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After you have decided what the shape your kitchen design will be and how your storage will be arranged, the next step will be choosing your kitchen. |
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Kitchen design 1 - Kitchen design 2 - Kitchen design 3 - page 4 Everybody has a different taste and the outlook of your kitchen design will represent your personal style. Because cabinet doors are the face of kitchens, it will be very important that you choose a finish you want to look at for quite a number of years. Keep in mind that, whichever material you choose to use for your cabinets, durability and low maintenance have to be the key to your choice. As most of the cabinet carcasses nowadays are made of chipboard, the only thing you have to worry about is the finish of the cabinet doors. First of all it is important to choose which material you want to use for the cabinet doors.  Wooden
KitchensIf you choose wood for kitchens, will you go for solid wood or wood veneer? The latter is cheaper and is less under the influence of weather conditions. The humidity and temperature outside have an effect on solid wood doors, but the biggest influence comes from the changes in temperature and humidity due to the activities in the room. Besides that, veneer will also give more uniformity, as a piece of wood is cut into thin strips to cover all the doors. Wood itself is available in all kinds of colours, but it can also be glossed, painted, colour washed or waxed to give it the finish you prefer. Laminate Kitchens Even more than wood, laminate cupboard doors have endless possibilities in colour, texture and shine. You can go for a soft look with creamy colours and a matt finish or, if you want to make a real statement, choose the Italian style with shining fronts and bold colours. Especially in this style the choice of handles and other finishes will really set the kitchen design off. A great advantage of laminate cupboards is that they are virtually maintenance-free. Wood needs a lot of love and attention as it is a natural product and prone to changes in temperature and humidity, but laminate only needs the occasional wipe or two and it is clean again. Whereas laminate worktops might not be the best choice in the long run, laminate cupboard doors suffer from a lot less wear and tear and will stay fresh for a good number of years. Other Materials Wood and laminate will most likely be the basic materials to use for your cabinet doors. One type of storage and one type of material can look a bit monotonous in large kitchens. Use glass doors for protected display of your crockery, or use frosted glass for a concealed, but still open look. Glass will look beautiful in both traditional and contemporary kitchens, whereas frosted glass works best in contemporary styles. Stainless steel is another material used, but mostly for worktops and appliances. It gives its own character to your kitchen. It looks clean, shiny and professional. It is easy to keep clean as well and is very durable, but can be very costly. If you choose to use stainless steel for your cupboards, make sure it doesn't get a clinical feel about it. Try to combine it with wood or a warm colour on the wall. Now you've chosen the design of your cabinets and worktops, the next move is to choose the materials and the colours of your walls. The most common materials for the walls are tiles, wallpaper and paint. Tiles will mostly be used as a backsplash above the hob and the worktop and they come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. Colour the tiles into your drawing and measure how much you need. After that you can calculate how much that will cost you. Paint is the cheapest and fastest way to transform the feeling of your room, wallpaper is more expensive, but can give just a little more character with it's large variety of patterns. When you use wallpapers and paints for your walls, make sure these are especially made for the kitchen as these will be more resistant against humidity and will be easy to clean. It depends on your own taste which colours you will choose, but contrasting colours work the best. The kitchen design would look really bland if you would choose cream units and cream paint on the walls. Kitchens also lend themselves to bold colour statements. Decide which atmosphere you want to create and use the colour on your walls as the main contributor to this. After all, it is always easier to change the wall colour than your units!
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