Kitchen on Order: 20 Tips for Creating the Perfect Kitchen

Before designing the kitchen layout, the designer prepares a technical specification for the project — determining the client's preferences and wishes.

If you plan to design a kitchen without a designer, do the same — prepare a technical specification based on your answers to our questions. Let's get started!

Tatyana Fabrichnaya, Interior Designer, Head of Design Studio 'DecoTrend'

What is your kitchen for?

This is not a rhetorical question — it's important all: your lifestyle, the number of household members, how often and in what quantity you cook.

If you only have breakfast at home, don't plan a kitchen with many storage spaces and a large amount of appliances. It also makes sense to forgo upper cabinets — without them, the kitchen visually appears more spacious, which is especially relevant for small apartments or studios.

And if you regularly cook at home and often with family members — consider a kitchen island with built-in sink and additional worktop, as well as drawers-transformers for bulky cookware.

Design: Nolte Kitchens

Besides, it's important to properly distribute household appliances. A very convenient solution for the kitchen is a separate pantry for groceries, where you can hide large appliances, additional foldable chairs, and store vegetables, fruits, and homemade pickles.

Design: Nolte Kitchens

If you only have breakfast at home, there's no point in planning a kitchen with many storage spaces and a large amount of appliances.

What kind of appliances do you need and in what quantity?

Create a list of appliances and equipment you would like to place in your kitchen:

• cooktop. Which one exactly — induction, gas, or electric? How many burners — 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6? In some models, several heating zones can be combined into one, which is very convenient for large pots or woks. There are also induction panels that integrate into the countertop, and only the cooking zones are visible on its surface;
• dishwasher. 45 cm or 60 cm wide? Pay attention to such features as an extended loading area, which allows placing dishes of various shapes and sizes, and half-load mode that saves water;
• oven. The most convenient placement of the oven is at chest level. Often ovens can be combined with microwave ovens and steam cookers. However, such ovens are smaller than standard ones and may not be suitable if you're used to baking large birds or big pies.

Design: Nolte Kitchens

• refrigerator. Built-in or freestanding, two- or three-compartment? 60 cm, 90 cm, or 120 cm wide? Keep in mind that built-in refrigerators have less capacity than freestanding ones. Therefore, in our projects, we often place a refrigerator without a freezer compartment and install the freezer under the countertop.
• small household appliances: microwave oven, coffee maker, steam cooker, grill, deep fryer, warming drawer, vacuum sealer, oven — freestanding or built-in?
• hood. Essential if you cook frequently. Hoods differ in power. Choose one suitable for your stove;
• wine cooler. Not a necessity, but many of my clients want to install one, and often there isn't enough space for a large unit. So pay attention to small built-in wine coolers — up to 18 bottles;
• sink. Single or double, made of steel, ceramic, or artificial stone? Will a garbage disposal be installed under the sink?
• kitchen faucet. Will it have a pull-out spout or an additional spout for filtered water?

Design: Tatyana Fabrichnaya. Kitchen Furniture: Nolte Kitchens

Built-in refrigerators have less capacity than freestanding ones. Therefore, in our projects, we often place a refrigerator without a freezer compartment and install the freezer under the countertop.

How to Choose Kitchen Furniture?

What and how will you store in the kitchen, how much space do you need for pots, pans, and plates? Do you have a collection of dishes to display behind glass or want to place a buffet in the kitchen? Pay attention to:

• base cabinet. Few people know about this, but it's a very convenient place for storing baking trays, racks, and baking forms. Particularly useful in small kitchens;
• countertop height from the floor. Definitely consider your height when choosing a kitchen, this is very important. If you are tall, it will be uncomfortable to cook at a countertop height of 85 cm, make it 91 cm;
• height of upper cabinets. They can go up to the ceiling or be completely absent. Pay attention so that opening doors won't interfere with suspended or mounted lights. Cabinet fronts with micro-lift should not touch the ceiling;
• work surface. Decide how much space you need for it. Usually, 60 cm to 90 cm is allocated between the sink and the cooktop for the work surface.

Design: Nolte Kitchens

If you are tall, it will be uncomfortable to cook at a countertop height of 85 cm, make it 91 cm.

Kitchen Layout. Placement of Kitchen Furniture

Will your kitchen be combined with the living room, and is a dining table needed or is a bar counter or island enough? If planning a table, for how many people?

It's important to note that a kitchen with a gas stove cannot be fully combined with the living room — between these two rooms, sliding or swinging doors must be installed.

Choose photos of kitchens you liked. Mark what you liked in the photos — this could be the placement of kitchen furniture, color of the kitchen, arrangement of appliances, location of the dining table, and so on.

Design: Nolte Kitchens

Measure the room: all protrusions, load-bearing walls, and columns. It's important not to forget to measure ceiling height, window, windowsill, and door. Indicate gas and heating pipes, drainage and water outlets, and radiators on the plan.

After collecting all the information about the kitchen, you can proceed to creating a layout solution. Start by sketching schematically how you would like to install the kitchen, but it's better to leave the rest of the planning work to a skilled manager in the kitchen showroom.

A kitchen with a gas stove cannot be fully combined with the living room — between these two rooms, a door must be installed.

What to Pay Attention to When Designing the Kitchen

• Check that the doors and drawers of kitchen cabinets open freely, and protrusions, windowsill, or radiator don't interfere.
• If the kitchen is corner-shaped, the handles of corner cabinets should not hinder their opening.
• Do not install sockets behind the base cabinet drawer.
• There should be no water or drainage outlets behind built-in appliances.
• If a garbage disposal and filter with a storage tank are installed in a 60 cm cabinet under the sink, it doesn't always fit a trash bin. Plan in advance where to place the filter or trash bin in an adjacent cabinet.
• When installing a built-in microwave oven above the oven in one column, pay attention that it is not positioned too high, otherwise it will be inconvenient to use. The same applies to other built-in appliances stacked one above another.

Design: Tatyana Fabrichnaya. Kitchen Furniture: Nolte Kitchens

Don't forget about lighting

Plan several lighting scenarios for the kitchen:

• general lighting — ceiling light or spotlights;
• lighting of specific zones — light above the dining table, kitchen island, or bar counter;
• under-cabinet lighting for the kitchen work surface.

and electricity

Calculate how many household appliances will be on the countertop and how many sockets they will occupy, just in case provide additional sockets that can be hidden in drawers or the countertop. Also, always take recommendations from the kitchen supplier on electrical wiring.

Design: Nolte Kitchens