The kitchen is often considered the heart of the home. No matter how comfortable you make the rest of the house, guests and family routinely head to the kitchen. Kids will be often found doing homework on the breakfast bar or rummaging through the contents of the fridge. It’s a truth of family life that seems to transcend cultural boundaries. Preserving the look and feel of a kitchen while updating its function is one of the challenges of interior design.

Renovating your kitchen can add value to your home in addition to making time spent cooking and eating more enjoyable. There are several reasons to update your kitchen, and this article will review the most common kitchen design mistakes and how to overcome them. Your kitchen is a busy hub of activity, and it can be challenging to make it useful for everyone to enjoy.

In our experience, we have seen plenty of poor kitchen design choices. These top the list:

Layout

The layout of the kitchen follows a rule designers refer to as the “golden triangle”. The golden triangle is anchored by the refrigerator, the sink, and the stove respectively, and connected by paths between. If these three areas are placed conveniently together, than cooking and cleaning will be much easier. Narrow aisles, inconvenient door swings and islands that cut off direct access to these areas affect the flow around the kitchen.

Solution

It is important to be generous when designing space, a few additional square feet of room can make a huge difference in kitchen versatility and usage.

Lack of Counter Space 

Usually, a symptom of a poor layout, lack or storage, or some combination of the two, lack of counter space is one of the first things people list when identifying areas of their kitchen for improvements. Having enough space to accommodate appliances is essential.

Solution

When planning your kitchen redesign, take into account how often you use your counter tops and for what activities, and evaluate how they may overlap when more than one person uses the kitchen.

Island Design

Kitchen islands are also a great way to add additional storage while adding areas for prep and serving space in the kitchen. However, islands that obstruct the flow of traffic only create bottlenecks and big hassles.

Solution

The best way is to position the island with plenty of room to move around it.

Lack of Storage

Kitchens typically warehouse innumerable amounts of random items, it is important to have just as many options for storage. In the quest to stock your kitchen with the latest appliances and gadgets, solid storage space can be ignored. The gleam of your new kitchen will be quickly forgotten if you have to walk to the garage every time you want to cook with your wok.

Solution

Accessibility is key, especially when planning the layout of your storage options. Make sure to leave plenty of room for built-in cabinets and pull out drawers.

Let there be Light!

My mother knew her kitchen so well she could whip me up a grilled cheese at midnight by candlelight. I, on the other hand, would most likely end up in the emergency room if I don’t have every light in the kitchen on. Most kitchens have general lighting provided by an overhead fixture together with natural light from a window or ambient light contributed by a fixture in an adjoining room.

Solution

Think about how you use your kitchen and where you need the most light. Dedicated task lights can save your eyes (and fingers!). Lighting can be efficient too, with both the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency suggesting the installation of fluorescent light bulbs for an annual reduction of 75% on your energy bill.

The devil is in the details…

Once you’ve established the main areas of the kitchen, focus on secondary areas, such as trash or communication areas. You’ll want to have a clear line to trash bin or disposal, especially if you have a large family or cook from scratch regularly. If you have a desk, table or counter where you have a phone, writing material or a computer, try placing it out of the main area of the kitchen so it does not obstruct the kitchen function and get dirty (like that time you forgot to put the lid on the blender).

This is your kitchen, so remember that you will be stuck with whatever you choose, so make it worthwhile.