Perfect Kitchen Layout with Christine Craig
She is a CEO and Principal Designer in Designology Studio.
Christine started her design company in 2003. She has the expertise to design and manage any type of project - from a 90-minute consultation to ground-up construction. Christine uses her experience to make her design projects more well-rounded and to operate more smoothly.
Here are the TOP THOUGHTS & TIPS that Ginger shared during our Live Talk with her.
What's the most crucial element in a kitchen?
Functionality. If you can't find the things you need while cooking or don't have a dishwasher close enough in proximity to you, that is a problem. It might look beautiful but not practical or functional in the way that it needs to be. Many people end up having extra storage outside kitchens because they didn't correctly store for the interior.
Dead corner cabinets happen when people don't want to think about what can be stored in the actual corner area.
Try Lazy Susan quarter cabinets. That's the easiest way.
Or install under-cabinet lighting. Overhead lights that are shining down help cast shadows, so task lighting underneath cabinets helps you see the areas you're working in.
Where would you start in creating a kitchen?
First, ask yourself the following questions:
What stuff do you have?
What do they use?
What do you need?
How do you need to use it?
Where does it need to be located?
Do you have one or two chefs that are in the kitchen?
Is somebody left-handed right-handed?
How to utilize the back area of the kitchen?
Stack your Tupperware at the back of the shelf or in one area.
Add drawers over cabinet doors in general. Door drawers are easier to pull towards you and see everything than getting down on hands and knees to dig through the back.
Get one large bin that you can collectively put things in. It's almost a substitute for a drawer, and you're manually pulling it out.
If you've got the little kid plates, got them in the basket or one area, so all their little kid plates are stacked in a row.
How to choose drawer organizers?
It is essential to measure. People make the mistake of measuring the front of their drawers. You need to measure the interior opening and ensure that you've got enough room for that drawer to close. Make sure you've got the proper height and got to factor in the size of the utensil.
Labels can help you stay on point with putting things back and forget where you're storing something or help to reorganize your kitchen. It helps to keep things organized and a little bit more consistent and clear.
How to choose the perfect kitchen layout?
Do a questionnaire based on what you like what you are looking for. The best place to start is Pinterest, pictures, or magazines. That helps you figure out the trend of what you like and whether it's consistent. Usually, there's something significant within each picture that you pick.
Some people start with a small kitchen or have a small kitchen space, and they can't get an oversized island.
If you can't go Island, you can get a peninsula. Just make sure that it's functionality-based and it works in the way that when you need to either cook, entertain, or hold a big gathering spot, you don't have them in your space while you're trying to do what you need to do.
How to plan seating in a kitchen if there’s not much space?
It depends on what a kitchen looks like. Try little breakfast tables that have served as a prep station as well. That's the way you can get seating within a kitchen and still have a prep area.
A peninsula is another way to surface your work, and people can sit on the other side.
Apartments, condos, smaller spaces have a lot of merge areas. Many people sit and eat in living rooms because there's no room anywhere else; that's their creative solution.
How to use lights to create a comfortable atmosphere?
Do a semi-flush or flush mount center light in the kitchen that is decorative and then have recessed lighting around the perimeter. You may have accent lighting, which is pendant, and then under cabinet lighting. So all of these different lights help to eliminate a kitchen. It adds the functionality of being able to see your work and also gives warmth to the room.
Try dimmers. If you need to go into your kitchen at night for that late-night snack or water or whatever it may be, it's a deficient level of lighting.
What materials are suitable for the kitchen?
It depends on how you cook. Consider how you work and operate within a kitchen to know the best solution for you.
Marble has to be sealed every year to maintain the seal period.
A wooden countertop will change its tone with a lot of sunlight.
Quartz is a very inexpensive material, and it looks like marble without the cost. But quartz is non-porous, so there are certain things you have to be careful about, and it's got a very high VGTU output.
If you have a whole sun window, don’t do a significantly inferior court because the resident will also be yellow over time.
How to do the window dressing in kitchens?
They aren't obligatory. If you've got a south-facing kitchen, there's constant heat and light all the time, so you need a window dressing. With an eastern facing, have a little cafe curtain. Have the proper roller shades, but don't feel you have to make a significant investment in window treatment. Sit with space and see whether it requires a window treatment.
Wall decor ideas to spice up the space
Try kitchen wall decor. It helps to differentiate zones and label the place you create for a certain purpose. Check out our full wall decor for kitchen.
Create a gallery wall. For your kitchen, embrace the room's purpose and play with things like old restaurant ads, postcards from your favorite places, abstract art, or even fun cooking phrases.
How much walk space is required in the kitchen?
The minimum is 36-inch walk space, but 42-48 inches is better. There's rarely just one person in the kitchen, so be sure you have a proper workspace within your kitchen, factoring in other people need to go in there. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of storage to make sure it's functionally walkable. There's the stuff that you 100% need. And these are the extras you don't need to have to function and cook, so you can store them in other parts of your home.
What should people remember when designing their kitchens?
Follow the work triangle. So your refrigerator, your stove, and your sink all need to be a total of 26 feet within each other. If it's further away, it just gets a lot more complicated for people to use the kitchen. Nobody wants to go all around an island to the other side to get things.
Things people sometimes forget
Spice rack storage. A lot of people place it high above their stove. All the vapors from when you cook affect your spices, especially if you have poor ventilation within your kitchen. This changes the taste of your spices over time. So make sure those are far enough away. Create your spice storage down below, so your cooking won't affect the taste of your spices.
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