To find good ideas, collect magazines and brochures, even for kitchens you've no intention of buying

This is the third in a series of Ten Kitchen Design Tips. See the links at the bottom, for previous tips and other useful information.

Collect Kitchen Design Ideas

The amount of time it takes anyone to choose the style of their kitchen varies, some people only take a few weeks, others plan their kitchen a year or two in advance. There’s one thing most people have in common, though, their ideas change as they look around and many end up with a completely different style to the one they initially wanted.

Even if you’re fairly certain about what you want … it’s still a good idea to spend some time collecting ideas and investigating what’s available. You may find that there are new styles around, that you hadn’t even considered before you started looking … and if, after looking at a few hundred or so kitchen displays and kitchen pictures, you still want the style you originally planned, then at least you can be absolutely sure – that it is what you want – and you’re unlikely to get fed up with your new kitchen in a hurry. You may be surprised, though, how much your ideas evolve.  Don’t just look for overall styles, either …  also look for individual features that you like.

The internet is the best source of kitchen pictures these days. Make a search for the style of kitchen you fancy, make a note of the supplier, print off any pictures you particularly like  and keep a Kitchen Ideas File … or add the sites to your favourites, so that you can find them again.  Many manufacturers have downloadable brochures too.

Buy glossy magazines – especially the ones that have kitchen features – and tear out the pages containing anything that catches your eye (have a quick flick through whilst you’re in the shop, to be sure that you like some of the styles featured). Look at the adverts too.  It’s a good idea to circle the item of interest or write on the page what it was that you liked … before adding it to your file … it’s easy to forget why you kept some pages.

Visit local showrooms, even if you’ve no intention of buying a kitchen from them … the displays are designed by professional kitchen designers (sometimes from a head office design team, sometimes by the resident designer) and are aimed at showing off ideas and catching your attention. You should get some “wow factor” ideas. Make a note of anything that you particularly like and add the note to your file; make a rough sketch to remind yourself. Many showrooms will still give out brochures too … more pictures for you to study and tear out. I recommend tearing out the pages that are of interest because otherwise you just end up with a huge pile of brochures and magazines and it’s difficult (if not impossible) to find the pictures that you really liked (re-cycle the discarded parts, obviously – and make a note of where the page came from!).

Of course, most of the ideas you will have collected so far have been from display kitchens, not real ones.  It’s worth doing some extra internet searches for “kitchen gallery” … a lot of those often contain pictures of real kitchens. The photography may not be very good and the kitchens often look very empty because the photos have been taken just after the kitchens have been fitted, sometimes before they have been tiled and decorated. It’s the real kitchens that are likely to give you ideas for overcoming common problems like, designing for very small kitchens, and kitchens with awkward corners, lots of doors and wall pillars … the sort of kitchens that don’t often appear in showrooms and display pictures.

Photos of real kitchens are often taken before the fitting is finished - and don't look very sleek - but they can be a great source of ideas

There’s a kitchen design gallery of real kitchens over at Advanced Kitchen Design and lots of other kitchen design ideas. Have a look, for instance, at “Using Mixed Finishes in Your Kitchen” to see if mixing and matching more than one door colour might appeal to you.

Previous Tips:

Kitchen Design Tip No.1: Measure Carefully

Kitchen Design Tip No.2: Choose Your Appliances First

Next Time: Design the Kitchen for Yourself and Your Family

Tags: kitchen design, kitchen design ideas, Kitchen Planning & Installation, new kitchen