Your kitchen is unarguably the busiest space in your house. From cooking to socialising with your family, you cannot spend a day without being in the kitchen. For these reasons — and many more— it only makes sense to put in a lot of thought into its design.

Kitchen designing is not just about the best finishes, modern fixtures, and dazzling lights. Unless it enables seamless functionality and serves your unique needs, the design will inevitably fail.

In this post, we’re giving you a round of the 7 most common kitchen design mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1.    Not Enough Circulation

If your kitchen layout fails to take enough air circulation space into consideration, your kitchen will feel cramped. This will not only limit the number of people who can use the space comfortably at one time but also hamper their ability to move freely. Not just that, you will have trouble working with your appliances such as the refrigerator and the dishwasher.

Therefore, whether you have a large area or a small one to work with, make sure that you take air circulation into consideration when you choose your kitchen design. To do this, you should aim for keeping at least 4 feet of space between kitchen countertops. If you have a smaller space at hand, a gap of at least 3.25 to 3.5 feet must be kept in between the countertops.

2.    Not Following the ‘Kitchen Work Triangle’

Kitchen design experts have come with a very important rule that should not be ignored regardless of your kitchen size or shape. It’s called the ‘Kitchen Work Triangle’. The triangle connects the sink, the stove and the refrigerator forming an imaginary triangle. This is important for careful planning and unobstructed access to these three spots.

The sink, stove and refrigerator should be located within easy reach of one another. The distance between each work area (or each leg of the triangle) should measure around 4-8 feet so that you can cook, clean, and store items easily. There should be no major traffic crossing through the legs.

3.    Wasting Storage Space

Kitchens have to accommodate a lot of stuff. This includes dry food items hiding behind the cabinet doors, utensils, and a large collection of appliances. Finding a home for all these items while not ignoring the ease of access can be tricky. Therefore, if you don’t incorporate a lot of storage space within your design, you will find yourself in trouble.

This does not just apply to a large kitchen. Even small kitchens have wasted space that could have been utilised for storage if it was planned properly.

For a small kitchen, you should consider extra-long upper cabinets to be installed with moulding for greater storage space. You can combine it with lighting fixtures and even greenery to make them look attractive from the outside. You can also install a cabinet over the refrigerator for storing seasonal items or things that are not used frequently.

Finally, installing shelves across the backside of the lower kitchen cabinets can add up to 3-4 square feet of extra storage space in your kitchen.

4.    Insufficient Lighting

Lighting makes a huge impact on your overall kitchen design. Even with the most perfect design, lack of adequate lighting will impair your ability to perform daily kitchen tasks in a comfortable way.

Thus, a well-lit kitchen should be one of your topmost priorities in kitchen designing. Pendant lights hanging above the kitchen island make for an excellent addition to any kitchen. They don’t just look beautiful but also allow you to use the kitchen comfortably. Recessed lights and under cabinet lighting also deliver improved visibility around the kitchen. Overhead lighting, however, can produce unwanted shadows so, it’s better to choose task lighting instead.

It’s also important to include daylight into your kitchen space during the photoperiod. Including large-sized windows that ideally open in the front yard or garden will brighten up your space like nothing else.

5.    Getting the Wrong Sized Appliances

Another common kitchen design mistake is a lack of planning when it comes to getting kitchen appliances. Oversized or undersized refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, and microwaves can give you unnecessary stress and cause a lot of trouble. It can affect the ability to comfortably open and close your kitchen cabinets and the appliances or even moving around the kitchen.

These mistakes are easily avoidable if you properly measure the spaces and choose the right size of appliances well in advance. Check all the dimensions carefully before you buy the appliances. Also account for when these appliances are being operated for example, when the refrigerator and cabinet doors are open simultaneously.

6.    Not Planning Around Your Workflow

If you won’t consider your kitchen workflow during the designing phase, you will end up with an inefficient kitchen. This means you will be running back and forth between different portions of the kitchen every time you go there to cook food, wash the dishes or anything else.

You can prevent this from happening by carefully looking at how you will use the kitchen. Include storage space for everyday items like spices and oil near your cooking zone while those for storing cutlery and crockery near the dishwasher and sink. You can also make use of smart kitchen solutions like wide drawers and inserts that create high function storage spaces.

7.    Choosing the Wrong Kitchen Handles and Knobs

Before you ignore this very important component of kitchen design, let us tell you that your choice of kitchen cabinet hardware including handles and knobs can have a huge impact on the overall functionality as well as the look of your kitchen.

There’s a huge variety of materials and designs available in the market. You must invest in the best quality handles and knobs. Don’t miss on the practicality, ease of use, and durability of handles and knobs of your kitchen cabinets and doors just because they look more aesthetically appealing than other options.

Staying away from these common mistakes will help make your time, effort and money well worth it!

If you’re looking for top quality kitchen handles and knobs, head straight to Decor and Decor Collections

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