KITCHEN DESIGN MISTAKES [Common design mistakes to avoid]

how good is a hot cup of coffee on a cold winter's day and that is what it is out there it is minus a bajillion degrees right now and instead of freezing my huevos off out in the garage we are going to sit down at the computer and talk a little more kitchen design so welcome back to the channel guys i'm jeff if you missed last week's video we talked about the common kitchen layouts i'll throw a link up in the top corner take five minutes and watch that and then come back and finish this video because today we're chatting about some of the common design mistakes that you know even we have fallen victim to throughout the designing process and these are design mistakes you want to nip in the bud before that plan goes off to your builder cabinet maker whatever it may be i don't want to talk about specifics like you know backsplash design or height or tile choice or countertop material or what color you should paint your walls or even what color your cabinet should be i want to focus on large design mistakes that can really impact the overall day-to-day use and long-term use and functionality of your kitchen so with that what better place to start than workflow so what do i mean by workflow well workflow is essentially how you move about and use your kitchen space now last week we talked about the working triangle and this is effectively the distance or the spacing or the shape between your range your sink and your fridge and how it often looks like a triangle now the working triangle was a little more traditional in nature with a kitchen separated from the rest of the house where everything was kind of situated in one room but the same principle can be applied to new kitchens even those that are on one wall so in essence the working triangle is allowing you to move efficiently between your sink your range your fridge and throughout your kitchen which ties perfectly back to workflow believe it or not the biggest disrupter to workflow is kitchen islands now i like to leave a minimum of 40 inches of space between countertop surfaces especially where you have drawers or appliances so what what do you do how do you plan for this well when i'm doing a kitchen design i start with my exterior of my kitchen this is any kitchen cabinets that are going to be against walls from there i can measure 40 inches outward which allows me to determine the largest size of island that should be in this kitchen now 40 inches is by no means a hard and fast rule you need to think about what that edge of the kitchen island is for for example if it's a water fault countertop or just end of cabinets with no drawers you could trim that back to 36 inches quite easily and still allow enough space to open cabinet doors on the other side and leave room to pass by however if you have cabinetry facing each other i eat drawers that are going to be opening towards each other doors appliances i suggest leaving at least 40 inches to not feel cramped in the space now workflow goes beyond just open space and general kitchen layout it also includes stuff like specific cabinet placement you need to think about what specific tasks are completed in what specific area of your kitchen for example near your sink and dishwasher you're going to want a bank of cabinet drawers this allows place for cutlery dish towels dish rags etc another thing i like to do is add a set of deep drawers next to the ranger cooktop i like to use drawers because it allows easy access and direct visuals to everything you're going to need to prepare a meal no more digging through to the back of a cabinet for that specific pot that's a perfect segue into our next common mistake which is wasting storage space sometimes efficiency and functionality just need to override design with any design there's a fine line between maximal storage and that stuff to the gills look the same goes for open shelving at some point a kitchen will just look barren without adequate wall cabinets so here are a couple things to think about when you're designing a kitchen examine your current kitchen or your new kitchen design carefully there's often a couple areas where you can sneak in some extra storage a perfect example of this is the hidden ikea hack that we like to use instead of using a filler panel to cover a gap we like to take a drawer front and turn it sideways this creates a deep tall cabinet that's perfect for stuff like cookie sheets and muffin tins another example to maximizing storage space is running wall cabinets all the way to the ceiling this is especially useful in rooms with a ceiling height that is taller than eight feet the beauty of running cabinetry all the way to the ceiling also has a positive effect on design it draws the eye upwards and creates the look of a taller more spacious kitchen all right kitchen design mistake number three poor lighting now lighting in general has to be one of the most overlooked aspects of design period it is also a great place where design and functionality come together rather harmoniously because cool lights are awesome so lighting for your kitchen can be thought about in two specific ways task lighting and general room lighting let's start with room lighting and these are your ceiling lights now i'm pretty picky about my ceiling lights and where they should go in a kitchen i'm not a big fan of just sticking four in a perfect square and generally lighting the space i like to place my ceiling lights directly above the edge of my countertop this allows the ceiling lights to function both as task lighting and room lighting the best part though is because they're directly above your work area you're not casting any shadows where you're trying to prep a meal so task lighting task lighting is stuff like island pendants under cabinet lighting or specific sync lighting now the primary goal of task lighting is lighting the area you're going to be working in no one wants to work in a dim kitchen i want to emphasize again how light fixtures are a great place to bring functionality and design together use them to add pops of your character and your personality to your space because you're going to be the one working in there every single day so next up we have appliance sizing so not only is their location and design key so is their size now this is why i like to start my designs with where i