10 Tips to Avoid Mistakes in the Design of our Kitchens

No matter how different our lifestyle may be, in the end much of our domestic activities will take place in the kitchen. In order to do this, we want to make 10 mistakes today that we must avoid if we want to be successful in the design of our kitchen:

1. Avoid obstructing the so-called working triangle.

The working triangle in the kitchen consists of the refrigerator, the sink and the hob itself. This is the area of greatest activity and it is the one that we must take the greatest care when planning the design, avoiding distancing these elements too much, as well as avoiding the interposition of possible obstacles between them.

Regardless of the size or layout of the design of our kitchen, it must abide by this simple rule to achieve greater effectiveness in the main use of this room; cooking. A too small triangle can cause us to stumble into each other inside the kitchen and if it were too large it would become a strenuous activity.

2. Avoid lack of lighting.

Lighting is one of the great forgotten protagonists in the design of our homes, from our Blog we have already spoken of the importance of illuminating our homes well. 

And the kitchen is a space in which we should not give ourselves the luxury of having poor lighting, because in it we use sharp and dangerous kitchen utensils. We have to consider a good general lighting, that avoids shadows inside the work space and reinforced by a specific lighting for each task. The habitual thing is to reinforce in the zone of preparation of foods, as well as in those zones that we use in our kitchens to enjoy our breakfasts or meals.

3. Do not forget a good ventilation.

Both the use of a good extractor hood and the design of the kitchen with good natural ventilation must be essential in our kitchens. Avoiding the use of hoods that are often of a very elegant design and yet do not comply with a good extraction of foul air. Also to study well the heights of placement of the same ones to be able to enjoy a cleaner and more pleasant kitchens for us. You should also know how to choose kitchen faucet as it is one of the most important parts of the design in a kitchen

4. Do not forget the storage space. 

In our kitchens we usually store a lot of goods, utensils, food ... And not only that, but often everything related to household cleaning is also inside the kitchen, which is why we need a lot of storage space and we must also consider that it is easily accessible.

We have often come across kitchen houses that skip this space in search of a more "attractive" design and this is just something we should avoid. That is why we like to define the space of the kitchens in which we work and to define their design adapting it to the needs of the client, by means of a suitable planning and forecast of the same the kitchen not only has to be more attractive, but it has to count on all the space of storage that we need. Even taking advantage of the skirting board to increase the total storage capacity.

5. Do not ignore the work space on the worktop.

Many times we find kitchens that do not have an adequate length for the work surface. All the activities that we carry out in the kitchen require a worktop, so it is convenient to adapt this need to our kitchen. For this we can use islands or develop kitchens in the shape of L or U. It is important not to forget to have a large surface of worktop in our kitchens, especially near the sink and the kitchen itself.

6. Don't make a mistake in choosing an island in the kitchen. 

They are in fashion and we know it, they are an element of fantastic design, but in many occasions to insist on placing an Island in our Kitchen, or a bad location of the same within it, can be a disastrous choice. If we do not have a kitchen of adequate size, an island can hinder the development of a good working triangle, as we talked about in the first point, or we will have a lower storage capacity. It is important to determine whether the choice of an island in the design of our kitchen may or may not be a wise decision.

7. Do not forget to protect the walls of our kitchen.

Whether for a budget or for aesthetic reasons, there is often no adequate protection of the vertical surfaces of our kitchens, especially in the areas of fires or sinks.

We are finding ourselves with a growing tendency on the part of our clients to ask us for the walls of the kitchens without tiling, normally finished with smooth paint. We understand this as a serious mistake and we try to make it understood, it is necessary that these vertical walls are easy to clean, avoiding finishes that have a high porosity and thus an easy absorption of vapors and grease that spread throughout the kitchen.

For it we recommend to use a good tile, or to fold the encimera of the kitchen in the walls of the same one, being this option economically more expensive and therefore it only has to be used punctually. We can also use vitreous or stony coatings, as long as they do not have open pores.

8. Do not forget the space for Recycling.

Either in the space under the sink, or in a separate piece of furniture, we can resort to the choice of a wide variety of bins for the recycling of garbage. Nowadays, there are a large number of containers on the market that allow an easy classification of the different types of waste we generate.

9. Not to sin of excess of Fashion.

Although it should not be treated as a big mistake, if it is convenient to take into account that the market is somewhat volatile in terms of trends and although today a color or a design is especially fashionable, this can have a very short half-life and make our investment has not been the best option. It is not only a question of colours, but also of kitchen utensils that appear today in all the magazines and that may not be of special use to us. As we always point out to our customers, it is important to know ourselves and our needs in order to avoid absurd investments.

10. Don't make the mistake of Not counting on Professionals.

Taking charge of a Kitchen Design Project on your own, as well as not having Professionals in the design of your Home Renovation Project, is a common mistake in Spain.  In other countries there is always an architect when it comes to renovating a home, here this is considered an expense and not a saving. When you have a Professional Architect with knowledge of the value of the costs of the Materials and the Works to be carried out, this will not only mean a great economic saving within the Work to be carried out, but it will also become a suitable investment in the future, revaluing the value of our house and determining the importance or not of the works to be carried out for it.

In the design of the kitchens this also takes a special importance and many times for "saving money", we end up wasting not only money but also time and energy.

I hope all these tips have been useful to you and we are hoping to see them reflected in the designs of your future kitchens.