When designing a new kitchen there are many factors to keep in mind.
It is the perfect time to incorporate as many fantastic features as your space and budget will allow and you want to put the time into your research and planning to ensure you don’t have any regrets post-installation.
Naturally your choices will depend on the size of your kitchen, your budget and whether you are building or renovating for personal or investment purposes.
30 Kitchen Design Tips
Critically, focus on maximising functionality whilst creating a sense of space.
1) Wide corridors, make sure it is easy to move around and easy to access appliances e.g. to pack and unpack the dishwasher or get food in and out of the fridge and oven
2) Counter space, have as much as possible and make sure you have bench space near working areas such as; fridges, ovens, cooktops, sinks and microwaves
3) Practical finishes, choose non-slip, easy to clean floors and easy to clean counter tops and splashbacks
4) Location, the kitchen should be located with easy access to outdoor areas as well as indoor dining areas
5) Kitchen islands, are ideal to include for extra counter space and storage
6) Flexible design, if you are short on space select items that can move as needed such as islands on wheels and bench or table tops that fold down
7) Seating, include seating at kitchen benches or islands
8) Lighting, maximise natural lighting, possibly including skylights and add artificial lighting as required to ensure food preparation and cleaning areas can be well lit by day and night
9) Cupboard/drawer storage, for the most storage possible maximise cabinetry heights and depths and have floor to ceiling cupboards using bulkheads as needed
10) Avoid corners or use hinged doors, if you can avoid awkward corner cupboard spaces that's ideal, if you need to use the corner space ensure you have hinged doors for easier access
11) Drawers, use deep drawers instead of under-counter cupboards as they make it much easier to access the contents, or you can use 'roll-outs' behind cupboard doors if you prefer the look of doors
12) Bins, build-in hidden bins for rubbish and recycling and have these conveniently located near the sink if possible
13) Powerpoints, ensure you have enough and they are all in convenient locations
14) Pantry storage, create the biggest pantry you can which could be a slim-line pull-out pantry in a small kitchen, a walk-in pantry or a full butler's pantry
15) Appliance storage, if you don't have a butler's pantry you can create appliance garages or counter cupboards to hide commonly used appliances yet keep them easy to access
16) Specialised storage, consider other requirements you may have for dedicated storage for items such as; trays, cookbooks, utensils, tea towels and dishcloths and technology
17) Hidden counter storage, to keep your counters clear consider options for hidden counter storage for items such as knives, herbs, additional powerpoints and technology
18) Double bowl sinks, or a 2nd sink
19) Quality tapware, it is worth investing in a quality tap or taps as they are a primary feature of kitchens that are used extensively
20) Special taps, such as hot/cold water dispensers, filtered water taps and pot fillers, which are taps installed near cooktops for filling pots
21) Built-in ovens, this could be one oven or double ovens, it could include steam or convection ovens as well as microwave ovens
22) Built-in cooktop
23) Rangehood
24) Warming drawer, ideal for those that do a lot of cooking and entertaining
25) Built-in fridge, or fridge/freezer
26) Dishwasher, or dishwasher drawer, possibly both or 2 dishwashers
27) Built-in speakers
28) Coffee Bar, for those that love their coffee machine and have the space for a dedicated coffee station, this is a popular kitchen addition
29) Ice maker, great for those that do a lot of entertaining
30) Wine fridge, ideal for wine lovers and regular entertainers