Invest 40 Hours in Research

Read every kitchen design article you can find, contact kitchen associations, go to kitchen and bath shows and take classes if they are available. You will get an enormous dividend payback from this investment of time. It may seem like a pain, but you will quickly forget about it when you are sipping coffee in that new kitchen!

What do you think your kitchen remodeling job or new house kitchen is going to cost? I would venture to say somewhere between $10,000 and $60,000. Yes, that is a big spread, but it is realistic. I once did a kitchen remodel job that included the addition of 150 square feet of space. The price tag for that job was close to $90,000! The point is this: Kitchens cost a lot of money. If you goof up the design, you will be quite unhappy each month as you make the second mortgage payment.

There are many more than just 20 design ideas for kitchens. I recommend that you contact the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) for further information. Go to their website and check out the Online Remodeling Guide. You can also order a free copy of their Kitchen & Bath Workbook.

Other Kitchen Design Literature/Design Sources

Aside from the NKBA you can get virtually unlimited kitchen design ideas from four other sources. Kitchen cabinet manufacturers often have an abundance of useful literature and design guides. Look for these in the showrooms you visit. If they are not visible, don't hesitate to ask the salespeople for these books. I know they exist as I have given them to my customers. The design guides vary in quality depending upon the manufacturer.

You can also glean great information from the monthly home improvement and design magazines at newsstands. Often these magazines will have wonderful photos that you can scan for a solution to one of your current problems.

Finally, I recommend that you hire a Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD). I'll bet one is in your city or town. These individuals have participated in extensive classes, training, and testing. They have excellent design publications at their fingertips. Don't you think it might be worth $300 or so to make sure you don't waste $25,000? I thought so!

If you want to try to do design work yourself, then you might want to try out different computer design programs. Some can be had for less than $100. You might just luck out and create the perfect kitchen.