Kitchen Floor Plans to Really Fit Your Space

More and more designers are creating more open kitchen floor pans that join the living and family rooms with the kitchen. This kind of kitchen floor plan is family-friendly and perfect for entertaining

Since today's kitchen has gone from being in the back of the home to becoming the exciting focal point in the house it is more important design a good kitchen floor plan. You need a kitchen floor plan that will provide a way for the kitchen to be part of a dining area and the family room, therefore becoming a 'great room'.

To prevent the feeling of too much uniformity and sameness it is important to select the right materials and colors and using cabinets to create a lively interior. The kitchen must fit into the spaces around it while still being set apart from other areas of the house.

A good kitchen floor plan must provide a good work triangle that will provide a working relationship between the cooktop, the sink, and the refrigerator. You should have a good flow between these three areas. The best work triangle will have a total of 26 or less, with no single leg shorter than 4 feet or longer than 9 feet. However if you are remodeling an existing kitchen it may not be possible to live up to this standard.

Whether you are designing a new kitchen floor plan in a new home or redesigning an existing kitchen you might want to consider including an island or peninsula. These can help connect the kitchen to an nearby dining room, living room or family room and can create a bridge connecting all these rooms.

You can create a kitchen canopy to provide visible but subtle borders that do not obstruct views of the other rooms. What islands and peninsulas do below, a kitchen canopy can do above. Having a canopy can create the feeling of openness.

Kitchen cabinets can be a problem with the type of open kitchen floor plan since you will have just one or two walls. Therefore having enough space for storage can be a challenge. You might think about putting the china in a china cabinet in the dining area. Consider staggering the height, length and the depth of wall cabinets, and do the same with the base cabinets and the counters. This will make the kitchen look less rigid, as will having the cabinet door styles be of varied styles instead of all identical. For example use solid doors on some cabinets and glass doors on others. You can have one style of cabinet doors for the perimeter of the kitchen and another style for the island. You can also use different colors, wood stain or finish for perimeter areas and the island.

The style of the cabinetry must however be in accordance with the existing design elements of the home.

Try to plan on having ample countertop work areas as possible near the sink, the cooking areas, and also near the refrigerator.
Plan for adequate storage needs. What about cabinet accessories, such as roll-out shelves, a spice drawer etc.

You may feel that drawing up kitchen floor plans might be a job better left to a professional interior designer. However there are several types of kitchen design software available to draw up kitchen floor plans so you can create your own dream kitchen. Or you could just use it to look up some designs, ideas, and kitchen floor plans before you go to a professional. Kitchen design software programs help with designing floor plans and enable you to create a "virtual kitchen" showing countertops, cabinetry, appliances, and sinks.

Besides having a kitchen as part of a 'great room' there are other kitchen floor plans to consider.

U-shape - This kitchen floor plan consists of having cabinet storage on three wall along with work stations on each wall.

L-shape - This kitchen floor plan is more space efficient, but of course it works best in a large kitchen.

Island kitchens - This type of kitchen floor plan also works best in large kitchens, and features a free standing island in the middle of the kitchen.

Galleys - The galley kitchen floor plan can be used in small kitchens. It features parallel walls with the workspaces on each wall.

Before you begin a major kitchen-remodeling job, you need to know what you want in your new kitchen floor plan. You also need to know how much to budget, and find the right kitchen design professionals.