How to Find Your Inspiration
Dreaming, visualizing, finding inspiration. We need to having a jumping off point to transform your frustrating, non-functional “let’s just order take-out forever kitchen” into a visually pleasing, functioning and emotionally welcome space that you actually want to cook and entertain in, not just dust once in a blue moon.
But HOW does one start?
It occurred to me that some of us may not even have an idea of how to go about figuring out what we want or how to find inspiration. I always like to start with where you’re at:
What do you love about your space?
Is it the window over your kitchen sink so you can watch the birds come to the feeder you have set out? Or maybe it’s the fact that you have an island. Either way, usually there is even one small thing that you do like about your kitchen.
What is it that you hate about it?
Is there a lack of counter space? Or maybe you don’t have enough lighting? What is the number one pain point? Is it the traffic flow, or the lack of social space?
What do you wish you had?
Do you bake bread like crazy and covet a double oven? Do you need a kitchen office?
What are your non-negotiables? Have you loved the idea of having a farmhouse sink or a chef’s pantry forever? Maybe that’s one of the things that HAS to be in your new design.
How do you work in this space?
Are you an “All prep, then cook” kind of chef or are you a prep and cook at the same time? Or are there multiple cooks? Are you a family that has kids and they all like to help in the kitchen?
How does your family use the space? Are the kids, speaking of them, constantly getting snacks and drinks, and they’re in your way? Perhaps maybe a bar fridge or a snack centre away from the working side of the kitchen might do the trick.
Are you happy with the space overall? The footprint or the building envelope? Are you wanting to add-on or are you going to keep within it?
What kind of budget are hoping to work within?
This can be a major driver for no matter how big you want to dream, your budget may not allow you to do a massive bump out for instance.
Now you have an idea of where you’re at and now it’s time to dream.
Create some mood or vision boards.
Find your inspiration on Pinterest
Wood Be Art's Pinterest boards are a good place to start looking for inspiration!
You can do that online or with paper from a magazine and that kind of thing. So, what I say is:
Cut, paste, and pin – Think big picture: what grabs you? What you love? Just rip it or pin it, don’t get too wound up on limiting or censoring yourself right now with whatever it is you’re gravitating towards.
Let your instincts loose. You’ll edit and hone things down later on.
Don’t be too literal either. You may just like a feeling an image gives you, for instance like people laughing, or maybe it’s a travel photo or landscape. All of these things can be brought into the theme of your project.
Or maybe it’s a textile from a gourmet food photo, or a colour story. A colour story is just a fancy way to say a combination of colours that are chosen to evoke a feeling or to fire your imagination up in one way or another. You can choose a colour story from a book or magazine cover and that can definitely influence how you go about creating your kitchen vibe.
Pro-Tip: Try to note why the image grabbed you.
Was it the colour? Was it the window location? The cabinetry layout? The lighting? Maybe it was a piece of hardware. You want to make sure that you note that because you think that you’re going to remember and dollars to doughnuts you’re going to forget and you’re going to be wondering what the heck have I pulled this photo for?!
For more information, check out our podcast All Things Renovation at www.AllThingsRenovation.com.The second series of episodes focuses on kitchen renovations.