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Planning Your New Kitchen Designs

There are so many kitchen designs to choose from. Perhaps you fell in love with a kitchen design you saw in an interior design magazine or in someone’s home, but you are not sure which designs or kitchen decorating ideas would work well with your needs and lifestyle?

• By educating yourself on basic kitchen interior design principles, you can create your dream kitchen makeover with the right balance of aesthetics and functionality that characterizes ideal kitchens.

• Before remodeling or decorating, make a checklist about what you like of dislike about your existing kitchen and what you would like to incorporate in the new design or makeover.

• Determine what activities will be taking place in this multifunctional room such as cooking, preparing food and dining. Do you have enough counter and upper and lower cabinet storage space? Islands are a good idea in large kitchens for extra storage and counter height dining.

• Is the traffic flow sufficient to accommodate more than one cook? If not, create more aisle space for two cooks.

• Kitchens are often used for entertaining. You may want a more open plan between rooms to encourage social interaction.

• Is the work triangle properly laid out? Kitchen design layouts have a ‘work triangle’ whereby the sink is at the center and fridge and stove on ether side for most efficient usage.

• Incorporate the latest energy efficient appliances in the renovation. It will help you save money in the long run.

• Will your renovation budget incorporate everything on your makeover wish list?

These are the functional considerations when planning kitchens. Now you can start decorating and remodeling! What is your interior design style? Is it Victorian or Country? Visit the photo galleries for the latest trends in kitchen remodeling, renovation and makeover ideas.

For peace of mind, the best strategy when remodeling kitchens is to educate yourself first! As any makeover or renovation can be a major undertaking, enlist the guidance of an interior designer to avoid potentially costly renovation and remodeling mistakes.

I just finished a project for a designer in New Mexico. The house she is working on had apparently quite a bit of rustic alder. I don’t know about where you live but alder has gotten expensive and somewhat scarce because of the demand in my area. They requested three different lengths for their kitchen area - probably bar for the highest 40 1/2 inch, standard height counter for the 34 1/2 inch island leg and a 30 inch table height leg for table height. See image below.

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A customer from the Washington State area told me recently that she was being required to cut the alder trees from their property. I don’t know why they would be forced to but there is apparently an abundance of Alder in that area.

Pictured below are apair of 5 1/2inch X 42 inch poplar island legs for a customer near Dallas. These are similar to the island legs on my web site only larger. These will be painted I think.

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If you are lacking design ideas and thinking of rejuvenating the rooms in your house but don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can still achieve a stylish designer look to enhance and improve the decor. The following interior decorating tips will help you save on home redesign.

• Painting will spruce up your home’s complexion significantly. With patience, you can even do the work yourself. By adding new colors and faux finishes, rooms get a renewed and interesting focus.

• Tips for more savings; add inexpensive posters and mirrors in picture frames that you have stained or painted.

• By rearranging furniture and placing pieces in a different arrangement such as on an angle, a renewed and dynamic feeling to the interior decor is created.

• Colorful, patterned throws and toss cushions add comfort and interesting decoration to rooms. Sew together fabric remnants with different colors, patterns and trims to reflect seasonal decorating trends in decor.

• If you are handy, a good idea would be to sew your own curtain designs. Use Velcro for quick hemming.

• You can now revitalize tile and laminates with paint. New stylish cabinet hardware will spruce up cabinetry and update old kitchen and bathroom designs.

• Refinishing thrift store furniture finds will convert tired pieces into updated classics. They will add lively focal points to room designs. Slip covering old sofas and chairs are an affordable alternative to reupholstering.

• An inexpensive and easy idea is to apply ornamental moldings to add architectural detail to tired room designs. Add to doors and ceilings for a renewed look.

• Use plants for the interior decorating. They will add freshness to stale rooms. Real or silk plants will both work, as you can’t tell the difference between them nowadays.

