Posts Tagged ‘cook’
Kitchen Remodeling Ideas-Finding What works for You
If you are thinking seriously of kitchen remodeling, and need ideas, begin with yourself. Yes, you should look around at magazines, model homes, displays in home improvement stores. These are all good sources and should be part of your approach, but much of the information you need is within you.
Why are you considering kitchen remodeling?
1. Is it becuase the kitchen in not functional?
2. Is it becuase the kitchen is out of date?
3. Will it be just a partial remodel to freshen up the kitchen?
4. Do you need to just gut the kitchen and do a full remodel?
What kind of cook are you?
If you are a dedicated cook who cooks most things from scratch, uses mostly fresh ingredients, or who bakes a lot, you will need more preparation space, storage, and specific appliances.
If on the other hand, you are outside the home a lot, and are a ‘survival cook’ who only really cooks on some days and does heat and eat on others your needs for space, storage, and appliances may be different.
If the kitchen arrangement is currently functional, and your cabinetry is in basically good condition, you can save substantially on a remodel by not having to move anything, and possibly keeping the cabinetry and just refinishing it and adding new hardware.
Who uses your kitchen area?
1. Does just one person in the household cook, or is cooking shared?
2. Will you want to share cooking with guests?
These two questions are important because if several people are likely to cook, you will need additional prep space, as well as a good flow in the room.
Is the kitchen a separate walled off space, or is it open to other living space?
This is another important question. Most homeowners today prefer their kitchen to be open to other living spaces so they can socialize either with other members of the household, or with guests while they are in the kitchen.
If this is the case, it will be necessary to co-ordinate color schemes, wood tones and styles as one room flows into the other.
If your current kitchen arrangement isn’t functional, then you are probably in for a serious all out kitchen remodel.
I lived in one house where the stove was installed directly against a wall. There wasn’t even an inch of counter space to the left of the stove. The sink was at the far right of the stove, at the other end of the same counter, and had absolutely no counter space on the right of it. Not a good plan at all.
While you are pondering kitchen remodeling, think how you use your kitchen and how much space you will need adjacent to task areas to avoid such dilemmas as the one I have described above. The first step in your kitchen remodeling plan should begin with knowing how you will use your space, and what your needs will be.
Work through the questions posed here, and I’m sure a lot of kitchen remodeling ideas will pop into your mind. I know it’s not as fun as picking out countertops and appliances, but recognizing how you use your kitchen space is important to all the planning and preparation that comes after, and will help it all come together in a way so that your newly remodeled kitchen will provide what you want in a workable and pleasing fashion.
