7 Tricky Questions to Ask When Planning Your New Kitchen
Planning your new kitchen can be both an exciting adventure and a stressful endeavor to take on. When it comes to the design aspect, you get to be creative and go wild with ideas. When it comes to the logistical realities and finances, it can lead you straight to wanting to pull your hair out.
The key to planning your new kitchen effectively is to think ahead with a solid focus on the questions that a lot of people forget to ever ask.
These seven questions to ask when planning your new kitchen are meant to help guide you through some of the sticky areas that might have been overlooked otherwise. In the chaos of the new redesign, we hope this is helpful to get some surety underfoot and feel like you’re confident in moving forward.
How will the kitchen adapt to possible future needs?
One of the last things you want to do when planning a kitchen is design it in a way that will need another overhaul in just a few years.
So how will the kitchen be adaptable when something new comes up?
For example, you may be growing your family. How can you still seat and wrangle three kids in the kitchen when they’re no longer just newborns and are running around all over the place? Is there space for barstools that can help with a quick snack in between sports practice and homework?
You also might want to think about the lifespan of your appliances. The average refrigerator lasts anywhere between 10 and 20 years, most living to the young age of 13 or 15 years old. This means that as soon as your fridge goes, it’ll need something that fits well in your kitchen layout unless you want to do another redesign.
With things like built-in appliances, this can be a complete hassle. It could be refrigerator cabinets, a tight space of your microwave, or an area for your dishwasher, these built-in areas can become a big challenge to getting your kitchen just right. The best workaround to create a flexible kitchen without ensuring an expensive remodel is to take a look at appliance trim kits.
Appliance trim kits allow for your fridge to change and still have the built-in look without having to buy a costly new built-in fridge when it goes. The same goes for your microwave. Everything will still look built-in and sleek with the trim kit applied.
How can I integrate my existing appliances into a new kitchen remodel?
In a similar vein, how can you start to save money without needing to pitch all of your old kitchen appliances and buy brand new ones?
Many people are upgrading their kitchen appliances so that they can get a new modern look. The secret is, appliance trim kits will deliver the exact same result at a fraction of the price, without ever having to change your refrigerator or microwave.
If you want that built-in look but your jaw hits the floor at the prices of built-in appliances, check out installing trim kits to get the same result.
We have a handful of appliance trim kits to choose from:
Design your kitchen with the exact same appliances and look forward to saving loads of money that can be put into other areas of the home.
What’s my kitchen triangle like?
The kitchen triangle is the positioning of the sink, fridge, and stove, your three most visited areas of the kitchen while cooking.
This is an important design aspect when planning your new kitchen because it can shape your experience when whipping up a meal quickly or taking your time to create elaborate cuisine.
The basic principles of the kitchen triangle are:
Each side of the triangle should be no more than 4-9 feet long with a total perimeter of 13-26 feet for optimal movement.
Beware of obstacles in the area such as the dishwasher door when it is opened up.
Reduce unnecessary steps across the kitchen to avoid carrying hot dishes a long way and to save overall time.
Take a look and see what your design will feel like when you’re moving around and cooking up a storm.
Have I considered the long-term cost of possible repairs and maintenance?
A lot of things are really great to have in your fantasy kitchen, but when they get into your real one, they can be a nightmare.
Take built-in refrigerators for example. They are beautiful but are an absolute nightmare to repair and maintain.
If you swap out the built-in fridge for a normal refrigerator with a refrigerator trim kit giving it the same look, you can save yourself thousands in the long-term cost of repairs and maintenance.
The same goes for your countertops. Will they be able to withstand years of heavy use, or will you need to get them repaired frequently, and if so, how hard is it to repair them?
Imagine your kitchen ten years down the road after years of heavy use and imagine what will break in that time. How can you get ahead of that?
Have I planned under-cabinet lighting for the counterspaces?
Cabinets are a great solution for storage but quickly steal a lot of the light from the overhead. So even when you think you have enough beautiful, recessed lighting in your new kitchen plan, the underneath of your cupboards could be as dark as a cave.
This is a problem when most of your cutting is on countertops underneath the cabinets.
Under-cabinet lighting is affordable and easy to install in your existing cupboards so you can light everything up and make sure you don’t miss the carrot when slicing up the veggies for the next chicken noodle soup.
Does the kitchen get enough airflow for ventilation and removal of odors?
Even when cooking smells good, the lingering of the different scents can be a lot to handle over time.
That’s why planning your kitchen to have a high level of air circulation will come in handy in the long haul when you decide to cook up some heavily spiced seafood dishes.
Another aspect of airflow is to make sure you have a solid and powerful kitchen range hood installed that pumps air from the kitchen outside. The catch here is making sure that your kitchen has enough access to fresh air coming in to replace what you’re sending out, otherwise weird pressure can occur.
How can I make my kitchen more modern without spending a fortune?
This might not be a question that you forgot to ask while planning your new kitchen, but it really is a tricky one, and utilizing cheap materials isn’t the answer you’re looking for.
There are a few great ways to update your kitchen without emptying your wallet at every home improvement store in your town.
For starters, try to use what you already have.
That means, give your cupboards a sand down and a fresh coat of paint or stain to change their look without totally replacing them.
Add appliance trim kits to your refrigerator and microwave to get a built-in look without having to totally remodel your cabinetry and buy an insanely expensive new built-in fridge that will cost you loads over time.
The next step is to update your lighting system to utilize LED lighting, which can save you loads over the long run on your power bill. The lighting systems are cheap and simple to install, often just needing to replace the bulb.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to get creative! Updating your kitchen can be a lot of fun, and using your imagination to save money is a challenge, not a problem.