You must have noticed that everybody tends to congregate in the kitchen, young and old alike. No matter how comfortable the living room or bedroom is people always flock towards the kitchen in search for tastes and aromas. Even if they might be culturally apart, it is the kitchen that brings in warmth of food and bonding with friends and family.
A kitchen renovation not only adds value to the home, but also makes cooking efficient and enjoyable. There are various reasons to update your kitchen besides making way for glossy appliances. However, kitchen makeover is a tedious and cumbersome task and people often make mistakes. Considering kitchen is a hub of activity, apt space for your basic necessities will always be primary requirement but in creating one people often tend to make mistakes. With basic precautions and planning, most mistakes could be avoided. These are some common mistakes which should be kept in mind while renovating your kitchen.
1. Counter Space
One of the biggest requirements of a kitchen is a counter top. While updating your kitchen, a counter top should not only be decorative but should also be fully utilized. It should fully equip your future needs while adhering to the limitations of your budget and size. Both purpose of the counter top and traffic flow in the kitchen should be well thought during the planning stage. Moreover, a lot of appliances also make way to the counter top such coffee maker, toaster etc. Their places along with the sockets should be planned in order to make best use of your counter top.
2. Storage Room
Kitchen contains lot of stuff. Considering most kitchen items are oddly shape, one always requires extra space to store them. While storing items along with their easy access could be tricky proposition, but the extra items could be managed with calculative decisions. There are some unutilized spaces in your kitchen which we always forget; such installing long upper cabinets along the wall, space above the fridge and installing shelves beneath countertops. These spaces will help you maximize your storage space.
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3. Lighting
Kitchen is one place where adequate lighting should be present at all times. Proper lighting not only adds value to your design and ambiance, but is also a safety concern, given the sharp objects that are frequently used in a kitchen. All work spaces should be adequately lighted using both natural and artificial source. Moreover, if possible do install under cabinet lighting as it will be sufficient for almost all kitchen tasks.
4. Ventilation
Ventilation is a must for your kitchen. Ventilation helps in maintaining the quality of air, while keeping off all sorts of odors and air-borne diseases. Good ventilation system also helps in to increase the life span of your appliances, especially the refrigerator which bears out lot of heat.
5. Garbage Disposal
These days dealing with trash is more than just sticking a bin under the sink. With the advent of recycling, modern kitchen solutions leave ample space for trash management. Since more and more items will be recycled in coming times, therefore it is better to manage your trash efficiently by incorporating recycling in your kitchen designs. Installing a garbage disposal system in the kitchen sink is one of the best ways to make sure that leftover food doesn’t reach your dustbin.
6. Kitchen Triangle
The area between sink, stove and refrigerator is commonly known as the Kitchen Triangle, the area of maximum activity. While planning the kitchen design, there should easy access around the kitchen triangle area with least obstruction. While in case of single wall kitchens, efficiency can be reached by setting apart the three items. Of the three, refrigerators singlehandedly occupy most space in the kitchen. These days, various refrigerator manufacturing companies also take into consideration space utilization issues, for example Samsung refrigerator comes in various sizes with small multi-door openings thereby helping in reducing area constraints.
7. Take Professional Help
Pick a contractor who knows the job well, as it is possible that you might waste more money, time and energy. Besides that, kitchen designers are also aware of latest trends, ideas and manufacturing qualities which can help you design your kitchen even better.
Most times when you hire professionals, they tend to impress by giving ideas and design which might cost more than your budget and could be unnecessary. Always remember that it is you who will be living in the house and using the kitchen.
