The Ultimate Kitchen Design Checklist

Photos courtesy of Kitchen Distributors

There are countless options available when it comes to your kitchen redesign. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but planning your dream kitchen should be an enjoyable experience. To help you streamline the process, we have created a kitchen design checklist with a step-by-step guide. Among many, here are three of the most important steps to consider to turn your vision into reality. 

1. Choose Your Style

Your style can range from traditional to ultra-minimalist modern, but should be a reflection of your personality as well as the style of your home. 

If you are unsure of which style you prefer, think about where you draw inspiration from. A single piece of furniture can provide the inspiration for an entire remodel—using its essence as the basis for all of your design decisions. 

Who are your favorite designers: local, national, international? What kind of color palette are you drawn to?

2. Describe Your Dream Kitchen

This is not a time to worry about budget or layout, colors or materials. If you could have all the bells and whistles and unlimited space and budget, what would your kitchen do? How would your life change because of it?

This is a big part of the discovery process when working with a kitchen designer. A kitchen should be functional before it’s fashionable, and designing for your lifestyle is what separates an average kitchen from something that’s truly special. 

How you interact with your kitchen has to do with many different factors. How many people typically cook at once in your family? What is your level of skill in the kitchen? Do you entertain often and for how many people? What non-cooking activities do you do?

The goal of asking these questions is to discover the layout and functionality of the ideal kitchen for you and your family.

3. Select the Materials, Appliances and Details

After space planning, the second layer of kitchen design is your foundational materials—cabinets, flooring, countertops—all of the items that create the surfaces where you cook, clean, eat, walk and interact.

The next layer is the mechanics—large appliances, lighting, and ventilation. Are you interested in professional-grade appliances for gourmet cooking, or would you prefer a sleek, modern look with induction cooking and a low-profile hood? Do you want ornate, traditional lighting or slim island pendants and under counter lighting?

Lastly, there are A LOT of details that need to be considered and selected—your sinks, hardware, fixtures and finishes. These details are the final touches that make your kitchen uniquely yours.

With a custom kitchen, imagination is the only limiting factor to what can be accomplished. This checklist helps gather most of the choices available into one resource, and might introduce you to new ideas you haven’t considered yet. View the complete Kitchen Design Guide & Checklist by Kitchen Distributors.

Morgan MacKay is the Director of Marketing for Kitchen Distributors, which offers award-winning kitchen design throughout the Rocky Mountains. View their profile or contact them at 303-795-0665.

Content for this article provided by Kitchen Distributors.