Planning & Designing A Kitchen

Step 1

• Measure the Overall Room Draw a diagram of your kitchen, locating all windows and doors in their approximate positions. Note on the drawing the overall wall lengths of each wall. (See Diagram 1). All of your measurements should be in inches. For example, if you measure a wall that is 10 feet, write it as 120 inches — a quotation mark (") denotes inches.

Step 2: Label and Measure Doors and Windows

• A. Beginning at the top left corner of your drawing measure to the first window, door, or wall. Continue clockwise around the room until each wall, window and door has been measured. Remember, all measurements are in inches.

• B. Beginning at the top left of your drawing, label the windows "Window #1", "Window #2", etc. in a clockwise order..

C. Again, beginning at the top left of your drawing, label the doors "Door #1", "Door #2", etc. in a clockwise order.

• D. Next to each wall, write the name of the adjacent room. If the wall is an "outside wall" write "exterior wall." If the room is a candidate for expanding the kitchen, also measure that room.

E. As shown in Diagram 2, measure from the floor to the bottom of each window and also measure the overall window height. When measuring doors and windows the trim is considered part of the door or window. Measure from the outside of the trim on one side to the outside of the trim on the other side, then from the outside of the trim to the middle of the window or door

Diagram #2

Measurement Guidelines

• F. If you are replacing your cabinets, do not include current cabinets or furniture such as kitchen tables in your measurements

•G.  Do indicate the precise location of the center-line of the current sink, range, wall-oven and installed microwave. Indicate whether your range and oven are gas or electric. This tells us where the utilities come into the kitchen. If you have additional 230v outlets or gas lines coming into the kitchen, indicate where these are located even if they are not currently being used.

Step 3: Identify and Measure Unmovable Obstructions

• A. Draw boxes in your diagram to show the approximate location of any obstructions such as radiators, vents, pipes, exposed plumbing, etc. that you either can not move, or do not want moved. Label the object so we will know what it is: i.e. "radiator", "pipe", etc.

• B. Measure the obstruction and record the width, height and depth of the obstruction on your drawing. If the obstruction reaches the ceiling, omit the height measurement. If the obstruction is not in contact with the floor, measure from the floor to the bottom of the obstruction.

• C. Measure from the nearest wall to the nearest edge of the obstruction. Measure from the point on the wall that is nearest the obstruction to the point on the obstruction nearest the wall. Measure from the second closest wall to the nearest point of the obstruction. Note these measurements on your drawing.

Step 5: Check your Measurements

• If your room is rectangular add up the measurements of the parallel walls and make sure they match (or are at least very close). For example, in our sample drawing, you would take the overall measurements of the top wall and add them together. Then do the same with the bottom wall. Once you have added each walls measurements check the totals to see if they match.

Next, Ask yourself these questions

• Do you need an island (and have room for it), a peninsular, or breakfast nook?

• Would you fill a pantry?

• Would you rather have a stainless steel sink or enameled cast iron?

• Do you use a microwave for major cooking or just to heat up cups of tea?

• Do you prefer cooking with gas or electricity?

• Do you want a combination oven-and-range, or a cook top with a wall oven?

Do you use enough small appliances that you could use an appliance garage to store them?

The next step - and the most fun - is to think about style.

• Cabinet Manufacturer

• Cabinet Style

• Cabinet Color

• Features

• Price