Kitchen Remodel Ideas

Here's a sampling of places where you can expect to find good kitchen remodeling ideas to use in your own projects:

• Shelter magazines, especially kitchen-specific magazines


• Local renovated and remodeled kitchens you can visit, perhaps belonging to friends or on house tours


• Kitchen remodeling and design books - from the library or bookstore


• Kitchen cabinet, appliance and plumbing showrooms and suppliers


• Websites - there are many useful kitchen design sites online


• Online forums where kitchen designers or users gather

Keep reading for examples and recommendations for many of these idea sources...

OK, so now you have all these great ideas whirling around in your brain - how do you choose the ones which will work for you and your kitchen?

First of all, capture those ideas. Ideally, you've been making notes or bookmarking pages as you went through the idea sources, but if not, you'll need to do that or lose many of the best ideas.

Now you'll need to run the ideas through a number of different filters. Consider each idea against any of these questions which apply to your situation:

• How expensive is this idea to execute? Can it be done (or adapted to be done) within your budget?


• Will this idea work with the size of your proposed kitchen?


• Does this idea fit into the way you and your family use your kitchen, for cooking and other activities?


• If this is a decorative idea, does it blend with the style of your other plans, or does it contrast? Either can work.


• If this is a functional idea, will it really work the way it's supposed to? Try to see and feel it in action if possible.


• Is this a fad or a trend? Will it date your kitchen, will you get tired of it, can you change it easily later when it goes out of fashion?


• Do you or your contractor have the capacity to carry out this idea?

Your answers to these questions will give a you a good feel for whether your idea will work for you.

Many times, you'll come across an idea in a book or website that would be just right for your kitchen if only it was just tweaked a little bit... in fact, most ideas will need some adjustment to make them truly usable. Here are some of the ways you can customize ideas.

• Size: can you shrink or enlarge this idea to make it fit better in your design?


• Color: do you need to change the color completely to make it fit your color scheme, darken or lighten the color, or use a color range (eg in a mosaic tile backsplash design)


• Finish/Texture: glossy or flat, nubbly or smooth, fabric or paint - the finish you use has a huge impact as well as the color.


• Shape: should you add or remove a curve, make it round instead of square, longer, shorter, wider, narrower...?


• Height: especially if you are unusually tall or short, height may need adjustment, but you can also change the height of something, or the height at which it is mounted, for other reasons including lining up (or not) with existing elements.


• Repetitions: does the idea include the right number of elements for you? Perhaps you need space for four chairs, rather than two, and you'll need to adjust for that. Or a repeated element like a stair baluster may work better for you in groups of three instead of two.


• Portability: could this be mobile instead of fixed, temporary instead of permanent... or vice versa?


• Expense: can you find a cheaper equivalent material, or DIY instead of hiring it done? Or do you want to go luxe and use a super-expensive material on a very small idea with big impact?


• Timing: when does this need to happen during your reno project - can you do it now and have it still fit in with a major project later, or must it wait?

All these questions and answers should give you a much better feel for how to use all the great ideas that you've found, which are practical now and which later on, which will be worth your while. So now that you know, pick something you can do now to improve the way your kitchen looks, feels and works, and go for it!