In many ways, the kitchen is the heart of a home. It’s extremely likely that some of your most cherished childhood memories center around the kitchen in one way or another. Who doesn’t look back fondly on memories of coming home to the smell of fresh baked cookies or bread, the way that grandma always let you lick the frosting off the spoon, or simple memories of breakfast before school with your loved ones?
However, there is more to a kitchen than entertaining friends and bonding with family. At its core, a kitchen is a workroom and should be as functional as it is welcoming. For all these reasons and more, there is no room in your house that benefits more from well thought out design than the kitchen.
The Importance Of Good Kitchen Design
There are 6 basic elements that go into a well-designed kitchen:
Quantity And Quality Of Light
An often overlooked aspect of good kitchen design is the importance of abundant, warm light. Having an abundant supply of even light is important for a number of reasons. Sufficient light is important while cooking for reasons of efficiency, safety, and ability to produce quality, attractive food for your friends and family. The quantity of light in your kitchen is also an important factor in creating a comfortable, inviting ambiance.
The quality of light is also crucial to creating an inviting atmosphere in your kitchen. We all know the difference having natural sunlight in a room makes for the ambiance of a room when compared to fluorescent lighting.
Workflow Efficiency
Most of the work activity in a kitchen centers around three specific areas, the stove, the fridge, and the sink. These three points create what is known as a kitchen work triangle.
In a well-planned kitchen, the three sides of the triangle that connect these work points should be between 1.22 and 2.75 meters long. The sum total of the distance between these three work points shouldn’t be over 7.93 meters.
Foot Traffic Control
Non-cooking related traffic patterns should never cross into or through any part of the work triangle. This helps ensure an open, unencumbered area where a cook or cooks can work without hassle.
Cooking aisles should measure at least 1 meter for a single cook, and at least 1.22 meters for multiple cooks for maximum efficiency.
Surface Space And Storage
Different sizes of kitchens have different storage and space requirements. When it comes to countertops, more is always better. However, you’re going to want at least 4 meters of total linear frontage, and counters should be between 0.6 meters and 0.63 meters. You probably won’t have to worry about the depth of your counters because most counters are produced to an industry standard depth.
| Kitchen Size (sq. m) | Shelf/Drawer Frontage (m) |
| 14 or Less | 35.5 |
| 14-33 | 43.2 |
| 33+ | 50.8 |
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Safety
Proper attention must be paid to safety when planning your kitchen. A good designer knows how to design for adequate ventilation, fire protection, and adherence to all applicable safety codes.
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Functionality
A properly designed kitchen will be planned out with how you plan to use it in mind. If you do not plan to use it as a dining or social area, you are going to have different needs than someone who wants their kitchen to be the focal point of the home’s social gatherings.
Why Hire A Kitchen Designer?
Most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the layout of their kitchen until it is time to remodel it, but professional kitchen designers spend every day thinking about little else. This gives a kitchen designer unique insight into what is required to make a comfortable, efficient, and welcoming kitchen that won’t cause a homeowner headaches down the line.
Your kitchen designer will put this expertise to work for you in three ways:
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Safety
The kitchen is easily the most dangerous room in any house. A good kitchen designer has the knowledge and expertise to anticipate the risks of a kitchen and take measures to eliminate them and will work closely with remodelers to ensure strict adherence to lawfully mandated building safety codes.
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Functionality And Efficiency
An experienced designer knows how to make a space work for you, not the other way around. By applying their knowledge of efficient kitchen design to your particular project, they can customize a layout that meets or exceeds all of your space and efficiency needs.
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Aesthetics
While kitchen design and interior design are disciplines that frequently overlap, they are actually separate fields altogether.
While an interior designer focuses on incorporating decorative elements throughout the home, a kitchen designer must also balance decorative design elements with functional design elements and preferred specifications for kitchen safety and efficiency.
They have the expertise to take all of the pieces of the kitchen puzzle, the drawers, the countertops, the cabinets, and arrange them in a way that achieves both aesthetic harmony and optimal efficiency.
How To Choose A Kitchen Designer
Not all designers are created equal, and it is important that you choose a qualified designer who is willing to work toward achieving your unique design goals and can display the skillset needed to meet or exceed them.
It is also important to choose a designer who has the proper certifications, licenses, and insurance coverage to ensure that you are working with a qualified professional and not some fly-by-night operation.
You should also be sure to evaluate a prospective designer’s previous work before you actually hire them. A good kitchen designer should have no problem providing you references and examples of their work.
When you get to the point where you are interviewing prospective designers for your project, be sure that they can answer the following 7 questions to your satisfaction:
- What is your experience with planning layouts, materials, and overall aesthetics of a kitchen?
- How do you keep current on the latest kitchen design trends and practices?
- How have you solved functionality and efficiency issues in the past?
- Do you have good relationships with local purveyors and contractors?
- Are you a member of any design industry associations?
- Will you interview me about my specific design needs and factor that into your plan?
- How will you help minimize costs and stay within the boundaries of my budget?
Kitchen Design Costs
One of the most crucial aspects of your kitchen design project will be your budget. It is important to be honest and realistic about your budget, both with yourself and your designer. A good designer will be able to assess your budget and goals and use their expertise to attain those goals within your budget by offering sensible, economical alternatives.
The average cost of a kitchen renovation in Canada is $25,593 but can climb as high as $50,000 for major kitchen renovations, according to the CEO of Homestars, a site dedicated to connecting consumers with home improvement professionals.
Here is the breakdown of the most common kitchen renovation costs, and how much the average Canadian can expect to pay for them on average:
- Countertops And Cabinets (New)- $7,483.16
- Flooring (Wood)- $6,392
- Flooring (Ceramic)- $2,333
- Cabinet Refinishing- $3,819
- Stone Countertops– $3839
Other Budgeting Considerations
There are a few things that are easy to overlook when calculating your budget. When you remodel your kitchen, you aren’t able to use throughout the duration of the project. This means you are going to have to eat out while your kitchen is being renovated. It’s important to budget for increased food costs when making your budget.
It is also recommended that you add an additional 20%-25% to your total expected costs to account for any unexpected costs that might crop up during your project. Based on the average Canadian kitchen remodeling costs quoted earlier, this will amount to between $5,118 and $6,398.
Are You Looking For A Quality Kitchen Designer?
If you are ready to take the plunge and revamp your home’s kitchen, why not work with the best? MR Kitchens has been offering high-quality kitchen design services to our customers for over 25 years and our reputation stands as a testament to our dedication to quality work and customer satisfaction.
Contact us today to arrange for your free consultation and find out why MR Kitchens is Ottawa’s most trusted name in kitchen design.