Kitchen Psychology

It’s time to remodel your kitchen…time to start tearing pictures out of magazines, calculating your budget, interviewing designers, and picking a color scheme, right?

Wrong. According to many designers, customers often dive right into the details of their remodels, before they stop to really know what their needs are, or how they really use their kitchens.

“The kitchen is the heart of the home and that’s what it’s really about…your heart, your family,” said Ellen Cheever, ASID, a well-known kitchen designer and writer for Kitchen and Bath Design News.  “People tend to get too focused on that certain cherry cabinet, or that particular granite countertop when they’re planning for a remodel.  Before they do all that, they should be asking themselves how they want the kitchen to feel when they are done.  It may seem like a silly question, but it’s the key to getting it right,” she says.

If you ask yourself the really hard questions first, smaller questions like what kind of cabinet storage or appliance to buy will just fall into place. Before you sign those home equity loan papers, ask yourself these questions: 

What mood do you want to set? 

Do your prefer the serenity of a modern, sleek kitchen, or the happy, cozy clutter of a more traditional kitchen? 

How you answer will determine which path you take at this important design crossroad. 

Customers who like the warm and cozy look are buying traditional cabinets, and using accent cabinets with painted red or black finishes for extra pop.  Or, they are eliminating their soffits around the upper cabinets, and using the tops of the cabinets to display their favorite plants and collectibles.

How much activity do you really want in your kitchen?  Nearly everyone says they want an ‘open kitchen’ today, where the great room, dining room and kitchen flow into each other.  But you can design it to be so open that it can drive you crazy.

Do you want your kids or guests to chop vegetables right beside you?

Then you need a “work around” island or counter space that’s designed for more than one cook at a time. 

Would you rather have your guests just watch you cook while you entertain? 

Then you need a “barrier” island or counter, a taller counter space, perhaps with bar stools, which will allow your kitchen companions to stay close to the action but out of your way.

Do you like to cook and entertain, or entertain without cooking? 

When you invite guests over, do you make every little thing from scratch, or are you more likely to just make the main dish and fill in the rest with potlucks or items from the gourmet deli?

If you are a gourmet cook with bulging cabinets, then investing in a service pantry, an extra spice drawer or wrought iron pot rack makes sense.

Are you a good housekeeper? 

Do you leave crumbs on the counter and dishes in the sink, or are you a neatnik? 

How you answer should affect the materials you choose.  If you are naturally neat, then the sky’s the limit.  But if you’re not, there are materials you should definitely avoid like tile floors with hard to clean grout, stainless steel appliances that show every fingerprint, and painted cabinets that highlight every drip.  Instead, choose vinyl or urethaned hardwood floors, wood tone cabinets, and stainless steel alternative finishes that don’t show fingerprints.

What are your favorite things to do in the kitchen? 

Do you love to linger over the morning paper with a pot of gourmet coffee? 

Then an investment in a built-in coffee maker and special cabinets for storing your mugs and coffees makes sense. 

Do you love to bake? 

Then putting in a lowered marble counter space just for kneading, outfitted underneath with special drawers for your special baking pans, would be well worth the effort. 

Do your kids like to do homework while you are making dinner? 

Then a special homework perch with a raised kitchen counter might be the answer, with special cubbies for storing their backpacks.  Cabinets today are so specialized, you can create your own personal activity zones.

But perhaps the most important thing to remember, experts agree. Is there is only one right way to design a kitchen: your way. Just because other houses in your neighborhood have granite counters doesn’t mean you need them.  Maybe you’d be happier spending that money on a wine chiller or a walk-in pantry.  Put your money where your heart is, and you’ll ultimately make all the right remodeling decisions.