There’s no doubt the kitchen is a focal point – if not the focal point – in contemporary home design. Gone are the days when kitchens were hidden from view as “utility-only” spaces.

Today, DeLand kitchens serve families in ever-broader ways, ranging from food prep and cooking to homework stations, small home offices, and social hubs. For some, the kitchen is also an extension of outdoor space, enhancing the indoor-outdoor lifestyle our state is known for.

Design a Kitchen You Love for Your Home Remodel

Designing a kitchen you’ll love today, tomorrow, and ten years down the road requires assistance from an experienced local design-builder who knows how to keep the long-view while attending to your household’s “must-have” features. 

As you work with your chosen home remodel contractor, make sure to cover these three essential design factors to ensure the final kitchen is one you can fall in love with again and again throughout your home’s lifetime.

1. The ideal kitchen layout

The kitchen layout is key to both function and enjoyability of a kitchen. If you love the current layout of your kitchen, that’s great. However, you may find that it’s worth a little extra demolition and re-structuring to gain a kitchen layout that serves you and your family best.

The one-time investment of relocating or reinstalling plumbing and electrical work is well worth the lifetime of satisfaction you’ll gain from having a kitchen layout that reflects your lifestyle.

Questions you should ask yourself include:

• What’s current traffic flow like? Are meal prep and busy kitchen times more like a series of “excuse me,” “pardon me,” and “whoops, I’m sorry…” than they are about ease, flow, and accessibility? If so, bring that up during your kitchen design consult. We’ll offer suggestions and ideas to improve traffic flow, making the kitchen a more peaceful and efficient place to spend time.
• Who uses the kitchen most often? Who will use the kitchen most often in five to ten years? If you have littles, the same accessible design tenets that support their ease of use and kitchen independence will come in handy if you’re choosing to age in place. If your household has one or two tried-and-true chefs, their input is essential to create a kitchen design reflecting their needs.
• Do you need more kitchen storage space? And, how could storage be more efficient? The more detailed you are about current storage and usage, the better our design team can create customized storage spaces.
• Is everything you need within a step or two from center? The standard “kitchen triangle” was created to ensure the fridge, prep area, and stovetop/oven were all within step-able or reachable distance from one another. While contemporary kitchen designs may stray slightly from those standard principles, kitchen efficiency is optimized by thinking about distances traveled (or obstacles encountered) while cooking/cleaning.
• What non-food tasks take place in the kitchen? Is the kitchen a place you use to read the news and enjoy coffee? Comfy seating is a must. Is it a homework or micro-office stop? If so, we can design a small home office space. What about the kids’ hangout and snack areas or pet feeding stations? All are possible when we think big-picture and plan ahead.

Answering these and other related questions ensures kitchen designs fit clients and families like a glove, seamlessly accommodating day-to-day life.

2. The right sink

Kitchen design websites place significant emphasis on stove/oven and refrigerator selection. We agree those are important. However, not enough attention goes toward the importance of kitchen sink selection – and placement. 

The “where” of the kitchen sink should become clear while working through the above questions with your home remodeling contractor. The type of sink you select is an equally important consideration. For example, open sinks, like farmhouse-style options, are often best for busy kitchens requiring a larger well for dirty dish storage until there’s time to wash.

Also, think about adding sink workstation accessories made-to-fit, such as prep stations, colander inserts, and draining racks – all of which slide side-to-side as needed. Click Here to see an example. 

3. Thoughtful lighting design with ample natural light

Personal color, texture, and finish preferences evolve over time, but the home remodel design phase is your best opportunity to create a thoughtful kitchen lighting design. Light and bright kitchens change the entire look and feel, and ample daylighting is the best way to accomplish that.

We’ll see where we can add or enhance existing windows and perhaps install a skylight or solar tubes to enhance available daytime lighting. You’ll rarely need to turn a light on during the day, which improves whole-home energy efficiency. Then, we’ll place careful attention on adding layered combinations of task, security, and ambient options for the nighttime shift.

The design-build team at Fogle Constructors is ready to create a personalized home remodel that includes all of the kitchen must-haves you’re dreaming about. Contact us to schedule a consultation.