Do you ever just walk into a space and think “wow, all of the things I could do with this?”, this is a major habit of mine. I constantly think about how something can be better, which tends to be a good and a bad thing. Especially bad for the bank account (LOL). The bigger I dream the bigger the laundry list gets, but what a beautiful list it is. Back when my husband and I bought our home, there were some major upgrades to be made and the kitchen has always hit the back burner for a number of reasons.
As the years passed we have worked through a number of updates; our kitchen has been one of the lower priorities as we did some early on cosmetic updates, but being a designer always has my wheels turning. I have been dreaming up how to redo this 1960's kitchen for several years now. From the bulk heads, to the mixed appliance finishes, to the Formica that has aged just yellow enough, to the sink with the broken faucet, to the outdated cabinet style, to the limited storage and cramped layout, I have found every pain point this kitchen has! Finding your pain points is your FIRST big step to designing a kitchen that you not only love aesthetically, but that you love functionally. Knowing where the flaws in your current design are what truly allows you to look at and plan better for every aspect. Knowing how you want to use your kitchen and understanding what doesn’t work in your current space is something that is so vital in creating your dream kitchen.
-- This is what it looked like when we purchased the house from my husband's grandmother --
The SECOND step in designing your kitchen is knowing what you like. With so many different styles, trends, and options, it can be so overwhelming to decide what you will really love long-term when it is installed. Avoiding that overwhelm for me tends to look like creating a Pinterest board or gathering images I have seen and can visualize. I always look at Pinterest as my brain dump of all the different things I see and love and then create sections within that board that really break down all the different things I love to build a central theme. This will help you establish a style you know will work for YOU, and it will help your designer know what direction to take. In creating your ideal kitchen, the easiest thing you can do before you go to your designer is narrowing this down! I always love this step because I love consuming design that inspires me.
-- For our kitchen, my husband and I love black cabinetry and the bold statement it makes as you can see here. We used black cabinets around the perimeter and mixed in this really natural blonde tone wood. Gold hardware is another showstopper for us. We absolutely love how it pops on the black and how it dresses up the natural wood!!
Lastly, I would say the THIRD most important step in renovating your kitchen is finding a professional that you can build a relationship with and trust through the process. In a do it yourself world, designers are left out of projects quite a bit which leaves a lot of room for “man, I wish we would have known that” or “Darn, I wish we would have included this”. As a designer it is our job to bring your vision to life, but we also provide an expertise not only from our education but also from experience that will make sure that you aren’t left wishing you would have done things differently. We have worked with many clients and walked through the steps of kitchen remodels time and time again. This has helped us develop a knowledge of cabinetry must-haves, storage hacks, appliance selection and placement, why you should choose quartz countertops, or what the downfalls of certain backsplashes are. We want to bring you all of the best options so when you are finished with your renovation, you know that every base was covered and that you are so in love with the final outcome, you won’t want to leave!
We love what we do and we love to see the look on our client’s faces when they see a finished design. It is one of the best parts of this job! So when jumping into your next renovation, remember that we are here to serve YOU, go check out our services page to see if any of our options would be good for you and your next project!!