Capitol Design | Award Winning Kitchen & Bathroom Design In Austin, TX

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How to Plan a Luxury Kitchen Remodel

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Are you ready for a luxurious update to your home? What better way to infuse style and class into the ambiance of your home, than with a luxury kitchen remodeling project.

This guide will show you exactly how to plan a luxury kitchen remodeling for your specific needs. Are you ready to go all-in and completely redesign your kitchen, or are you looking for quick and simple fix for your existing kitchen?

No matter if you’re planning a large luxury kitchen remodeling, or a simple switch-a-roo of some elements in your kitchen, read on to find out exactly what you should consider as you go along.

3 Things to consider for your luxury kitchen remodeling project

How do you plan to use your luxury kitchen?

Do you plan to do more heavy-duty, or light cooking in your kitchen? If you’re the main chef, then you can probably decide on your own what types of surfaces would work best for you. However, if you employ a cooking staff, then you’ll want to quiz them on how they cook and what types of materials could improve their workflow.

Do you expect lots of traffic in your kitchen? If so, you’ll want to consider more resilient materials for your flooring that will also retain that elegant style that you’re looking for in your luxury kitchen remodeling.

Will you be able to handle yearly maintenance on certain items for your luxury kitchen remodeling? Chat with your family to see how they feel about maintenance. For example, some countertops like soapstone require you to apply mineral oil so it ages to perfection. Granite, and limestone also need to be sealed once per year. If this is too invasive for your lifestyle, you may want to consider other countertops for your luxury kitchen remodeling.

What style elements are important to you?

Of course style plays a huge role in every luxury kitchen remodeling. How would you define your interior design style? Do you prefer a more rustic, or modern look? Do you value function over style, or style over function? All of these questions will need to be considered when planning your luxury kitchen remodeling.

Be sure to work closely with your kitchen designer to ensure that you’ve combined all the elements in your kitchen to work together for an overall style that suits your personality.

What’s your budget for your luxury kitchen remodeling?

Luxury kitchen remodeling can take a real toll on your purse. Luxury materials like granite and vintage wooden floors can easily consume most of your budget. If you’re also looking to bring in designer furniture and lighting, then it can really all add up.

Luckily your kitchen designer can help you to plan out your luxury kitchen remodeling in a way that honors your budget. Be honest with your designer upfront about your maximum budget so that they watch out to make sure you don’t go over.

What are your luxury kitchen remodeling questions?

Email our team to get answers to all of your luxury kitchen remodeling questions.

Kitchen Renovations: Where to Start

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So, you know that you definitely want to do a kitchen renovation, but you’re not quite sure where to start? Look no further, as this definitive guide will give you all the answers you need for planning the perfect renovation for your kitchen.

Make a list and make sketches

Kitchen renovations require proper planning. Take the time to really think and discuss with your family their requirements for a new kitchen. What are the pros and cons of the current kitchen? Are there elements that you’d like to keep?

Kitchen renovations are inherently creative processes and it can sometimes help to keep moodboards, or make sketches of your dream kitchen. You can always use these later when discussing kitchen renovations with your kitchen designer and construction staff.

Discuss construction with your family

Kitchen renovations can be very messy and time consuming. You can expect to have a construction crew sawing and drilling in your home for months if you’re doing an extensive kitchen renovations project.

Will someone be home to stay with the construction workers as they work? Which season would work best for your family to begin construction? How much construction can you really take?

Discussing kitchen renovations projects upfront can ease the stress and help you to plan the perfect timeline with your construction team.

Think about your kitchen renovations requirements

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with kitchen renovations when you think of the project as a whole. However, breaking the kitchen renovations down into smaller chunks can help you to process your needs.

First, think about your countertops. What kind of cooking do you plan on doing? Talk with your designer and see which materials would best meet your specific needs.

What kind of storage would work best for you? Do you need custom cabinets or can you use some ready-made ones for your kitchen renovations?

Go through your kitchen item by item. Take a look at the counter tops, floors, cabinets, lighting, walls, windows, sink, stove, fridge, dishwasher, etc. and make a note of any changes that you imagine taking place in your kitchen renovations.

Decide on your design and construction teams

Eventually, once you’ve done as much planning as you possibly can on your end, you may want to hire a professional kitchen designer and construction crew.

A kitchen designer will be able to help you plan your kitchen renovations in excruciating detail. They’ll also be able to help you find and purchase local materials for the best deal. And, they can liaise with your construction crew to get things done.

Together, a kitchen renovations designer and a construction team will help you to build your dream kitchen—whether than means smashing down walls, or simply putting in new cabinets.

What kitchen renovations are you planning?

Are you just looking at options at this point, or are you getting ready to get started with your kitchen renovations?

Shoot us an email with your specific questions and our expert team will get back with you. We’d love to help you plan your dream kitchen.

