Things to Consider Before Starting the Kitchen Project

2.4 How Do You Use Your Kitchen?

You will need to be prepared for the questions that a kitchen designer will ask when you first meet with them. Amongst the questions that you need to ask yourself before talking to your kitchen designer are:


  • Will you be doing a lot of entertaining with family and friends in your kitchen?
  • Do you use outside caterers?
  • Is your family busy during the week with lots of activities?

You should also find out what ideas other family members have by discussing the existing kitchen space and layout with all primary users of the kitchen in your household, listing the good and the bad points of the design and investigating the traffic patterns in, out and through your kitchen.

It is also important to analyse the day to day meal preparation tasks; try and formulate an average daily meal preparation routine. Questions should be asked about your family's desire to do more in the kitchen, such as whether there are areas of interest which require increased use of the kitchen, such as baking, and whether you'd like to do more of it if the added space or facilities were available. Discuss your family's wish list, what you would like to have in your dream kitchen and finally discuss topics such as lighting (both area and task illumination), kitchen seating needs, appliance needs and other wants.