Design Drawings For A Custom Kitchen Remodel

Kitchen remodels can be overwhelming; Where do you start? What is the process? What if something goes wrong? All of these questions stump homeowners but today I’d like to talk about one of the most important aspects of the design process. Design Drawings!
 
Drawings help you find solutions, organize space, and visualize the end product. They can be 2D or 3D drawings that are black & white or in color. Designers use design programs such as AutoCAD, Revit, or Sketch Up. The finished product you see is the result of many years of training and experience. Knowing which solution is right for a specific design dilemma, where to locate storage/appliances so they are the most functional and providing clients with an easy to understand set of drawings is the value of services that a designer brings to the table. 

Let’s discuss some of the most common design drawings you’ll see specific to a custom kitchen remodel we’ve completed.

Existing floorplans are the birds eye view that show what is currently in the space with a label of what each item is. They communicate exactly what is existing so that the client can see the “Before” of their space. This is helpful so that they can compare the existing plan with the new layout to recognize changes, improvements and potential hindrances. 
 
You’ll notice the large peninsula of cabinetry in the center of the room, this outdated design provides that only one entrance to the main kitchen space is allowed. The issue with this is that it makes the kitchen feel smaller than it really is (based on where the walls are located) and no more than one person can enter or use the space at a time.

The demolition floorplan is a very important plan because it communicates to the contractor exactly which items will stay and the ones that are to be removed. The items that are supposed to stay will remain as a solid element and the ones that are to be removed are shown as dashed lines. Labeling each item is important so that there isn’t any confusion on detailed elements.
 
Do you see how we’ve removed the cabinetry and windows but we’ve left the walls and door openings? We wanted to keep the room itself intact but only remove the fixtures and finishes within the room. 

A new floorplan is like a snapshot of the “after” layout of the room. It communicates the location of many items such as new cabinetry, appliances, lighting fixtures and plumbing. Again, each item is labeled so that the contractor will know where to place each product. Other helpful information such as dimensions and elevation labels are located on this plan. The elevation labels tell the viewer to go to a specifc page and drawing in the drawing set.
 
What a difference this new layout makes! We located all of the cabinetry and appliances along the exterior walls so that the center of the room could be open for entertaining.

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The previously mentioned elevation labels direct you to these drawings from the new floorplan. While the floorplans are a bird’s eye view, the elevations are a human’s eye view. Imagine that you are standing in this room looking straight at the window wall, this is exactly what you’d see. These drawings are the most crucial aspect in assisting a client with visualizing the finished design. On each page, they are laid out by individual walls; you see what’s on the floor (base cabinets) and what’s mounted on the wall (light fixtures). Text information and arrows point out each element of the design. 
 
As you can see we’ve pointed out the new light fixture over the sink. (Affiliate link here to purchase) Not only does the text inform you of what it is but the dimensions tell the contractor where to place it on the wall.

Here is a teaser photo of the finished kitchen, next week we will be doing a full project tour so make sure you check back on Monday to see all the after photos and find out the details of our custom kitchen design