Kitchen Counter Options

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Choosing Kitchen Counters For Your Kitchen Redesign

Selecting the right material for your kitchen counters can be a difficult process—after all, every one of these materials is gorgeous in its own right. How do you know which material is right for your new kitchen counters?

You may want to consult a kitchen designer to see which materials will work best with your overall kitchen design. Additionally, a kitchen designer can help to clue you into prices for various materials in your local market.

Check out the top 10 materials for kitchen counters below to see which might be the best for your kitchen redesign project.

Granite Kitchen Counters

Granite is one of the top choices for kitchen counters. Granite comes in a variety of natural shades and textures, but this can make it a bit difficult to match your various slabs. You’ll also need to get your granite kitchen counters sealed about once a year. They’re not maintenance-free, but they will make any kitchen look classy.

Laminate Kitchen Counters

Laminate is an affordable material for your kitchen counters that is also functional and efficient. In fact, there are a lot of modern options for laminate kitchen counters with patterns that mimic natural materials like stone, or wood. On the other hand, you can select laminate kitchen counters in vivid colors for more modern kitchens.

Tile Kitchen Counters

Kitchen counters that utilize tile have a timeless design. You can opt for white tiles that will give your kitchen a touch of shabby-chic elegance, or you can take a more Euro-classic approach using Dutch-style tiles. The customization options with tile are boundless, as you can select from a variety of colors and designs. In fact, many homeowners choose to tile their own kitchens and bathrooms. So, if you love DIY projects, tile may be for you, but don’t forget to consult your kitchen designer to make sure that your DIY plans mesh with the overall design plans for your kitchen remodeling.

Stainless Steel Kitchen Counters

Stainless steel kitchen counters are sure to give your kitchen redesign a modern, industrial look and feel. Even better, stainless steel counters are incredibly hygienic and prevent bacterial buildup. Cleanup is a jiff with stainless steel—that’s why many professional-grade restaurant kitchens opt for stainless steel kitchen counters.

Quartz Kitchen Counters

Believe it or not, quartz kitchen counters will last a lifetime, as they’re scratch, heat and stain resistant. Additionally, quartz kitchen counters are non-porous, so they don’t need to be treated with a sealant.

Marble Kitchen Counters

The luxurious creamy style of marble kitchen counters can make any kitchen go from shabby to high-end classy. Make sure that you get your marble sealed, as it is quite porous and clean acidic stains quickly. On the plus side, the gray marbling patterns in marble kitchen counters will help to disguise any stains.

Glass Kitchen Counters

Thick glass kitchen counters are a hygienic and modern option for your kitchen redesign project. Glass comes in a wide variety of colors, so you can easily match it to your overall kitchen look.

Wood Kitchen Counters

Butcher block wooden kitchen counters can give your kitchen redesign a cottage-style look that looks great with shabby-chic or more modern decor. However, make sure that you get your wood kitchen counters properly sealed.

Recycled Kitchen Counters

Recycled kitchen counters can be made from a variety of different materials. Many recycled counters actually mix materials like recycled glass with cement for a modern look.

Concrete Kitchen Counters

Concrete is an energy-efficient and easy to clean surface that adds an edgy modern look to your kitchen. There are a plethora of colors and textures available with concrete kitchen counters, so the customization options are quite endless.

Kitchen Cabinet Options

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Kitchen Cabinet Options

The first thing you’ll need to decide on when selecting your kitchen cabinets for your kitchen redesign will be whether or not you want custom designed cabinets. Custom designed kitchen cabinets are expensive, but will offer you complete flexibility. A carpenter will be able to custom design these cabinets just to your specifications. If you’re on a budget, you may want to consider pre-made kitchen cabinet options. These kitchen cabinet options won’t offer you nearly as much flexibility, but they will save you a trip to the bank. In-stock cabinets come in a variety of colors and styles, so you will be able to customize the look a bit.

If you don’t want the expense of custom cabinet options and the idea of pre-made cabinets doesn’t thrill you either, there is an option in between. Semi-stock cabinets will allow you more customization options. You’ll be able to mix and match various options, but these semi-stock kitchen cabinet options will take longer to order than either the in-stock or custom made kitchen cabinet options. Discuss with your kitchen designer and carpenter what options will fit your budget and be sure to think about your kitchen layout when deciding on kitchen cabinet options.

Kitchen Cabinet Door Styles

Shaker Style Kitchen Cabinets

Shaker style kitchen cabinet options are named after their distinctively simple style. Shaker kitchen cabinets are made from four pieces of wood that form a frame and a piece of wood in the middle, which is known as the center door panel. If you’re remodeling your kitchen, you can save quite a bit by merely replacing this center door panel. Additionally, using a natural wood finish for your Shaker style kitchen cabinets can also save you quite a bit over painted options.

