If you are planning to design your own kitchen, the first place to start is by researching ideas. Look for kitchen design ideas in decorating and kitchen magazines and check out the work of professional interior designers to find ideas to incorporate in to your own kitchen. There are a lot of items that you need to consider when designing the layout of the kitchen.

Think about removing walls, relocating appliances and how much space you really need for the size of your family. You have to think about ventilation, lighting and storage too. When you draw and plan the layout properly, you will get an idea as to how much space you have available and how to maximize the use of it. If you are having a work done by a professional kitchen designer ask for several variations of the kitchen design so that you can explore several options.

Before starting to plan your new kitchen visit an appliance store to learn what new products are available and which type of appliances you want to include in your plan. Don’t worry about the exact model or type at this stage, just the general idea of what you want i.e. slide in stove or built in oven. You need to know this so you can include the appliance planning in the overall kitchen design.

Proper task lighting is often overlooked when you design your own kitchen. Including a lighting plan early in the process will ensure you won’t be cooking in the dark. Consider the four types of lighting used in the kitchen plan and how to decide where to place your fixtures.

General lighting will light the entire kitchen but does not provide enough light for kitchen tasks. If you have enough pot lights over the counter these can also provide enough general lighting. Visit my site for kitchen design ideas including lighting over the island. Consider having the island or center light on a dimmer switch for more flexibility.

Task lighting is directional lighting on those areas where you do most of the food prep work on the counters and over the stove and sink. If you have enough task lighting you do not need a center general light fixture. However if you have a large kitchen the task lighting will not be enough.

Accent lighting is used to highlight features of the kitchen such as backsplash, evening lighting or decorative accents. Often called valance lighting it can be either florescent or halogen fixtures. It can be installed in an existing kitchen but you will either have to plug it in to a wall outlet or damage the backsplash to run the wiring.

Yvonne Kraft is a kitchen designer and design consultant who has helped many homeowners plan their new kitchen designs in over 25 years in the industry. She is available to answer your questions on how to design your own kitchen.

Find more kitchen design ideas at www.designkitchenideas.com