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Modern Kitchen Designs: Simplicity And Functionality Rolled Into One

One of the few home improvements that not only add value to your home as well as functionality is modern kitchen designs. Whether you are simply doing a minor upgrade or completely re-furbishing your kitchen the end result will be enjoyed and used every day. Up-to-date kitchens are in great demand and are very popular nowadays. When you are planning either a complete makeover or simply want to enhance your kitchens use there are certain features that should definitely not be overlooked.

Technologically advanced appliances are some of the most popular things you will find in an up-to-date kitchen. Hobs with their smooth lines and cooking surfaces not only look good but are so simple to clean as well. The advancements made in refrigerators’ and freezers and with the different options available such as; compartments that can self-adjust according to the specific contents of a given section. New convection style ovens that are usually self-cleaning and can handle virtually any cooking scenario, they also have a more functional design than the older ones. You will notice that most of the appliances in today’s modern kitchen are made from a stainless steel finish, that is not to say that they are not available in a variety of colours and no longer restricted to the still popular black and white.

Something else you will always find with kitchen designs is the simplistic lines yet tasteful designs of the furniture. Modern kitchen furniture has very few if any curves and certainly no unnecessary frills involved. This results in a kitchen that has a very clean look to it to which the appliances lend themselves too. Kitchen cabinets will follow the same simplistic lines which increase the functionality. A modern kitchen design has more emphasis on the kitchens use rather than the useless add-ons that you can find in some kitchens. These clean looking modern kitchens will not have so many items sitting on the worktops; they are usually stashed away inside the cabinets.

Probably one of the things that stand out the most in a modern kitchen style is the simplicity of the decor. Although colours will be down to the individual’s personal choice and can vary, there will normally be only one or two colours involved. A kitchen with a lot of different colours tends to look too “busy”, so the use of only one or two colours gives it a clean uncluttered look. Most people going for the modern feel will simply use just one colour and this will be reflected in the appliances as well. Black is still the more popular colour you will find in modern kitchens but as already stated this is down to the individuals own preferences.

There are a lot of different ways in which a kitchen can be brought up to date, but the main emphasis should be on making the kitchen a more functional space. The clean looks that modern kitchen designs afford are increasingly popular and can only be a wise investment for any homeowner. The main benefit of a modern kitchen is its functionality which makes it the ideal for anyone that has a smaller kitchen. There is no end to the different types of materials that can be utilized in a modern kitchen; you will even find some kitchen design companies that deal solely in this type of make-over.

Doing Your Kitchen Design Online Is Fun and Easy

You can do your kitchen design online yourself. If you do, you will save the expense of hiring a decorator, and you just might have some fun. The process is easy. Simple interactive tools guide you through the process.

You start designing your kitchen by finding out what you can use from your existing kitchen. Look at all your appliances and try to determine if they will last for several more years. It helps if you know how old they are. If you can find receipts where they were bought, you will know exactly. Look, too, at light fixtures and flooring.

Start with a Rough Sketch of your Kitchen

Then, you continue your interactive kitchen design with a rough sketch of your room. You can make your own sketch and then fit it to the outline given. This is a graph of an empty room with squares marked off to show the scale. For instance, one square might equal six inches or one foot. You will print the outline off from the web page and use it to draw the dimensions of your room.

Measure and Measure to Scale

There are dozens of measurements you will need to make in your room to start your kitchen design. You, of course, need to measure the overall dimensions of the room. Whether it is 10 feet by 14 feet or it is a bigger room, like 30 feet by 25 feet, you need to know exactly how much space you can use. Convert all the measurements from feet into inches so that you can place them correctly on the graph paper.

Measure Open Sides Down as if There Were Walls

Besides measuring the length of the walls, you need to measure the heights. This would be the height to the ceiling, or the height of a half wall. If one or more sides of your kitchen are open, most kitchen design programs will work best if you write these open sides down as if there were walls. Put the heights for those imaginary walls very low, though.

The kitchen doors and windows are important, and you should measure their width and height. Also, make sure you have them set in the grid where they are located in your room. For windows, you need to know the height from the floor to the window sill. Mark all this on the grid and then the online design program will guide you through transferring the information onto the web version.

Playing with Kitchen Appliances as Icons in your Design

After your grid is set up for the program, you can choose the products you want. Most kitchen design websites are set up by one particular company, so the products used are their brand name products. To solve that, you can go to an independent site, or you can get the dimensions of your favorite brands and choose products for your layout that are equal in size.

Now comes the fun part of doing your kitchen design online. The products you chose are represented by icons. You get to play with the icons until they fit into the kitchen the way you like them. You can experiment as long as you like. You can print out several versions. When you are finished, you will be ready to begin your project.