If you are about to begin down the road of a kitchen renovation, you will likely be putting a lot of planning and consideration into the design and space.

Your budget is inconsequential in this part of the process. Whether you aren’t worried about the cost or you are trying to stick to a budget, there are some key things to consider when planning your kitchen renovation to ensure you end up with a space that is both functional and stunning.

H&H Cabinet Maker & Design Expert

H&H Cabinets are kitchen layout and cabinet maker, and the following information is essential to those looking at refreshing their kitchen space to achieve the best result possible.

Kitchen Renovation – deciding on a realistic budget

No matter what your situation may be, the price will play a factor at some point. Kitchen renovation costs can get out of hand if you don’t plan the necessary elements of your kitchen beforehand. There are plenty of options, which can be quite overwhelming.

Start with a wishlist of items you think you may want in your new kitchen. Include things like:

• Appliances
• Layout options
• Design and style looks
• Materials or details

Looking into various design ideas will let you know what is achievable in your space. Your wishlist will need to be somewhat flexible, and you’ll also need a budget range in mind. This is especially important if you are using a kitchen designer so they understand the scope of types of finishes and selections that will work to what you are willing to spend.

Consider your space and layout

The overall area of your kitchen will determine how much or how little will be going into it. Small kitchens can be made to feel much more significant if the right layout and utilisation of space is achieved.

Those with smaller spaces, in particular, may benefit from the help of a professional kitchen designer or architect who can ensure you get the most out of the limited area you have.

Consider how you want the kitchen to flow before purchasing cabinets or appliances as it is easier to fit these to your layout than trying to work the arrangement around things you’ve already purchased.

When designing the structure of your kitchen, consider entertaining and day-to-day needs. A well-designed kitchen with a suitable layout should be able to cater to all occasions. Never sacrifice function for aesthetics.

Choosing appliances

Once you have decided on your layout, you can move on to the elements it will house, including specific materials and finishes. The space allowed for each appliance may help narrow down the pool of options, and you’ll want to ensure they work well with things like benchtops and tiles.

When you select your appliances, you have two style options:

1. Do you want them to blend into the kitchen discreetly?
2. Do you want them to be feature pieces?

Rangehoods can blend in with the joinery, and microwaves can be concealed in cupboards only to be seen when used if you so choose. Alternatively, you may wish to make your fridge into a statement piece?

Consider the practical use of these elements when cooking every day, and if you do opt for the statement piece option, make sure you don’t go overboard with too many features making things look busy or overcrowded.

Kitchen Renovation – Picking your style

The overall style of your kitchen will often depend on the style of the rest of your house. A modern kitchen in a country-style home, for example, would be out of place.

The cabinetry is a particularly important aspect of your kitchen design as it takes up a significant amount of visual space, and can often set the tone or theme of your area.

The handles for your cabinets have a plethora of options in both style and materials from handles and knobs, to chrome, matte, coloured, and more. You can even opt for discreet looks, which almost makes it seem like you don’t have handles at all.

The splashback is another opportunity to create a feature element in your kitchen. Splashbacks will often either be tiles or glass, but you can get creative with the colours and patterns to create a visual feature. If your cabinet doors are plain, the splashback can add texture to your kitchen.

Pro tip: Glass splashbacks are best suited to the modern home.

Choosing your benchtops

Once again, there is a range of material options for your benchtops. Stone is popular and offers a variety of styles and don’t be scared of utilising neutral colours.

Laminate is an option but is best suited to an investment property or lower value build, and while wood looks great, it may not be practical in the long run.

Kitchen lighting

A very important element of your kitchen and one that people often leave as an afterthought is the lighting. Make a general lighting plan before you start, but remember to achieve a balance between ambience and functionality.

Pendant lights over an island bench are very popular in the modern kitchen as they supply ample light to the work area while restricting the overall brightness of the space, plus they can look stylish thanks to the range of designs available.

Need a little assistance by a cabinet maker?

The best way to ensure that you get the most out of your space while performing a kitchen renovation is by consulting a professional.

H&H Cabinets design kitchens that will suit any size and, most importantly, budget. We can help you to figure out what will work best in your space, along with what style suits the aesthetic of your home.

Our staff provide a mixture of out-of-the-box creative ideas with realistic functionality in mind, which will help you avoid potential problems with certain materials, lighting, and more. Speak to H&H Cabinets today about the kitchen of your dreams!

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If you are thinking it may be time to refresh your kitchen, or you are in the midst of designing a new one, we at H&H Cabinets are your experienced kitchen cabinet maker, here to help with some stylish contemporary kitchens ideas. Giving you a modern and functional refresh to one of the most used rooms in your home!

