10 Kitchen Remodeling Tips from SmartDraw

Tip 1. Find Inspiration
Perhaps the easiest way to get started with any home remodeling project is to see how professionals do it.

Luckily, you no longer have to spend hours collecting brochures and dodging salesmen at home expo shows, instead you can browse hundreds of photos of beautiful, professionally designed kitchens on web-based galleries.

Check out some of the kitchen design ideas featured on these web sites:

• Get Decorating
• iVillage
• Home Portfolio
• Home Store Kitchen Designs
  (Links open other web sites)

Once you find a photo you like, keep it handy for your own design project by importing it into SmartDraw.

Tip 2. Make a Plan
If you're going to start from scratch, you have the chance to create the most optimal layout of cabinets, countertops, and appliances.

SmartDraw comes with hundreds of pre-made symbols that allow you to create a layout of your new kitchen using either the traditional top-down or a stylish elevation view.

In general, experts recommend designing your kitchen using the classic work triangle that connects your refrigerator with your sink and stove:

• No one side of the triangle should be greater than nine feet or less than four feet.
• The triangle should not be interrupted by traffic or cabinetry.
• The perimeter of the triangle should measure no more than 22 feet and no less than 12 feet.

And with SmartDraw you never have to start with a blank page. SmartDraw provides you with the most basic layouts for common kitchen styles, including:

L-shaped kitchen -
A popular, open design

U-shaped kitchen -
You'll get lots of counter
space with this design

Galley or Corridor Kitchen -
An efficient design, perfect
for smaller spaces
Downside: lots of possible
through-traffic

Island Kitchen - Great for added counter space, but make sure the island is not in the way of the natural flow of the work triangle.

Learn how to create your own kitchen layout in SmartDraw

Tip 3. Give Your Kitchen a Budget Conscious Facelift
Before you blow your budget on brand-new cabinets, consider sanding and painting the ones you already have.

If you've never painted cabinets before, read this quick tutorial from Benjamin Moore on how to get started.

Learn how to paint your cabinets
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Tip 4. Refresh Your Kitchen's Look with a Fresh Coat of Paint
Because cabinets often dominate the look of any kitchen, it's easy to forget about its walls. Yet a touch of color can make a world of difference.

Yellows and reds can make your kitchen seem warm and cozy, while blues can create an atmosphere of cool sophistication. Lighter colors will make the room seem bigger and textures can add contrast and interest.

When choosing a color, consider the color palette of your entire house as well as the color of your tiles, counters, cabinets, and window treatments.

There's no reason to rush your choice. Take as many paint chips home with as you want and don't be afraid to consider unusual choices. For example, consider matching blues and browns. Or try trimming with a darker color instead of white. Some color combinations may surprise you.

Painting the Ceiling?
Should you or shouldn't you? Most design experts don't recommend painting your ceiling the same color as your walls because doing so can easily create an undesirable, closed-in effect.

Unless you have really high ceilings, it's a good idea to keep your ceilings white or if you want it to coordinate with the rest of the kitchen, paint them a lighter shade of color.

Visit this page to try colors in a room virtually!
(Link opens a different web site)

Visit this site to learn about different paint techniques
(Link opens a different web site)

Tip 5. Update the Details
In addition to new paint, you can easily update the look of your kitchen by replacing doorknobs and handles with a more up-to-date style.

With the seemingly endless variety of handles available in stores and on the Internet, let SmartDraw's easy-to-use forms help you keep track of your options.

Create an easy-to-reference list of remodeling options with SmartDraw

Note: You can create similar lists to help you choose tiles, curtains, appliances, and more!

Tip 6. Envision Your New Countertops with New Textures
Designing a kitchen is not just about cabinet arrangement, but also colors and textures. Do you pair maple cabinets with black granite or mix country white with wood countertops?

SmartDraw is the perfect tool to help you move beyond the simple floor plan and really envision your kitchen before you invest your life savings in it.

Click here to learn how to add textures to your designs with SmartDraw

Tip 7. Chalk it Up
Use chalkboard paint to create a fun area to keep track of appointments, messages, or a daily menu.

