When it comes to designing your kitchen, it is important to have a clear idea of what you want your kitchen to look like. You need to know what type of features you want to include and how you’d like to utilize your space. It’s important to sit down and think about how you like to work in the kitchen and also about how your family uses the kitchen. Think about all the things that have annoyed you in your own and other kitchens, then think about all the things you loved. These things can make up a list of do’s and don’ts that will make your design choices easier. Many people consider the kitchen to be the heart of every home. As a fair amount of time is spent in the kitchen, you will want to spend some time considering its layout.

Leading kitchen designers think of the kitchen in terms of work centres. By thinking of your kitchen in terms of work centres, it will be easier to plan the layout. The four main work centres you want to consider are: cooking, clean-up, food storage, and food preparation.

A work centre for recycling and a work centre that incorporates an office are two new popular choices in kitchen design you may want to consider.

The cooking work centre includes your oven, stove, top/range, microwave, other cooking appliances, and storage space for cookware. In an efficient kitchen, the cooking centre is located in close proximity to the other four centres in a way that facilitates ease and use.

The clean-up centre is made up of your sink, dishwasher, and waste container. The use of an island or lots of counter top space between other work centres can provide for an excellent food preparation centre. Five feet of counter or island space is ideal for food preparation. As for the food storage work centre, it’s advisable to place your pantry cupboards near your fridge to save time in unloading groceries and preparing meals.

The addition of a special pull-out bin or cabinet easily adds a recycling centre to your kitchen. Today’s busy families often like to take advantage of having some office space in their kitchen. The most popular items in the office work centre are a telephone, built-in desk, and a computer. This work centre allows you to get some work done, jot down a recipe, return calls, write a letter or pay the bills while you keep an eye on dinner. Including an office centre complicates things a little as it should be away from the food preparation, cooking, and clean-up areas.

Once you have decided on the layout of your kitchen, you can move onto design choices like appliances, colour schemes, and cabinet selections. Keep in mind that you will need to consider which large appliance you want to include and whether they will be built-in or free standing units during the layout stage. Appliances aside, there are two main areas of consideration in this stage of kitchen design — appearance and utility.

Your kitchen is a reflection of you and so it will have a certain feel and appearance. You may have a particular impression you want to make and the wide range of cabinet styles and colours can combine to make a kitchen that is uniquely yours. However, beauty if only skin or “counter” deep and you need to consider utility as well.

There are a number of options that maintain appearances while maximizing utility. Some of the most common are: cabinets with decorative glass inserts, wine racks, mug racks, roll-out drawers, microwave cabinets, and appliance garages. An appliance garage that conveniently stores small appliances is something you might want to consider if you like to have clear counter tops. There are a wide range of options that allow you to design your kitchen to suite your needs.

Dan Cooper is an award-winning associate broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. Dan can be reached at 905-338-3737, direct line at 849-3360