6 Important Kitchen Design Mistakes (Explained)

Today, we’re going to be talking about kitchen design mistakes we did before doing this as part of a series identifying different mistakes over and over again in different rooms of your home but some of these are really going to be sort of renovation focused or things that are kind of permanent changes and that’s just kind of the nature of the kitchen but if you’re renting or you’re not planning a full renovation there’s still going to be some information in this blog that you still will find useful.

We have seen in the kitchen is what we are going to call a color catastrophe this is where you see people using really saturated colors and lots of different colors in the kitchen it tends to make your home look really dated and it tends to look dated really quickly.

You can use some color in the kitchen but would be very careful with color especially in the kitchen and the reason for that is because the kitchen has a lot of fixed elements. Things that are really sort of fixed to the kitchen so you’ve got millwork you’ve got kitchen countertops you’ve got maybe a backsplash you’ve got all your appliances they could all be built-in.

If you make a mistake or you sort of change your style or you know you want to select a different color palette or whatever usually it’s not that difficult to swap some things out but in the kitchen, it can be very difficult. If you choose a really loud backsplash with a really crazy countertop and maybe you choose some different colored uppers those things when you’re using lots of really bright colors or you’re using lots of different colors, they can start to look dated and you may get sick of them remember with a kitchen renovation we could be talking about having it for10 to 50 years.

Be very careful when you’re using lots and lots of color in your kitchen neutrals tend to last the test of time a little bit better than a lot of really heavily saturated colors so you may want to stick to some neutrals and add a little bit of color from there it’s a safer choice it’s an interesting choice while also not something that you’re probably going to get really sick of.

1)Kitchen backsplashes

The first mistake that we see is kitchen backsplashes specifically really weird kitchen backsplashes because they are a lot out there. some people decide to go really funky and a little bit kooky and crazy and experimental with their backsplash and we think that is a mistake because the backsplash essentially does really great job of tying together the uppers and the kitchen countertops it’s a really important visual element in your kitchen.

When you go really kooky and crazy you’re probably going to get tired of that the backsplash is really difficult to remove really difficult to change out it is something again it’s one of these fixed elements that you’re going to be stuck with for a while some really good options if you’re going to go for tile.
If you got a different backsplash then you would go for something like a subway tile.
if you want to go really classic you could go for something in a nice herringbone you could go for a chevron you could go for stack tiles and you can also get a really little bit creative with maybe the texture or the material that’s used you could go for a really interesting porcelain tile you can go for some real sort of interesting maybe subtle colors that can really work well for a backsplash the other thing.
If you’re doing a natural stone or a quartz countertop is to just carry that countertop material right into the backsplash, it looks really contemporary it sort of makes it easier to make sure everything is coordinated and cohesive because you ‘reusing the same material on the backsplash and the countertop. It’s a beautiful look it’s very elegant.
If you’re going for laminator butcher block on the countertops probably doesn’t make sense for it to the group on the backsplash you don’t really have that option and that’s where some of those really cool herringbone chevron subway tall whatever pattern tiles work really well in a backsplash but don’t go too kooky crazy because this is something that you’re going to have to live with for a long time you will get sick of the really funky tile most likely okay.

2)Connection of the sink the refrigerator and the stovetop

The third mistake that we have seen a lot in kitchens is not following the work triangle okay so first let’s explain what the work triangle is so the work triangle is a sort of design principle it’s been around for many decades but basically it is a triangle in your kitchen that connects the sink the refrigerator and the stovetop so if you think about it when you are cooking in your kitchen those three areas of the home really make sense tube able to bounce in between now some contemporary designs.

If you love contemporary design, then you would probably notice a lot of these contemporary kitchens now are throwing away the work triangle and saying we don’t need them anymore. It is a typical mistake. It is still a very sound design principle that makes sense for the function of most people’s kitchen because when you are cooking you are going to be going back and forth between these three pieces over and over again and ergonomically it just makes sense for really great flow in your kitchen. What we don’t love to see and again you see this a lot in these new modern sorts of contemporary kitchens.

It looks like a science class but anyway you’re seeing these double islands or you’re seeing where you’ve got the refrigerator on one side a big chunky island in the middle and then you got the stovetop over here so now every time you’re cooking and you got to get out some garlic or you got to get outcome ginger or whatever you’re going to have to walk around that island in order to be able to get into your kitchen it just doesn’t make sense.

Therefore, think throwing away the work triangle or not adhering to it is a mistake you really want to build your kitchen with a functioning mind and really consider how you cook and how you are going to use your kitchen and i bet you most likely you’re going to want those three elements close to each other and convenient to access while you are cooking. So we can say sticking to the work triangle is a good idea.

The fourth kitchen design mistake is not extending your cabinetry right to the ceiling this might be personal preference, but we believe that when you have a really cropped cabinet I’m talking about where your kitchen cabinets are not extended the right to the ceiling this is, by the way, assuming that your kitchen has standard ceiling heights by the way if you’ve got a double-height.

If you’ve got a standard ceiling height which most people do, we would say it is a mistake to crop your cabinets know it’s usually a little bit more expensive or it’s a lot more expensive to extend your kitchen cabinets depending on your quotes, uh to get your kitchen cabinets extended right to your ceiling but if you lower them it artificially lowers your ceilings it makes the place look more drawn in it makes it look smaller because it artificially lowers your ceiling you want to maximize the ceiling height that you have and it’s really just a beautiful elegant look just really modern to have it extend the right to the ceiling.

