The kitchen is truly the heart of the home. Designing one involves more than simply selecting attractive finishes; it's about creating a functional, efficient, and personalized space that caters to your lifestyle and needs. At Herringbone & Brass, we absolutely love designing kitchens. Collectively, our team of designers has created over forty of them, and it is our greatest joy when our clients tell us how much they love their kitchen, and how they feel it was designed for their family, with their specific needs in mind.
Most consumers are unaware of the intricacies involved in achieving a well-designed kitchen, so we’ve decided to share some of the knowledge we have collected over the years.
Key Design Features of a Custom Kitchen:
Efficient Layout: The foundation of a functional kitchen is its layout. We are big fans of the "kitchen triangle," a well-known rule in kitchen design that keeps the sink, stove, and refrigerator close to each other, making cooking and cleanup easier. That’s not to say that this rule can’t be broken. Modern kitchens often incorporate multiple work zones to accommodate various tasks and users, enhancing efficiency and workflow. One of our golden rules is keeping the distance between kitchen countertops and the island countertop no less than 36” at no more than 42”, so it makes it easy for people to move back and forth between those surfaces.
Quality Storage Solutions: Adequate and strategic storage is crucial. Incorporating features like deep drawers, pull-out shelves, and custom pantry spaces ensures that all items have designated places, reducing clutter and improving accessibility.
High Quality Materials: Selecting high-quality materials for countertops, cabinetry, and flooring ensures longevity and adds to the kitchen's overall appeal. Our go-to material for countertops is natural stone. We love going shopping with our clients and helping them select slabs that compliment other finishes and colors in the kitchen. In the past, people have expressed concerns about etching or staining of natural stone, but selecting a honed finish can minimize these issues. There are amazing technologies nowadays to further protect countertops with films that do not change the color and texture of the stone and yet protect it from damaging spills.
Advanced Appliances: Integrating modern appliances enhances functionality. Features like induction cooktops, convection ovens, and smart refrigerators can significantly improve the cooking experience. For an even more spectacular kitchen, one can add specialty appliances like beverage centers, refrigerator drawers, ice makers and warming ovens.
The Incredible Kitchen Sink: The sink is no longer the most boring part of the kitchen. There is now a broad selection of incredible sinks that come packed with features and accessories like cutting boards and colanders, we personally love the Ruvati workstations sinks. They are not only super functional, well designed but also keep your budget in mind.
Proper Lighting: A well-lit kitchen combines ambient, task, and accent lighting. Layered lighting not only ensures safety and functionality but also contributes to the kitchen's ambiance. When lighting a kitchen it is very important to plan out where the recessed can lay over the countertops. Additionally, we love to tuck undercabinet lighting into the upper cabinets to add another layer of functional lighting. We recommend keeping these LED lights towards the front of the cabinets.
Personalized Design Elements: Incorporating elements that reflect the homeowner's style, such as unique backsplashes, custom vent hoods, or specialized storage for specific culinary tools, adds character and personalization to the space.
This coffee station features a roll-out shelf and plenty of storage for tea, coffee and condiments.
By adding shelves under the kitchen island, we maximized our client's storage options.
Stock vs. Semi-Custom vs. Custom Kitchens: Cabinet Sizes and Door Options
Understanding the distinctions between stock, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry is essential when planning a kitchen, as these choices significantly impact design flexibility, cost, and the overall outcome.
Stock Cabinets:
Sizes: Stock cabinets are pre-manufactured in standard sizes, typically in 3-inch width increments (e.g., 12", 15", 18"). While this standardization allows for quick availability and lower costs, it limits flexibility in fitting unique or irregular kitchen layouts. Kitchens made with stock cabinets typically have "fillers" between some of the cabinets. Fillers are a strip of material that matches the cabinet doors and are used to give the kitchen a more built-in look.
Door Options: These cabinets offer a limited selection of door styles, finishes, and materials. The choices are confined to what the manufacturer produces in bulk, which may not cater to specific design preferences.
Semi-Custom Cabinets:
Sizes: Semi-custom cabinets are built to order, allowing for modifications in materials but not box width. This flexibility enables a more custom look while keeping the budget in mind.
Door Options: There is a broader selection of door styles, finishes, and hardware compared to stock cabinets. Homeowners can choose from various designs to suit their preferences, but the range is still confined to the manufacturer's offerings. Semi-custom cabinets also use filler strips. Another big plus for this option is the height of the upper cabinets can be fully customized.
Custom Cabinets:
Sizes: Custom cabinetry offers complete flexibility in dimensions. When we do fully-custom kitchens, the kitchen manufacturer builds the cabinets to the exact specifications of our drawings, allowing for seamless integration into any space, regardless of size or layout constraints. This ensures optimal use of space without the need for fillers.
Door Options: The possibilities are virtually limitless. Clients can select from an extensive array of materials, styles, and finishes or even create entirely unique designs. This level of customization allows for a truly personalized kitchen that aligns with the homeowner's vision.
Considerations:
Budget: Stock cabinets are the most budget-friendly option, followed by semi-custom, with custom cabinets being the most expensive due to the bespoke craftsmanship and materials involved.
Lead Time: Stock cabinets are readily available, semi-custom cabinets usually have shorter production times, which can be beneficial for projects with tighter schedules, while custom cabinetry often requires a longer lead time to accommodate the detailed design and manufacturing process.
Design Consistency: Custom cabinets ensure a cohesive design tailored to the specific kitchen space, while semi-custom options offer a balance between standardization and personalization, and stock cabinets might require compromises due to their standardized nature.
When clients approach us wanting to renovate their kitchen, we take into consideration the specific features of their space to determine whether a semi-custom kitchen would be a good option. When space is very tight, we tend to recommend custom cabinets to our clients, which allows us to maximize every inch of the kitchen.
Ready to start your kitchen remodel? Contact us today and book a consultation!
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