A Designer’s Guide to Kitchen Renovations
After decades of designing and renovating homes, the kitchen remains one of the most exciting and most complex spaces to get right. Every detail matters, every decision connects to the next, and the margin for error is smaller than most people expect.
VERANDA recently invited me to weigh in on kitchen renovations, and I am sharing a few of the principles our team guides every client through. I hope they serve you well, and whether you are in the early planning stages or deep in the decision-making, our door is always open. If you are looking for an expert partner to walk you through the process, reach out to us.
Sherrell Design Studio
Consider Flow First
Before selecting a single finish or fixture, map out how you plan to actually move through your kitchen. Where do you want to land when you walk in? Where do you prep, plate, and clean up? The most beautiful kitchen will frustrate you daily if the flow works against your habits.
A well-planned layout should feel almost invisible, supporting the way you cook and gather without ever getting in the way.
Measure Everything
Then Measure Again
If there is one thing experience has taught me, it is that kitchens reward precision and leave very little room for assumption. I measure everything multiple times, especially when several trades are working at once.
Cabinet depths, appliance clearances, and door swings all need to be considered from the beginning, because even the most beautiful elevation can fall apart quickly if a refrigerator door or dishwasher has nowhere to fully function.
The details that feel minor in the planning stage have a way of becoming the ones that matter most on site.
Respect Industry Lead Times
Lead times are one of the places where projects most often run into trouble. Before construction begins, major components should either be on-site or scheduled to arrive well within your contractor's timeline. When this step is overlooked, delays have a way of rippling through the entire project, leaving your household without a functional kitchen far longer than planned. Patience at the start pays dividends throughout.
Sherrell Design Studio
Sherrell Design Studio
Plan Your Electrical Early
Electrical planning deserves the same level of forethought as your cabinet layout, and it should happen alongside cabinetry design rather than after the fact.
When these two elements are considered together, outlets, lighting, and appliance power can be integrated seamlessly into the design. The result is a kitchen that feels intuitive and efficient, with none of the visual compromises that come from planning around decisions that were already made.
Layer Your Lighting
A single overhead fixture is never enough. A kitchen that functions well at breakfast, dinner, and every moment in between requires layered lighting: ambient light for the overall space, task lighting under cabinets and above work surfaces, and accent lighting to highlight architectural details or open shelving.
Dimmers on every circuit give you control over the mood at any hour. Lighting is one of the most overlooked line items in a kitchen renovation budget and one of the most impactful.
Design Storage Around Your Life
Ample storage is not just about having enough of it. It’s about having the right kind of storage in the right places. Think through your daily routine before committing to a cabinet layout. Where do you reach first thing in the morning? What appliances live on the counter versus behind a door? A drawer designed specifically for your coffee station or a pull-out shelf built around your most-used pots will serve you far better than a beautiful cabinet that holds things you never reach for. Storage that speaks to the way you live every day is the difference between a kitchen that functions and one that truly works for you and your family.
Sherrell Design Studio
These principles have served us well across every kitchen our team has designed, and we hope they prove useful as you plan your own.
Before signing off, I wanted to share some added inspiration. Good design is never created in a vacuum, and we always feel energized when we see the exceptional work other creatives are bringing to the design world. These are a few kitchens that have caught our attention lately. We hope they spark something for you too!