Use what you have first then go shopping for the balance of furnishings. With a little sweat and application of some creative interior design ideas and decorating tips, rooms can be rejuvenated inexpensively.

Your toddler has outgrown his nursery and you now want to experiment with child room design ideas for your growing youngster but feel a bit intimidated about how to start planning. You can create imaginative room designs and have fun decorating once you educate yourself on the basics of planning rooms for children.

A well designed room decor helps to develop a child’s physical, emotional, cognitive and social skills. These skills need to be developed in an environment that will stimulate their active imaginations and encourage interaction. Encourage your child to help plan the room design and decor; they will have interior design ideas about sleeping, reading, playing etc.

When decorating kids rooms use fun bright color schemes for the room decor to stimulate imagination. Fantasy role-playing is common and painting imaginative wall murals of their favorite storybook characters will keep their imaginative worlds soaring.

Children’s furniture should be safe with soft round corners and sturdy but easy to reach, as active children tend to climb.

Have bright, color-coded storage bins and shelving (secured to walls) so that they can categorize and find their books and toys themselves. Play is a priority; incorporate easily movable furnishings such as beanbags that they can jump on and move around easily so that they can have lots of space to play. Interactive magnetic boards and chalkboards encourage writing. You can even use magnetic paint for wall decor so no need to paint! Hardwearing resilient flooring is recommended so spills can be easily cleaned.

Decorating kids rooms should be fun. Children need creative stimulation to develop important skills and a well planned space will do just that.

Having trouble agreeing with your adolescent on teen room designs and a budget for their new bedroom? Teen room decorating can be frustrating as teenagers are trying to establish their own identities as adults. Although you are both from different generations, a happy compromise can be reached.

First establish a bedroom decorating budget for your teenager and give them the freedom to decorate! Have them research teen room decor by sifting through interior design magazines and home decorating catalogues for teen room decorating ideas and let their imaginations run wild! Let them choose a room theme or decorating style appropriate to their tastes after all, they are almost adults.

Your computer savvy teenager will find decorating style resources in no time for that funky, cool bedroom he can hang out in with friends. Teen room decorating can be a blast if you shop online as you will find a tremendous variety of unique and inexpensive furnishings and decor such as cool storage units for high tech equipment, books and favorite collections without breaking your wallet.

If your adolescent is a retro fan, friends will just dig their inflatable furnishings and lava lamps! Previewing online stores will save you time standing in line at the mall as well as help you decide quickly what will fit in the bedroom design budget.
Teen room design can be fun if you follow two simple rules: give your adolescent a budget that is not exceeded and the freedom to decorate the rooms that will be a reflection of their personality and you will have a satisfied teenager for the duration they are at home.

Decorating your son’s bedroom is not as complicated as it appears. By choosing one of many boys bedroom themes you will give focus to the bedroom design. Popular boy bedroom decorating ideas include: cars, animals, sports, outer space, action heroes such as Spiderman, cowboys and Indians - your imagination is your only limit.

You can find further inspiration for themes by reading your child’s favorite storybooks and decorating books, magazines and websites. How about a lion’s head corbel to adorn a fancy book shelf.

These sources will help inspire more creative design ideas and spur you on further. Themes personalize children’s bedrooms and you can find a lot of imaginative decor ideas in online shops. With a sports theme like baseball you can find baseball bat lamps and seating in the shape of a baseball and even gloves.

Reinforce the theme by choosing bedding with baseball motifs. Hang window treatments from a baseball bat. Adorn the room with his favorite collection of players and sports memorabilia. Funky, playful baseball bed furniture will give the room a focal point and reinforce the decorating theme. Decorating ideas for flooring may include circular or sports themed rugs. Repeat design motifs and color in the fabrics and accessories to tie the bedroom decor together.

Of course, you must involve your little boy too; as he will appreciate your knowledge and will share his own bedroom decor and design ideas that you should incorporate. Let him choose a theme and color scheme as freely as possible to reflect his growing personality.