As an award-winning cabinet maker in Melbourne, we know that modern designs favour minimalist cabinetry, neutral colour palettes, and feature accents. We aim for subtle, yet timeless, elegance, and a blending of styles, so that no matter the look and feel of your home, traditional or industrial, there is an idea for you.

Our pro tip: always add a pop of colour to keep things warm and welcoming, and let in the sun wherever possible. As always we recommend you speak to the experts at H&H Cabinets for a little help to avoid making any serious layout mistakes. Here are some kitchen layout ideas to offer food for thought.

Cabinet Makers Kitchen Layout

1. Dark Cabinets

Yes, we are fans of white kitchens, they look sleek and elegant and add to the minimalist aesthetic. That being said they are very popular, so if you want to go outside of the box a little, dark cabinetry is one path you could go down.

White cabinets are classic and work well with most kitchen styles, but dark kitchen cabinets may surprise you as to how well they can enhance a kitchen space. Dark cabinets offer a dramatic and luxurious aesthetic, which if done well, should not overpower the room. Any darker colour shades fall into this idea by the way, not just black.

Ensure you balance this with lots of natural light, and you have yourself a bold and stylish kitchen look ready to go.

2. Streamlined Everything

You may be getting sick of the word “minimalist” in just about every design article you read but it’s been popular for awhile, and that doesn’t look like it will change. A streamlined aesthetic in the kitchen is actually a good thing as it makes things functional and safer; the kitchen should be a stress-free environment in which you can relax and focus on the tasks at hand.

So to create simplicity, you need modern, clean lines, less upper wall cabinets to open up the visual space and brightening the room. You want maximum countertop space and open shelves that have feature pieces as opposed to being cluttered. Streamlining means balancing the texture of materials as well.

You can use rough cut wood or metal tubing depending on the aesthetic you like, floor tiles in natural stone and feel free to have a little fun with the backsplash. Interesting textures can bring a little excitement into a kitchen while still keeping minimalist ideals.

3. Effective Storage

One thing we try to avoid with kitchen cabinetry is the needless waste of space. You see this a lot with basic design and when it comes to the kitchen, the more storage you have, the better, especially if you want to avoid the cluttered look.

So this design tip is very functional! You can consider things like the appliances garage, drawer dividers for cutlery, pull-outs for spices, roll-out trays for pots and wastebasket cabinets for garbage. Deep drawers and various other kitchen storage options are possible throughout the whole kitchen for a more effortless space.

4. Kitchen Islands

We recommend a single level kitchen island as a focal point in the kitchen, and they can work no matter how much space you have. Larger kitchen islands are great for multiple uses, particularly in cases where you have less wall cabinet space. The kitchen island can be a statement piece while also offering excellent storage solution, seating, serving, and drinking areas.

If possible, the kitchen island can extend into the living room if you have an open plan design which works well for entertaining!

5. The Backsplash

We are big fans of the backsplash and believe it can be a fun part of the kitchen utilising an array of trends and styles. We recommend you steer clear of the dated subway tile trend unless you are going for a large size; instead you can experiment with various textures or patterns. Colour choices can be endless, and your personal taste can be the deciding factor.

Using a pop of colour with your backsplash is on trend right now, but neutral patterns that compliment a natural texture is another great option if you want to tone it down and be a little more timeless.

The other thing to consider with the backsplash is the size. At the moment, people are loving huge backsplashes to make a mini-feature wall in the kitchen. You can use a slab of marble, quartz, wood, stainless steel, and anything else rising all the way to the ceiling.

Let an award-winning cabinet maker help you out

H&H Cabinets, is an award-winning cabinet maker that works to your budget to create a space that you will love for many years to come. We’ve handled projects of all shapes and will work with you to create a functional, and above all, attractive space that you’ll want to spend all of your time in! We treat every kitchen design as if it was for our own homes.

H&H Cabinets are a professional cabinet maker company who specialise in creations that suit your personality, style, and budget, that work perfectly in your space, including but not limited to: kitchen cabinet, laundry cabinet, home office cabinet, Built-in cabinet, bathroom cabinet and living room cabinet, etc.

Trends will come and go, which is why we work with you to find something that will last for awhile without ever seeming dated. We keep up with all of the developments in kitchen design so you know that you always have the most up-to-date information when you work with H&H Cabinets.

Contact us today with your specs and ideas, we look forward to helping you create your dream kitchen today!

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When renovating or designing your kitchen, you are likely spending a decent amount of money and hoping for a result you will love for many years to come. Kitchen Cabinet Maker in Melbourne will help you design your dream kitchen layout.