want my appliances to sit because i believe they are that important to your total kitchen layout so for example let's talk about the fridge a fridge should fit the space both in width and in depth now a monster refrigerator sticking 8 inches past the cabinetry is often going to have a large impact on workflow and in this case a counter depth refrigerator is probably the better choice however with a counter depth refrigerator you are going to lose some storage capacity and this is where choosing a wider fridge than the standard 30 inch style is probably a good choice all right it's time to talk about the least sexy of the common kitchen design mistakes and that's ignoring utilities now when i talk about utilities i'm specifically referring to electrical and plumbing i know they're boring but do not leave these to the last minute they're going to have a huge impact on the functionality of your kitchen forever so a couple examples of this include if you have an island going in your kitchen design do you want power in that island and where do you want power in that island this is why i always recommend having your trades professionals look at the kitchen design before you begin do it in the early stages have your electricians your plumbers look at it and make sure everything you are planning is feasible this is especially true with plumbers they'll be able to tell you if certain aspects your design just aren't functional maybe your kitchen can't go there because plumbing won't work according to code so again have them take a look in the early stages it'll save you tons of money and headaches down the road so moving along let's talk about the next one and that's cabinet height now i'm referring to both the height of your base cabinet as well as the height of your wall cabinets let's start with base cabinets and creating a proper working height now proper working height is typically around 36 inches for most individuals and in fact most appliances are actually manufactured around this height a common dishwasher slides right underneath your countertop between your cabinets a range slides into its gap already set at relatively the right height so if you're dead set on a lower working height my suggestion is to designate a specific area where this can be done but do it in an area that is still functional so i'd like to give you an example in one of our kitchen designs we lowered the island height by about an inch for a past client this was just enough to create a far more comfortable working height for them while not impacting any of the appliances now interestingly enough the human eye and the brain are surprisingly accurate at determining countertop heights so anyone walking into that room would notice the difference between the kitchen island and the surrounding cabinetry and countertop out on the walls so to fool them we actually went with a different countertop material and basically what this does is it tricks our brains and tricks our eyes into not realizing that they're different heights because the materials look different so moving on to wall cabinets and the proper height between the wall cabinet and the countertop so we aim for an absolute minimum of 18 inches between the countertop and wall cabinets this will prevent the cabinets from casting shadows or blocking any view of the prep area now that 18 inches is not a hard and fast rule by any means typically when we work in houses with eight foot ceilings we find that an 18 inch gap between the two and 40 inch wall cabinets because again we work typically with ikea cabinetry leaves a real awkward space at the top so we'll take those cabinetry we'll push them all the way to the ceiling and change our 18 inches to more like 20 inches so those extra few inches have no impact on the design and actually make it nicer to work at that area on the countertop alright so the final two design mistakes are kind of a personal opinion or an annoying trend whatever you want to call it the first one is assuming you need a new layout yes i said it you don't always need a new kitchen layout now we typically see this with clients when they really really want an island sometimes an island is just not meant for a space you just don't have enough room to include it you may just need a complete refresh a revamp of the space new cabinetry new tile new countertops to make you fall in love with the space again and it really has nothing to do with the layout at all the final common kitchen design mistake we're going to talk about is playing it too safe now again not really a design mistake more of just an annoying trend kitchens these days appear to be white gray white gray blah blah blah boring after a while they just get to be boring have some fun it's a space you're going to be spending time in every single day let it reflect your personality let it reflect your lifestyle you're going to spend a ton of time in the space so make it represent you you and your personality and your lifestyle now you don't need to go crazy but have some fun with it some great places to do this are your lighting fixtures your cabinet hardware the kitchen faucet these are all great places to add a little bit of personality add a little bit of touch that will not only make your design look better but they will make you love your space even more now the best part about these specific elements is they are all easily changed out if you're to sell your house down the road they're not going to have an impact on value because the next buyer can come in and change them to their liking without a ton of cost well that just about does it we're gonna end it here thanks a ton for watching guys if you enjoyed the video give it a thumbs up smash that like button down below and don't forget to hit subscribe so you don't miss any of our future videos we'll see you guys in the next one finish my coffee now

Channel: HS Design Studio

Views: 298,009

Keywords: kitchen design, kitchen design mistakes, kitchen remodeling ideas, how to design a kitchen, kitchen remodel, kitchen island ideas, kitchen tips, kitchen cabinet design, cabinet height from counter, diy kitchen, tips and tricks, home reno, on a budget, kitchen, inexpensive, homestud studios, design dr, reno dr, renovation mistakes, budget friendly home renovations, interior design

Id: __cRUrQ0WuM

Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021