1. Measure out your current kitchen
Make sure you don’t get a fridge that can’t fit through your door, by measuring out all spaces of your current kitchen, including height. Also make note of which of these areas seem tight to you when you cook to make sure you enlarge them. This also ensures you don’t make areas of your kitchen smaller by accident.
2. Keep the same footprint
Changing the placement of plumbing, gas, and electrical hook ups is the fastest way to drive up costs in your remodel. Don’t move things like the sink or a gas stove to avoid having to create additional hookups.
3. Add storage
Adding storage will make your kitchen feel bigger, without taking up more of your house. One way to add storage is install cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling.
4. Lighting
Make sure you have enough lighting in your kitchen! Trying to chop garlic when you don’t have enough light to see by is a true pain. Pay special attention to how the light is affected by overhead cabinets and shadows.
5. The Work Triangle
Each cook should have a triangle of work space that goes from fridge, sink, and their own primary working space. The length of all sides of this triangle put together should be no more than 26 feet. If there are two cooks, their triangles should not overlap, although they can share a side.