An open kitchen starts with an open mind

By Gale

We all agree that the kitchen is the most important room in the house. It is the best reflection of you and your family’s lifestyle.  Do not be swayed by the opinions of others. However, while that is easy to say, it's not so easy to do.

Recently I helped a friend who had fallen in love with the image of an open plan kitchen, and she was trying hard to fit that idea into her older closed kitchen. The clip she had saved from a magazine was really gorgeous, but like a jigsaw puzzle, the piece has to fit into the space allotted. And that is where her plans for the dream kitchen fell apart.  Here are some things to consider if you are pondering opening up your kitchen:

• What walls are you planning to eliminate to create the open plan kitchen? Are they load-bearing walls or can they be safely removed without affecting the structural integrity of your house? A good contractor or designer can help you determine that.

• If you are knocking down a wall, how much cabinet space are you losing as a result? Where are you planning to relocate what is stored inside those cabinets?

• Do you have to move plumbing or electric outlets to achieve your goal? Check on the cost of doing so before moving ahead.

• Will your cooking or cleanup space be visible from the adjoining room? If you are a messy cook, think about creating a visual barrier such as a raised counter so your guests cannot see the clutter.

• Does the new color scheme work with the existing colors in the spaces beyond? You should coordinate the colors from one room to another; they do not have to match but should be in the same family. This applies to countertop selections as well as cabinets.

Obviously, this doesn't cover all of the considerations you should take into account when opening up your kitchen, but this should serve as the starting point to getting you the dream kitchen that you want.