HOW TO PLAN AND MEASURE YOUR KITCHEN

With the holidays approaching, now is the time to plan your kitchen remodel. No other time in the year does our kitchen matter as much as it does than during the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Season. Most (if not all) of your holiday memories are formed as you help prepare your holiday meal or while you are entertaining guests around your newly remodeled kitchen. It takes many weeks of preparation (if not many weeks of work and/or lead time waiting for materials to arrive) to create a kitchen masterpiece.

In my many years in the business, I have found that sometimes people have a general idea of what they want their new kitchen to look like or how they want it to function. Other times, they need someone to walk them through the entire process and they want to make sure that they are making good decisions. Although aesthetics are important, this article is designed to help you and your kitchen designer plan out your new kitchen. Here are some general tips and guidelines as you plan out and measure your kitchen:

1) WHAT DON’T YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR KITCHEN?

Is that blind corner cabinet a waste of space?
Do you wish you had extra seating?
Do you wish that the cabinets went all the way to the ceiling?
Do you hate how your kitchen is so closed off from the adjacent room?
Are there accessories that you wish you had (trash can cabinet, lift gate wall cabinets, appliance garages, etc.)?
Do you hate having to bend down to look for your most used pots and pans?
Is your refrigerator too close to your range or is your dishwasher too close to the refrigerator?

We all have certain quirks that annoy us about our kitchen and its functionality. When you prepare your next few meals, write down things that you don’t like about how your kitchen functions to make sure that you address them.

2) WHERE IS YOUR EXISTING “POWER SPOT”?

Everyone has the 5-10 square feet of space where they spend the majority of the time as they prepare their meals. Identify that spot. We are all creatures of habit and moving our “power spot” may be uncomfortable. You may want to plan your kitchen remodel and placement around that spot.

3) MEASURE YOUR EXISTING LAYOUT.

Some companies offer this as a free service but for those of us that are planners and like to have more control with our remodel, measuring your existing layout may help as you plan your next remodel. As you measure your layout, keep in mind that kitchen measurements should be measured accurately -- by the quarter of an inch. Being off in your measurements could mean that cabinets will not fit or it could throw the placement (sink center under the window, etc.) off. Everyone knows that walls need to be measured (especially the walls that cabinets are getting installed on) but most people forget to measure for doorways and windows (trim to trim). Although most people have 8 or 9 foot ceilings, double check the measurement of your ceiling height, any existing soffits, lighting, or anything else that may be in the way.

If you like this article and would like design help on your kitchen, bathroom, flooring or other home improvement projects, visit our showroom in the Wildewood Shopping Center in California, MD. You can call our showroom at 301-866-0337 and request a FREE (no-obligation) DESIGN CONSULTATION and ESTIMATE with one of our design specialists.