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When planning a new kitchen the
possibilities are almost endless. Gone are the
days when you had to buy standard sized units and make
the room work around them. Nowadays you can have
them custom designed to work around you. No longer
limited to regular shapes and sizes, and trying to fit
so many squares into a rectangle room, or having to
ignore funny corners or nooks because nothing would fit.
If you are planning a kitchen
makeover, spend some time in there just thinking about
how you want it to look. Check out the size of
your pots and pans, how much work space you want or
need, whether you want an island or other features that
take up space. Take pictures if you can and keep
them with you when shopping for the units. They
will give you a much better idea of what will work and
what won’t.
Also bear in the mind the
kitchen theme or overall design you want to achieve.
The style of cabinets doesn’t have to exactly match the
theme, but should at least compliment it, otherwise the
overall effect is going to be spoiled. After all,
at least half the reason you’re even considering a new
kitchen it probably to change the look of the room as a
whole.
The design choice will directly
influence the material the cabinets will be made from.
The variety of wood available now is wider than ever.
Things like cherry kitchen cabinets can add a bold
design statement to any room as long as the design will
accept them. There are plenty of other, subtler
woods to choose from like oak, poplar, maple, pine and
hickory. All have different textures and finishes
and will look totally different depending on their
application. Each wood has its strengths and
weaknesses but the ultimate decider will be budget.
If you are planning on going the
custom route with your new kitchen it may help if you
learn the language. Like any trade, cabinetry and
carpentry has its own specific words and phrases that it
may be helpful to know.
Framed refers to the carcass type.
The wooden body with the doors or drawers fit into.
Frameless is where the doors or drawer
fronts completely cover the unit that holds them.
Stock is the factory made units mass
produced in standard sizes. These are generally
much cheaper than custom.
Semi-custom is somewhere between stock
and custom. They are still factory built but offer
more custom options.
Custom, as we discussed here.
Handmade and tailored to fit the room and your
particular needs. The best quality kitchen you can
buy.
Knowing a bit of the lingo, and
having a reasonable idea of what you want will go a long
way to speeding up building your kitchen. It will
also keep your craftsman on side and the costs down as
he has less planning to do, and hopefully less mistakes
to rectify. A little planning saves a lot of
money.
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