Influences for Your Kitchen Design
So you’ve decided to redesign your kitchen, and like most homeowners, you’re probably racking up kitchen design ideas. But that’s where many of us stumble. How do you choose a theme that suits your tastes, your lifestyle, and your budget? One way to make up your mind is to compare different design influences. Lots of things can influence your design choices, such as your favorite color, a movie or a piece of art, or even another kitchen.
When choosing your design influences, the first rule is to go where your eye takes you. The kitchen tends to be a busy place, and you don’t want a bad layout or color scheme to cramp your style. Still not sure what you want? Here are some things you can use to inspire your own kitchen ideas.
Layout Themes
Before getting into aesthetics, it’s important to have a good floor planone that ensures a fast, steady workflow. Most kitchen layouts are based on the basic triangle rule: the stove, sink, and refrigerator are arranged in an imaginary triangle on your counter. This keeps most of the work confined to one place, so you don’t have to run across the room every five minutes. When these three are in place, you can put your designer’s eye to work.
So what influences your kitchen layout? Take your cue from the shape and size of your kitchen. If it’s small, your goal is to maximize floor space and make it appear larger. A corner counter works well because it takes an unused portion of the room (the corner) and leaves the rest of the floor open. Accent any architectural features you have, such as posts and platforms, to draw the eye from the walls.
Going Natural
Today’s kitchens are all about channeling nature and rediscovering its beauty. Back in the day, a “natural” kitchen meant the backyard equivalent of a campsite: flimsy tools, easily cracked surfaces, and floors that don’t last a week. But modern design has allowed natural materials to be built into durable, functional, and fabulous-looking pieces. Some of the more recent discoveries are bamboo, stone, and hardwood. Use them as your theme for a light, breezy atmosphere.
If you like the idea of an eco friendly kitchen but want something more modern, try mixing them with manmade elements. The contrast between natural and artificial can be very striking, especially in a large space. Try installing metal handles on wooden cabinet doors, or softening a hard stone counter with small potted plants.
Period Kitchens
Are you fascinated with a certain era or design movement? Why not use it for your kitchen? Whether it’s classic Victorian or art deco, you can incorporate it in your kitchen with just a few small touches. For a 70s kitchen, use yellow to brown hues as your dominant color and add floral or shell accents in pastel shades. Feeling modern? Wash out your walls in white and add splashes of bold color in your counter, furniture, and floor treatments.
Your cabinetry can play a big role in channeling certain time periods. Specifically, the amount of detail on the cabinets can tell which styles influenced your design. Intricate patterns and rich wood are common in classical kitchens, while straight, flat surfaces are more modern in nature. Look into design websites and see which cabinet styles best represent your ideas.
Country Style
Another theme that’s making a comeback is the country kitchen. Country design is associated with close-knit interiors and lots of sunlight. This style best suits small to medium-sized kitchens, as they can look warm and cozy on their own. Start by incorporating wood into your surfaces: your floor, your counter, even your chopping board. The natural color of wood adds an instant homey glow to the room.
Plants and greenery also help build a country theme. If you have enough room, you can buy some potted herbs and arrange them against the window to draw attention to the outdoors. You can’t build a kitchen herb garden on your window, of course, but it can slash a few minutes off your cooking timehow’s that for functional dcor?
Asian Inspirations
Asian dcor is gaining ground not only in kitchens, but also in general home design. An Asian-inspired kitchen exudes style, comfort, and coziness while keeping things simple and functional. Natural elements are also used extensively, but more than that, it appears to shift smoothly from the indoors to the outdoors. If your kitchen has a back door or a large window, leave them open and add some fabric treatments to give it that laid-back Asian feel.
Of course, in Asian design, there’s always the concept of feng shui. No one knows if arranging your stuff a certain way will bring good luck, but it won’t hurt to try. A typical feng shui kitchen will be at the back of the house or at least beyond the center line. Try to position the stove so that you can see the doorway while cooking, without having to turn around. Use as much natural light as possibleit’s supposed to bring positive energy and nourishment to your table.
Tags: kitchen design ideas | kitchen design ideas | eco friendly kitchen | eco friendly kitchen | kitchen herb garden | kitchen herb garden | feng shui kitchen | feng shui kitchen | kitchen layouts | kitchen layouts
January 4th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
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