You need to consider everything from what kitchen looks like to the kitchen layout! It can be difficult because while it is a room in your house that you want to look fabulous, it also needs to be a functional workspace.

There are plenty of different design styles but the layout, which will vary based on the home, needs to be designed correctly for maximum efficiency. To help, H&H Cabinets have compiled ten kitchen layout mistakes you’ll want to steer clear of to ensure your design is practical.

1. Leaving out the backsplash

For many designs, the backsplash is an afterthought or left out completely, and this is a huge mistake. Some people even leave it off to shave some money off the budget, but what they don’t realise is they are setting themselves up for more costs further down the track.

Elements like steam, grease, and spills are inevitable in the kitchen, especially around the cooktop, and your cleaning efforts will be far easier on tile or metal, saving the paint on your walls from needing touch ups or more in-depth cleaning. Plus, the backsplash can be turned into a design feature as well!

2. Preventing mobility and access

The essential areas of your kitchen are the sink, stove, and fridge as they receive the most traffic and use, and should be left unobstructed. The sink, in particular, can often be placed in a hard to reach spot as plumbing is considered over practicality.

If this may be an issue for you, paying a plumber to relocate the plumbing may be a small additional cost that will save you significant headaches down the track.

The areas between these three elements should be well-spaced. Not too small as to save overcrowding, but not too big, so you don’t have a lot of travel time between workstations. The medium amount creates for the most comfortable and efficient workspace.

3. Poor ventilation

Beautiful looking kitchens seem less impressive if they smell. Leaving a range hood out of your design is a bad idea, not only for the longevity of your appliances but also the cleanliness of your kitchen.

Stale air, especially in a room that involves cooking, will really dampen the visual effect the room may have for your guests and yourself.

Invest in a good ventilation system and save your kitchen, and the rest of your house, from those bad smells.

4. No workspace

Counter space is another issue that people realise they have after the fact. One thing you need is a place for the many activities that take place in the kitchen, as well as somewhere to keep your appliances.

Horizontal surfaces should be added to your design wherever possible, often by the well-placed use of an island or breakfast bar.

5. An incorrect kitchen island

A great point to follow is the importance of choosing the right kitchen islands. While having as much counter space as you can is important, the wrong kitchen island can be a waste of space, especially if it’s in the wrong spot.

Make sure you don’t hinder traffic flow between the important workstations. Smaller kitchens should leave the island out of the design altogether.

6. Bad lighting

Modern design looks to use low or dimmed lighting to create a certain, stylish and elegant atmosphere; however, this rule shouldn’t apply to the room that holds all of the sharp knives.

This is not to say you should light your kitchen up like a football stadium, but ensure the areas that you will be working in are well-lit.

You can use directional lighting to create a modern effect and avoid over-lighting while still giving plenty of illumination to the areas that need it.

Pendant lights above kitchen sinks or islands are a great way to have a good mix of design and practical light in the kitchen as well.

7. No space for recycling

More now than ever, recycling is important as we all do our small part to help the planet. This means that space for enough recycling bins, be it under the sink or elsewhere, is essential.

Being able to manage your trash in an efficient manner will make it more likely that you and your family will complete the task correctly.

It keeps things clean and easy, and above all, you are helping the earth!

8. Not having professional installation

A lot of the mistakes we are discussing here can be avoided by having professional designers create your kitchen design. DIY seems like a great way to save some money; however, an expert will be able to offer indispensable ideas and information while creating an efficient plan based on their previous experience that works to your budget.

9. Wasted Space

Storage or Kitchen Cabinets will be your saving grace in the kitchen; after all, there is a lot of things that a kitchen must store! Minimise wasted space with planning, and various cupboards provide extra storage space. Install a cabinet over the refrigerator, or shelves wherever you can.

Try to keep your kitchen from looking too cluttered by having the exposed items at a minimum. Pick a few feature things to have out and put the rest in a cupboard where possible.

10. Staying on trend

The latest kitchen design trends aren’t always the best options for your particular space. Many people sacrifice practicality for a specific trend or style and end up regretting it later.

H&H Cabinets can help create a kitchen that is timeless, functional, to your budget and above all, enjoyable to be in. We have many years of experience with projects of all shapes, sizes, and budgets, and can help make sure that you get the kitchen design you desire, at the price that works to your budget.

H&H Cabinets are a professional cabinet maker company who specialise in creations that suit your personality, style, and budget, that work perfectly in your space, including but not limited to: kitchen cabinet, laundry cabinet, home office cabinet, Built-in cabinet, bathroom cabinet and living room cabinet, etc.

Contact us today with your specs and ideas, and we will work with you to create a kitchen that not only avoids the trappings above but impresses anyone who ventures into it!

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