When decorating with themes or storybook characters you can find a great choice of imaginative bedroom decor for boys online to complete designs for bedrooms. Having fun when decorating bedrooms is key to creating a space that your son will grow with and enjoy.

Industry decorators and interior designers have been arguing this point for decades. Some are die-hard painters; painting out crown molding (usually white) to offset the paint color in the room. Others believe it makes a room look too austere and that molding should be painted the same color as the room or left as natural wood.

There is essentially only two ways you can look at the question…

If you purchase ready made molding from a home improvement store that is either made of plywood or resin, you must paint it. Whether you choose to paint it white to stand out from your walls or the same color to blend in with the walls is entirely a personal choice.

If you purchase a hand carved molding, you probably won’t want to paint it. Since it is being made by a master craftsman, only the highest qualities of wood are used so why cover up the beauty of the wood and the intricate carvings with paint? If you are considering painting your hand carved crown molding, think about the work that may involved down the road if you change your mind and want to strip it back to the wood. This may be a motivating factor!

Natural woods that are stained are oiled will offer your home a timeless appeal that is hard to match. They never go out of style, add warmth and elegance to your home and will last a lifetime.

As far back as the Victorian era, Americans have been obsessed with covering entire rooms, and sometimes entire houses with ornate patterned wallpaper. In the 1990’s, wallpaper became a taboo word in interior design and decorator circles.

Designer wall coverings are now making a comeback and for good reason – wallpapers of today are not your grandmother’s wallpaper!

Thanks to modern technology, you can essentially have any stripe, pattern or color that you want made into wallpaper. You can even have your company logo or family crest made into unique wallpaper. Some companies specialize in taking your family photographs and creating amazing wallpaper borders for kids’ room and family areas of your home.

Modern wallpapers are made of luxurious papers that add texture and luxury to a room and even heritage and antique patterns can be reproduced if you are renovating an old Victorian or Georgian property. If you finish off your new wallpaper with stunning custom crown molding, you cannot go wrong.

As always, use common sense when planning a room using wallpaper. It will still become outdated quickly and look wrong if you use too much in one space. Also, try and select patterns that are not overly busy or loud and instead choose those with a timeless appeal.

Homes built before 1985 always had a separate kitchen and formal dining room and in many cases there was no main floor family room; the ‘rec’ room was in the basement. Homes built after 1985 often come equipped with a small main floor den which is really not large enough to call a family room if you have more than 3 people living in your household.

When we purchase a home, the more rooms it has the better. For example, in an average housing market, a house with 15 rooms is valued higher than a home with 12 rooms. Often times the rooms are small, dark and not overly functional. One of the rooms that would fall into this category is the dining room.

Formal dining just isn’t an every day part of American life anymore. Many homeowners and interior designers have solved this dilemma by getting rid of the dining room altogether

Instead, walls between kitchens and dining rooms are being torn down in record numbers and are remodeled into a larger ‘great room’ which essentially means a large family hub that includes kitchen and family room; usually where the fireplace is exposed to all areas. It instantly becomes the heart of the home and any money spent in this type of remodel is always paid back, twice over.

Open plan living makes more sense with today’s modern families. Having a large open concept great room is the perfect solution if you live in an older home that has a smaller kitchen and a separate formal dining room. Furthermore, if you have a den on the main floor, consider combining all three rooms into one large space – to truly achieve the ‘wow’ factor.

Pictured below are a couple of column bases that I am making for a customer in Santa Catalina Island.  Yes that’s the same island that was on fire several weeks ago.  Apparently the house did not catch fire because they told me to proceed with the columns.

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There are seven columns in total - 5 that are 8 inches in diameter and two that are 7 inches in diameter. The base are 11 inches and 10 inches respectively.

The wood species is mahogany and will be painted. What a shame to paint mahogany. Occasionally that is what is specified for exterior columns to be painted.
The columns will have a spiral twist to match the existing columns. I will post pictures when I am done.