Tip 8. Jazz up the Lighting
Be the envy of your friends and family, with an exceptionally well-lit kitchen.

Mix task-specific pendant lights with general recessed lighting and under-cabinet fluorescents.

For something new: try installing rope lights above your kitchen cabinets for a dramatic ambient glow.

In fact, just like you can plan the layout of your kitchen using SmartDraw, you can design the placement and effect of a variety of lighting fixtures.

Just take a look at some of the examples of kitchen lighting plans created with SmartDraw

Tip 9. Schedule and Organize
Stop your remodeling projects from becoming just another stress in your life by doing some preemptive organizing and scheduling with the help of SmartDraw.

Think about a realistic timetable and mark key dates on your custom remodeling calendar.

Create shopping lists and lists of necessary tools and supplies.

If you're a contractor, SmartDraw is the perfect tool to create your invoices, bids, and more!

Click here to see some examples of forms created with SmartDraw

Tip 10. Get the Whole Picture
Once you've made your choices—picked out appliances, cabinets, colors, and textures—it's time to bring it all together into one document.

Use this document to coordinate with your professional designer or if you're the designer, use it to communicate with your client.

SmartDraw makes talking to same design language possible.

You can also take your design document shopping with you.

Don't remember if that Blue Pearl granite will go with a vase you're considering? Simply pull out your SmartDraw reference sheet and check your design.

Browse through kitchen design examples created with the help of SmartDraw

source: http://www.smartdraw.com/tutorials/kitchendesign/

Kitchen Remodeling Tips

Things To Keep In Mind
Once you have your space planned out the biggest challenge in remodeling your kitchen is to not only choose good materials and colours for it but also create a lively interior that incorporates appliances and cabinets with structural elements.

Trading Spaces: Geography of Your Kitchen
The National Kitchen and Bath Association defines the kitchen work triangle as an imaginary straight line drawn from the center of the sink, to the center of the cooktop, to the center of the refrigerator and finally back to the sink. The triangle formed by these imaginary lines should total 26 feet or less for maximum efficiency. To further make your kitchen user-friendly it is important that no entry, appliance or cabinet doors block each other when you open them. If you have an island in your kitchen, an appliance or door on it shouldn’t hit an appliance or cabinet door across from it.

The current trends in kitchen remodeling see the area as adjacent to the dining area or a dining room; this allows the cook to keep contact with guests and family members despite the defined borders.

One way to distinguish the kitchen from the rooms around it is to have its ceilings higher than the dinning area’s where the setting is more intimate.

Small Kitchen Spaces
In space-challenged kitchens, finding enough storage space is often a problem. Cutting back on your cabinets and opting instead for a walk-in pantry as well as removing those items that you hardly ever use are easy ways to make space for the items and appliances you do need in your kitchen. So move your china out of the kitchen and into the dining area; use this new found space for your pots and pans.

Your countertops can differ in heights; this allows for visual variety and also helps to maximize productivity if there are more than one cooks in the area. Vary your cabinet door styles to make your space more visually interesting; after all your kitchen does not have to be uniform in its outfit: use one style of door for your wall cabinets and another style for the island. On the same note, choose different cabinet paint colour or decorative finish; burnt orange for the island and gentle yellow for the surrounding cabinets; apply wood stains that are darker for the island and lighter for the rest of the area.

Hiding Spaces
To hide or not to hide, that is the question for many home owners. For some, being able to see your refrigerator or oven is not really that bothersome. Luckily, for those who do find appliances to be rather unsightly, there are panels that you can install to disguise these machines. Just make sure the panels match your cabinets.

For those items that you can't really hide, like your stove top, installing a raised ledge or breakfast bar on your island or kitchen peninsula can help that stove top disappear. And what about double ovens? If they are installed in the wall, well then there isn't much you can do. However, installing one or both ovens into your island will help make sure that oven is out of view.

An easy way to help your appliances blend in with their surroundings is to buy stainless steel. Because stainless steel appliances reflect the color of their surroundings, and since the material is pretty neutral to begin with, these appliances are often much less noticeable. Plus, they add a sophisticated touch to any kitchen.

source: http://www.repair-home.com/Kitchen_remodeling_tips.html