When you are planning your budget in your kitchen, we would advise that that is something if you personally really consider spending that extra money on because it just makes for a really beautiful, elegant look to have your cabinetry go all the way up to the ceiling it just makes everything look taller it makes it look more expansive and it really maximizes the height of the kitchen.

3)Functional lighting in the kitchen

The next mistake we want to talk about is boring lighting or just like not functional lighting in the kitchen so the lighting in the kitchen is really important because it’s important to have some ambient lighting and also some task lighting in task lighting.

Because there’s a lot of tasks that you’re going to be accomplishing right you want to make sure that you have enough lighting to be able to see what you’re doing in the kitchen to be able to cook properly if you have something over the stove that you’re able to do that but it’s also really important to have some nice ambient lighting in the kitchen.

Because sometimes when people have just kind of two pot lights in the kitchenet’s usually not enough to create a really interesting space and also to give you the lighting that you need tube able to accomplish the tasks in the kitchen.

But they make a huge difference but also let’s talk about when it comes to boring lighting is stop choosing boring lighting fixtures like we’ve all seen that lantern lighting a million times we’ve all seen the same boring lighting fixtures over and over and over again especially looking at those pendants that are over the top of your peninsula or over top of your island these tend to work in waves of trends over and over again where you just see the same stuff over and over.
There’s such an opportunity there to mix it up.

It feels like there’s not as much room for creativity in the kitchen so the pendants become a really great way to sort of show a little bit of personality and sort of tie in your kitchen into the rest of the space especially if you have an open concept so that you know that peninsula or that island is really going to be interacting with the dining room or the living room that’s next door got a lighting design store like go to a really interesting lighting design store that’s doing some really cool things and then you know the thing is with lighting it’s not that hard to find a lot of dupes so if you do find some interesting lighting on there it’s not that hard to be able to find on Pinterest or find different retailers that are doing something similar so that’s just an idea.

You can get inspired by some of your lightings especially in the kitchen because just see the same stuff over and over, so it is such a great opportunity to change it up and try something a little bit more interesting and show a little bit more personality. functional lighting in the kitchen

4)Too much open shelving

The next mistake that we see is too much open shelving. Let’s talk about open shelving because it is the trend that will not die so a little bit of open shelving can be great it’s an opportunity to you know present some really beautiful ceramics or some things that you’ve collected you want to show them off and that’s really great and oftentimes um you know it works out for a lot of people to add a little bit of open shelving because they can just gonad grab some really gorgeous items and it’s kind of nice to display some things sure fine but a mistake is doing too much of it because it is adjusted collector and there is a really good reason why most of the cabinetry that we should have in our kitchen should be closed because most of our stuff that we actually use on a daily basis in the kitchen is not things that we necessarily really want to display no one needs to see the boring Ikea dishes.

They’re great they’re functional they work the 365 series but let’s be honest they’re not exactly some beautiful handcrafted ceramics that we want to show off to all of our best friends that come over right like we don’t just put those back in the cabinetry put your Tupperware back in the cabinets we need that space there’s a reason why those doors are there so a little bit of cabinetry a little bit of open shelving is really great but don’t do too much of it because once you do too much you are going to regret

5)Cabinets and appliance clearance issues

The next mistake that we see repeatedly is not considering cabinets and appliance clearance issues when it comes to the sort of opening all these different drawers and whatever this is the worst of the worst of the mistakes that we see over and over we have made well.

Actually, make this mistake so a lot of the kitchen was renovated when we moved into this place but you can’t even tell you how much it drives me nuts that when you open that cutlery rack on the top of the dishwasher you cannot open the cutlery door which is where all the calories go in so what do you think happens so you open that up because you want to put away all your cutlery your clean cutlery from the dishwasher and you can’t put it in the drawer then it needs to go in you know six inches away it drives me nuts you want to take into account all of these things because they will drive you nuts so it might take you hours and hours.

Now in trying to figure out to make sure that you have all the clearances just so that there’s nothing that’s going to bump into each other or at least taking into account how you use the cabinet so that you know that when one cabinet is used it’s not going to bump into another cabinet it’s probably going to be used at the same time so just think of how frustrating it’s going to be over the next couple of decades when you can’t use all these pieces together in the way that you want.

6)Considering your electrical and plumbing requirements for the kitchen

Last but not least kitchen design mistake that sees is not considering your electrical and plumbing requirements for the kitchen really talk to your plumber or your electrician or your general contractor and just really understand your electrical and plumbing needs for your kitchen and make sure you have everything that you need really plan things.

If you have an open concept kitchen and maybe you’ve got some seating on the other side of the kitchen island and you sort of envision that so your kids are going to be doing their homework or whatever maybe consider putting some an electrical outlet there right do you consider that your islands going to be really functional and you’re going to want to put a blender you’re going to want to put you know different appliances and that’s where you plan on using them make sure that you have the proper electrical requirements because again it’s these small things.

If you’re wondering where you’re going to be able to put some of your applia

nces and you realize you don’t have the electrical requirements to do them it’s going to be frustrating in the years and decades to come.