 | Mike Montoya was a detail engineer in the telecom industry for 20 years and worked mainly with fiber optic systems. He has been working with cabinets for the last 7 years. The last 4 years have been at Direct Buy of Wichita, Kansas where he has designed cabinet layouts for projects from Southern Arizona to Northern Pennsylvania. Cabinet designing combines the technical with the creative and it suits Mike well. The Wichita showroom is located at 650 N. Carriage Parkway, Suite 55. Call 316-425-6204 if you would like to set up an appointment for a tour to see what it’s all about or visit www.directbuy.com. |
Furniture
2011-12-27 09:53:09
Buying new cabinets – series - part 3
In the first two parts of this article, all the preliminary steps to get started on designing your new kitchen were discussed. Pretty dull stuff really, but very necessary to get the results that make the big differences when it is all done. The fun part begins now.
Q: How do I turn all these dimensions and other information I’ve gathered into my dream kitchen?
A: The kitchen designer will work with you, and through your discussions of the features you want and details that you like, find your sense of style. Through pictures of kitchens in magazines you may have brought, or by showing you pictures they have, your style can be further defined and a design can begin to take shape. Based on the things you like and discuss, they should show your examples of other things that might interest you that you may not have known about. All the while, the designer will keep in mind the physical shape and size of your kitchen. Certain features you like may not be physically possible in the space you have, so the designer should offer other examples of what could work but still get some of the flavor of what you liked about those features. The two things that will ultimately determine what can be done is the size and shape of your space to work with and your budget.
The lengths and widths of your space determine the way the flow of your kitchen can be arranged, but the height will play a lot into how your style can be incorporated. Here are details from two kitchens with cabinets of the same color and similar door styles (see photos A and B), but one has vaulted ceilings and the other is a little less than eight feet tall.
The kitchen with vaulted ceilings allowed for staggered heights and depths on the cabinets to add interest where only staggered depths were used in the kitchen with a lower ceiling. Other details such as wall and counter top color, glass doors, and the handles and knobs used, further refined the two kitchens to the individual styles and tastes of the two customers. You might be interested to know that in the corner of the second photo, a large irregularly shaped floor to ceiling chase with pipes and an air conditioning duct are hidden by the cabinetry.
Your kitchen designer should create a kitchen layout that incorporates your sense of style and includes as many of the special details and features that your space and budget allows. The placement of every item must be considered to make sure all the doors and drawers open without interference. How many times have you seen a kitchen where the refrigerator door can’t open far enough to pull the bins out? There is no reason that your kitchen should look like someone added boxes until they ran out of room (unless you like that look)! Even on a budget, interest can be added with a few thought out but inexpensive touches. The more I do cabinet design, the more I think of it as three dimensional sculpture that has to function. I hope my articles have been helpful for you if you are planning on getting new kitchen cabinets. Of course, kitchens are not the only rooms that a cabinet designer can work with you on....(see photos C and D).
