Planning a new kitchen can be a stressful experience. With so many things to think about and decisions to make, it’s easy to lose your way and end up with something that falls short of your expectations. A new kitchen is a considered purchase so it’s natural to want something that’s going to tick all the boxes. If you’re considering enhancing your home with a new kitchen, here are some tips to help you plan:

The “working triangle”

This is a term used by kitchen designers and it refers to the 3 main purposes of your kitchen; cooking, food preparation and cleaning (i.e. – sink area). Whether you’re a would-be a chef or a ready-meal fan, your kitchen needs to be functional, convenient and user-friendly. When planning your kitchen, you need to think about the practicalities of how you will actually use the room. It’s a very good idea to have your refrigerator positioned within easy reach of a work top and to have your oven close to the sink. You will also need to think about the location of your cabinets and drawers in order to facilitate easy access to cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery.

Kitchen Designer

Styling

Choosing the style of your kitchen cabinets is central to achieving the look that you want. If your home is of an open-plan design, this becomes even more important; you need to ensure that the style you choose is sympathetic to the decor in your main living area. If your kitchen is an entirely separate room, you can afford to be a little more adventurous. However, bear in mind that if you decide to sell your property two years down the line, it might be difficult to find a buyer who loves your purple kitchen as much as you do! You’ll find a huge range of styles to choose from, including everything from sleek contemporary high gloss finishes to real wood and frosted glass.

Lighting

Your choice of lighting can completely change the look of your kitchen so it’s important to choose carefully. If you’re opting for a more contemporary design, think about recessed spot lights, under counter lights or track lighting. If your kitchen is of a more traditional design, you might want to choose something a little more ornate.

Colour

Not only is the choice of colour for your cabinets important to your kitchen design, the color you choose for walls and floors is also central to achieving the look you want. Your wall and floor colors should complement your cabinets so if you’re not planning a change of color scheme, bear this in mind when selecting your cabinets and appliances. If your kitchen is on the small side, light colours are always best as they will help to create the illusion of space.

Kitchen designers

If the thought of negotiating your way through the maze of cabinets, appliances, lighting and wall colours is too much for you, hiring the services of a kitchen designer can be a good idea. A good designer will plan and co-ordinate all of the various aspects of your new design making the experience virtually stress-free for you.

With kitchens brisbane deciding on a new kitchen is a major decision and one most families make only once in a decade. With this in mind, it’s crucial that you make the right choices to ensure that your new kitchen is a dream rather than a nightmare! Buying stylish cabinets and state-of-the-art appliances is all very well, but your kitchen will only be as good as its layout. Large or small, getting the layout right can make a major difference to your finished room. With kitchens brisbane, this is easily achievable. Here are a few hints and tips on how to make the most of your kitchen layout:

The Galley Kitchen

Galley kitchens are often found where space is limited and are typically long and narrow. In a galley kitchen, all cabinets and appliances run along one wall.

Planning tips:

• Choose multi-functional appliances wherever possible in order to save space (e.g.: a washer-dryer is a much better option than trying to squeeze 2 separate appliances in).
• If possible, opt for integrated appliances as this will give a much more uniform look in a long narrow kitchen.
• Try to keep all of your appliances under the countertop as this will give you a more spacious preparation area. Microwaves can be mounted on brackets, again freeing up space on the countertop.
• Keep the hob and the sink close together.

The Double Galley

Similar to the galley kitchen but with cabinets and appliances running along 2 facing walls.

Planning tips:

• Full height cabinets and appliances should be kept to one end of the countertop in order to maximize space.
• Ensure that the distance between countertops (or cabinets) on either side is at least 40 inches.

The L Shaped Kitchen

In the L shaped kitchen, cabinets and appliances typically run along adjacent walls. This is a particularly good shape for a kitchen and can be adapted to suit many different purposes.

Planning tips:

• Aim to have your refrigerator, oven and sink no more than 3 feet from each other.
• Use one leg of the L for cabinets and appliances and the other for your dining table.
• If corner areas are difficult to access, visit one of the larger kitchen stockists (KITCHENS BRISBANE) where you’ll find a large range of imaginative storage solutions.

Designer Kitchens

The U shaped kitchen

In the U shaped kitchen, cabinets and appliances run round 3 walls of the room.

Planning tips:

• Ensure that you maximize available space, particularly in corner areas.
• Position your refrigerator towards the end of a countertop run for easy access.
• Ensure that your positioning of cabinets and major appliances does not allow open doors to obstruct other units or areas.
• Invest in quality lighting. Kitchens Brisbane offer an excellent range of kitchen lighting systems and these can make a huge difference to the overall look of your room. U shaped kitchens have a tendency to be darker than other layouts so it’s well worth saving a little bit of your budget for lighting.
• Add interest by including one or two cabinets with glass doors to enable you to display your crystal or other glassware.

Just ask us at Danish Kitchens Brisbane and we will be able to design your perfect kitchen, regardless of the shape.

Have you ever wished you had a designer kitchen? I’m sure you would have set foot in a friend’s new designer kitchen and thought “Wow! I wish I had a modern kitchen like this one!” and wondered how you could transform your own kitchen. You may have gone home and googled for kitchen designs, but you were still not sure how it will work, especially if you have a small kitchen space. There is no need to worry anymore – you are about to learn the 21 secrets  for a great designer kitchen! You will be able to apply these rules to any kitchen to ensure you get a perfect kitchen, whether it is for your own home or for an investment property.

