Mistakes in the Planning Process That Can Make Even a Luxury Kitchen Look Cheap

Few things in life are more frustrating than investing your time and money into a project and feeling dissatisfied with the end result. Often, it is key mistakes during the planning process that lead to problems down the line, and often those problems can be costly and difficult to remedy.

When you’re planning a new kitchen, your initial thoughts might center on what finish you want for your counters and which brands of appliances give you the options you want. But to ensure that your renovated kitchen is a space you will love to look at and use for years to come, you need to give thought to some other issues first. You need an extremely thorough plan, and the best way to get one is to work with a designer who is prepared to create a custom design and choose a contractor who knows how to bring that design to life effectively.

While you are designing your kitchen, there are some choices that can make your kitchen look cheap, even if it’s constructed based on a custom design with high-end finishes. Here are some aspects to consider during the design phase to avoid that problem.

Pay Attention to Cabinet Details

When people choose cabinets for a luxury custom kitchen, they think about color and options like soft-close doors. While those options will definitely impact your satisfaction with the room, it is also important to consider aspects that are often overlooked.

First, avoid using cabinet doors that only partially cover the door frame. These are a dated look common in older, builder-grade construction, and while they are sometimes used in luxury cabinet designs, the look automatically makes a cabinet look cheap. The best choice for a high-end look is to use cabinets with inset doors where the door fits inside the frame. However, cabinet doors with a full overlay design also create a more finished look.

Another design choice to pay attention to with kitchen cabinets is whether the cabinets extend to the ceiling or stop a foot or two below the ceiling. Shorter cabinets look builder-grade unless the design is created specifically to look intentional. In addition, when cabinets don’t extend all the way to the ceiling, the kitchen has an awkward gap that often ends up filled with decorative clutter or, at the very least, coated with greasy dust. Taking the cabinets all the way to the ceiling produces a much cleaner look. Pull-down wall units can be incorporated at the top to bring upper shelves within easy access. Even if the shelves up near the ceiling are too high to be used often, it is a space that would go completely unused otherwise, so you don’t lose anything by enclosing it with cabinets.

Plan for the Particular Refrigerator You Have in Mind

In the early stages of designing your kitchen, you don’t need to choose specific appliances, but you do need to consider the size of those appliances. Refrigerators come in a surprising array of shapes and sizes, and you need to consider both the dimensions of the type of unit you want and the installation specifications regarding clearance before you plan the other components nearby, such as cabinetry. You don’t want to put your high-end fridge in a cabinet installation that looks second-rate. A refrigerator that sticks out dramatically from the cabinets around it looks like a mistake. Talk to your designer about ways to make your refrigerator fit seamlessly in the design.  

Make Sure You Include Enough Drawers

Some people find it aesthetically pleasing to look at the clean, unbroken lines of a bank of cabinets. But the reality is that you need drawers in your kitchen, and on the whole, they are much more useful than big empty cabinets. You can incorporate pull-out units in your cabinet, but full drawers are often easier to use to store many items you use regularly. It is helpful to have both narrow drawers for utensils and accessories and wider drawers that can be used for pots, pans, and other equipment. If you don’t allow for enough drawers, some items may end up cluttering your counters instead, making your kitchen look less organized.

As you’re designing your kitchen, consider every single cabinet and how it will be used. If you’re not sure whether you need a cabinet or a bank of drawers in a particular section, the bank of drawers may be the better choice.

Other Choices That May Turn Out to Be a Mistake

Everyone has their preferences, and a choice that may not be ideal from a design perspective could still make the most sense for your lifestyle. But here are some other design choices that could be a mistake:

• Over-the-range microwaves. These look cheap, and they are usually not vented properly, allowing moisture and grease to accumulate on your cabinets. A good quality vent hood is more effective and provides more of an upscale look.
• Waiting to put in a backsplash. Many homeowners are afraid to make the wrong choice when it comes to a backsplash finish, so they leave the space blank and plan to add a backsplash later. But later rarely comes, and the open space looks very builder-grade. Choosing a simple backsplash, such as a slab that matches the countertop or subway tile, provides a finished look and is easier to keep clean.
• Not planning for lighting. The design phase is when you need to consider how much lighting you need in each area and the most effective and aesthetically pleasing way to light your workspaces. Trying to retrofit lighting later usually comes across as awkward at the very least.  

You Need the Right Team to Design and Create Your Dream Kitchen

Of all the choices you make while planning your kitchen renovation or addition, the most important is deciding who you will work with to design and build your new space. We invite you to consider Marcela Montoya Remodeling. With decades of experience exceeding expectations in high-end remodeling projects in South Florida, our team has the knowledge and dedication to design a space that is uniquely you and ensure that it is built to your complete satisfaction. Schedule a free design consultation with Marcela to learn more about how we can help you bring the perfect kitchen to life in your home. Start now by calling 954-900-9992 or contacting us online.