Pressing Kitchen Design Problems and How to Face Them
Interior decorators often fail to deliver quality designing of homes due to their failure to estimate the importance of the kitchen area. An average person spends at least 1/8th of their entire day in the kitchen, making it one of the most important rooms in a house. Hence, it is important to design the kitchen while keeping the needs and requirements of the homeowners in mind. This often leaves homeowners frustrated and unhappy with their home designs, even if all the other rooms have the best possible designing.
Therefore, it is important to keep in mind the most pressing designing problems when it comes to the kitchen, and also be aware of ways in how to tackle such problems. Discussed below are some of the most common issues faced with kitchen designs.
Absence of adequate space around the kitchen
Although the scope of movement within the kitchen is very limited, the unavailability of the necessary space for movement can be a major deal-breaker. Space is usually needed for movement between the kitchen counter, the cooking area, the storage area and the washing area. Moreover, there needs to be enough space to accommodate the movements of more than at least two people. After all, some people also like to have their meals in the kitchen slab itself. The best way to sort this issue is to understand the needs of the homeowner and plan the designing accordingly.
At the same time, it is also important for homeowners to ensure that the size of the kitchen is not too small as this would cramp the room even with the best designing. The best solution for the kitchen is often to construct an open kitchen that looks out to the dining room. In this way, the kitchen can be merged with the dining room for added space.
Absence of adequate storage space
Storage issues are very common in the kitchen, which is once again, a result of improper planning. Insufficient storage space in the kitchen can often cause homeowners a great deal of frustration. This frustration cannot always be dealt with if not addressed at the planning stage itself. Moreover, dealing with such issues at a later date can often cost large sums of money. Hence, it is important to plan every inch of the kitchen before executing the designing process.
Another great way to counter such storage issues is to make use of storage counters and cabinets. In fact, the use of proper counters and cabinets can offer even small kitchens loads of space without hampering storage requirements. Such cabinets can also utilize unused spaces in kitchens and render them useful for storage of kitchen items such as dishes, grocery items, etc. In such cases, even the quality of the cabinets matter as good quality cabinets that are made from strong and durable materials do not need much-added support. This means that less space is wasted to offer stability to the storage cabinets.
Inadequate decoration and unattractive appearance
It is often a folly committed by even the best of decorators is to not offer adequate importance to the decoration and appearance of the kitchen. Most people often feel that the kitchen is not worth the time or expense needed for an attractive appearance. However, considering the fact that a person spends at least 1/8th of the entire day in that room, it is not entirely a bad idea to make the kitchen appear beautiful.
At the same time, it is futile to go out of the way and spend crazy amounts of money to make the kitchen look the best. Instead, using artificial landscaping products such as faux plants and trees or even shrubs along with other decorative items can improve the looks of the room significantly. This will ensure that a person feels like they are entering a green world or a garden every time they set foot in the kitchen. Using such artificial landscaping products will also go a long way in improving the overall looks and appearance of the house. There are plenty of such items that can be used in practically every corner of the house to make the designing and the decoration of the house more fruitful.
There is, however, a need to exercise precaution while using these products. If overused or combined with the incorrect decorative items, they could cause the entire decoration of the house or the kitchen to become a massive failure. Hence, it would be wise to make a judicial use of such artificial landscaping products and blend them with other items that complement their overall effect.
Improper planning of the workflow and layout
The overall layout of the kitchen has a major role to play in ensuring that you do not work harder than is absolutely necessary. The main areas of a kitchen include the areas for washing and prepping the food items, the cooking area, the storage area and the area to wash the dishes. It is, therefore, important to have these areas close enough to each other so that a person does not have to move much to utilize one of these areas.
At the same time, it is also important to ensure that the positioning of these areas does not hamper the availability of space for each of these areas. After all, it is pointless to cramp up all of these areas into a small space in order to ensure proximity. The availability of adequate space will allow freedom of movement, making it easier for the homeowner to utilize the kitchen stress-free.
There are a few other such concerns that must be dealt with while designing a kitchen. The most important and common ones, however, are the ones discussed above. It all boils down to proper planning and careful execution. In such cases, it is always important to measure every inch of the kitchen and plan the decoration more than a couple of times before executing it once. After all, designing the kitchen is a one-time process, and cannot be carried out repetitively. So, homeowners must carry out the planning procedure repetitively in order to avoid designing repetitively!