1. 

   Modern Kitchen Design

   Most of the traffic flow to the kitchen is to the fridge, so a good general layout rule is to keep the fridge to the outside of the kitchen, close to the family area. However, rules are made to be broken.

2. Once your kitchen cabinets and tops are in place you can try out a few splashback color/material options and the right color will just click. Don’t make the final decision on your color or material until after the bench tops are fitted – you just don’t know how it will all look until it is installed in your kitchen!
3. Failure to leave at least 300mm between your gas cook tops and stoves and a window (even if the window opens or not) can void insurance policies. This is a really important point to remember.
4. It is a really great idea to visit a good quality appliance retailer to get advice on the best appliances to suit your needs. There are a lot of new and different products on the market, so it pays to be informed. You may find the perfect appliance, but never had known it existed before!
5. Attend cooking demonstrations for new kitchen products – it is one thing to be told what it does, but to see the apppliance in action speaks more than 1000 words! There are some things you really do need to see to believe.
6. You need to be able to communicate well with your kitchen designer. It is so important that you can as you will need to work together to find the best solution for your new kitchen. Talk together to find out what it is you want in your designer kitchen, and what you don’t want.
7. Avoid purchasing any appliances that may not fit in the best possible cabinet layout for your kitchen. Look at all of your options before making any decisions. You may negatively limit your options by telling your designer “I have this stove”. You will want to leave your options as open as possible until you are 100% sure you have the best kitchen design.You can put these tricks to the test in your kitchen plans, but there are many more secrets of designer kitchens to come that will help make your perfect kitchen.
8. Lighting is something to consider carefully in your kitchen designs – make sure you have enough natural light from sky lights and windows, and an effective overhead working light. Spot/specific lights are great for your kitchen working areas – you need to be able to see what you cooking! Display lights can also make your kitchen look great.
9. 

   Designer Kitchens Brisbane

   Take your time – don’t be rushed into quick decisions! Consider your kitchen layout options very carefully. It can be very expensive to modify cabinets once your kitchen has been installed, however it costs nothing to make changes to paper plans. No one has your best interests at heart if they pressure you to rush into making decisions.

10. Make sure you check that the contractor you are considering has a good record – you can do this by checking with your local building authority. You can also ask the contractor to see photos or their portfolio to see their previous work.
11. If you renovate your kitchen and have marble benchtops and gloss doors, for example, but keep your old appliances, it may drag the look down. You are only as strong as your weakest link! You may want to consider upgrading to a new fridge or microwave to compliment the rest of the kitchen.
12. Always choose your colors from a sample of the actual material, and never from printed materials such as brochures and magazines. It doesn’t matter how high the print quality may be, it will never be truly accurate.
13. Really powerful rangehood models (eg. with twin motors) are often only required where the air has to be dragged a long distance, but if your extractor is placed on an exterior wall and will be dusted straight through that wall then only a basic unit will be required.
14. It is the combination of the colors you choose that will make your kitchen look good, so make sure you choose all your colors together. It is the floors, doors and benchtops working well together that will create an effective display. Call in an expert if you are not sure on your color scheme.  By now you should be feeling like a kitchen design expert! Keep all these tips and tricks in mind when designing your kitchen plans, and maybe you’ll pick up a few extra hints along the way. When you combine all these secrets you will be able to design a perfect kitchen – functional and stylish.
15. Many kitchen construction companies will use high kickboards (over 150mm) to make their construction costs cheaper in order to offer you a better price, so it pays to check the height of the kickboard on any kitchen you are being offered.
16. Find some inspiration for innovative kitchen storage ideas – the Blum Dynamic Space website is a great place to start. There are a lot of modern ideas for kitchen storage out there. You can really open up the area with small kitchen designs if you use the right storage systems.
17. 

    Kitchens Brisbane

    If you are renovating with a view to sell the property, you are probably better off with an open plan kitchen. Usually this will involve removing walls, so you will need to make sure you are using qualified trades people. Using non-qualified tradespeople can void insurance policies or gurantees, so it really pays to get the job done professionally.

18. Make sure you consult a qualified kitchen designer or architect when designing your new kitchen – your kitchen will cost about the same price whether the layout is functional or not.
19. Appliance cabinets with roll up doors are a bit of a hazard and may be being made illegal – there have been incidents where the roller door has pushed down the toaster control and jammed it on, resulting in serious house fires. Other important safety tips in the kitchen include not putting water on a stove fire, and to keep dishwashing powders and tablets (as well as any other cleaning chemical) in a high place out of reach from children.
20. Ask around for referrals from anyone you know who has renovated or built recently. It is a good idea to find out what sort of things went wrong, who other people are using, and if they would recommend anyone.
21. Ensure that your new designer kitchen is exactly how you want it – if there is something not right, be sure to discuss with your kitchen designer!

You should now be able to apply these 21 secrets to make your kitchen a great designer kitchen. Draw up a few kitchen designs with your kitchen designer and keep your options open – you never know when you will be inspired and want to change an aspect or two of your kitchen. Always do your research – there are plenty of kitchens designers Brisbane has to offer!