighting, you ensure that the counters have enough lighting to carry out common kitchen tasks.
5. Forgoing a Backsplash
Most people when budgeting a new kitchen or remodel, they sometimes put the backsplash at the end of their budget list and most times the backsplash is left out of the plan totally. This may end up costing you valuable efforts and time in the long run, although you will save some money short term. It is a smart decision you must take because installing a backsplash above the cooktop and counters makes it easy to clean off grease steam and water in the kitchen. One made of metal, tile or plastic is easier maintained than a backsplash made of wallpaper or paint.
6. Poor Ventilation
Even the best kitchen design loses its beauty in the presence of noxious odors. The importance of good ventilation cannot be overemphasised. A good ventilation system not only improves the quality of your indoor air, helps to extend the life of your appliances and also help keep your kitchen clean while inexpensive range hoods just circulate dirty, stale air. a good ventilation system can be a substantial investment, but it makes life pleasant and easier and more so if the kitchen space opens to a living or family room.
7. Choosing the Wrong Kitchen Island
Kitchen islands can be a waste of space. Although, most people think of it as an additional storage, preparation and serving space. But it can be a disaster when you choose the wrong island or you place it in the wrong spot especially in areas that can get overly cluttered.
Islands create bottlenecks because they hinder the traffic flow to primary workstations like the stove, refrigerator and the sink. An island must have room for people to move and work around it and it should be at least 4 feet long and 2 feet deep. Most designers advice that you should consider placing a kitchen island in the space only if your kitchen is at least 12 feet long and 8 feet deep.
8. Ignoring Your Recycling
Efficiently manage your trash by incorporating sorting bins for recyclables into your kitchen design because it is more than just placing a bin below the sink. This is due to the prevalence of recycling.
9. Going Too Trendy
It is important to know that the latest kitchen trends and high-end equipment may not be the best choices. Search for timeless kitchen innovations and appliances because most trendy designs or kitchen innovations have a short half-life, and you may never see a return on your large investments in the latest kitchenware.
10. Not Using Professionals
It is a common mistake most people make when they take on a kitchen design project to save money. It is not only a waste of time but a waste of money and energy. You can get the latest ideas and designs from professional designers; they can assist you in identifying your needs that suits your taste and budget.
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