Flat Panel Style Kitchen Cabinets

If you’re going for a more modern kitchen, you may want to consider flat panel style kitchen cabinets. These minimalist kitchen cabinets will give your kitchen just the flair of modernity that it needs, while also serving as a great means of storage. Flat panel kitchen cabinets come in a variety of materials including laminate and wood options. You can find a material that fits your budget by discussing flat panel styles with your kitchen designer.

Inset Style Kitchen Cabinets

Inset kitchen cabinets are rather pricey, but they’re incredibly well-made and will last for decades. The inset door is set inside of the cabinet frame, which differs from other types of cabinets like the Shaker style. Oftentimes, inset kitchen cabinets use very accurate measurements to account for the expansion and contraction of the wood over the years. With this kitchen cabinet style, you’re guaranteed a look that will last the test of time.

Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers

In addition to the style of your kitchen cabinets, you can also customize the types of drawers you’ll use in your kitchen redesign. Corner kitchen cabinet drawers allow you to maximize space in a functional way.

Sliding track doors are another type of special drawer design that you can utilize to free up space. If you’re tired of swinging open your cabinet doors and drawers, putting them on a rolling rack may help you to access your pantry items with more ease.

Glass front doors will allow you to display your fine china, or food items for easy access. Some people choose glass front doors in conjunction with Shaker doors so that the center panel is made of glass, rather than wood.

Pocket doors are a great way to use a space not only as a shelf, but also as storage. When the doors are closed, they look like a normal cabinet door. However, when you close them, they slide into a small pocket that is built into the side of each of the doors. Now, you no longer have a cabinet, but a space you can easily use for dinner parties to display china, or more.

Kitchen Layout Options

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Kitchen Layout Options

Determining the best kitchen layout for your kitchen redesign or remodeling project, is often the most difficult and most important part of the planning process. There are a number of different kitchen layout options including with peninsulas, without peninsulas, with an island, and without an island. Additionally, different kitchen layout options will work better for large or small spaces and with families with a lot of traffic or less kitchen traffic. Find out what’s best for your kitchen layout below.

Gallery Kitchen Layout

The gallery kitchen layout is a really efficient way to use your space to maximize the space for your kitchen redesign. A gallery kitchen also encloses the cooking area so that smells and messes are contained, rather than open to the dining room. This is a great option not only for smaller spaces, but also for homeowners who don’t want to use a kitchen layout that opens out into the dining room.

With a gallery kitchen layout, you’ll also have two parallel surfaces from which to work. This gives you a lot of flexibility in your kitchen design, as you can place stoves, ovens, microwaves, and storage in a variety of places on either side.

Tip: If you have a large family, or often entertain large groups, the gallery may not be for you. Why? Because both ends of the gallery are open, this kitchen layout means that you have to deal with heavy traffic in and out of the kitchen while you’re cooking.

L-Shaped Kitchen Layout

The L-shaped kitchen layout is a very popular style that allows a nice open area for cooking and helps you to maximize your corner space. Oftentimes the L-shaped kitchen design is paired with an island, which makes a great place for kids to hang out and do their homework after school while Mom or Dad cooks dinner.

In order to incorporate an L-shaped kitchen layout design into your kitchen remodeling project, you’ll need a bit more space than with the gallery or a U-shaped kitchen layout. And with the L-shaped kitchen layout you will have plenty of countertop space. This is perfect for group cooking, or cooking a large feast.

You can fit a ton of cabinet space into the L-shaped kitchen layout and with an L-shaped kitchen layout, you’ll eliminate kitchen traffic. Since the L-shaped kitchen layout is enclosed, you won’t constantly have to deal with family members walking through while you’re coming.

Tip: Hang a rack above your island for hanging pots and pans. This will help to maximize your space and it will add a classy touch to your overall kitchen layout look.

U-Shaped Kitchen Layout

A U-shaped kitchen layout will give you a lot of room and flexibility for cooking efficiently. For example, you can easily pivot and turn from the stove to another surface. This comes in handy when you’re preparing meals for a large number of guests, or if you prefer to spread out when you’re cooking.

Many people prefer the U-shaped kitchen layout when they’re short on seating space, as the peninsula can easily double as a bar for visitors. This also offers a cozy view so that your guests can sit at the peninsula bar while you’re cooking.

Tip: Placing the fridge inside the U can actually consume a lot of your precious space. Therefore, try placing the fridge

G-Shaped Kitchen Layout

A G-shaped kitchen layout is very similar to the U-shaped, but it includes a peninsula. This is great for spaces that may not be big enough for a U-shaped kitchen layout with an island. If you don’t have room for the island, consider this layout instead.

Tip: Make sure that your peninsula isn’t too long, or you won’t have much room to get in and out of the kitchen. Keep the peninsula short to be flexible with traffic.