10 Tips for Designing Your Own High-End Kitchen

Designing a kitchen is as much a science as an art. At least, that’s what I learned while planning my own DIY kitchen renovation! I did a TON of research focused on how to make my kitchen look high-end, even though I was doing it by myself on a budget. So now, I’m happy to share those tips with you…

Tip #1: Include enough spacing between cabinets and the island/walls

Interior designers recommend that you leave at least 42 inches of space between cabinets and the island or adjacent walls. This allows enough space for two people to be able to pass each other, for drawers to open without hitting each other, and to be able to walk around open cabinet doors.

If you regularly have two cooks in the kitchen, 48 inches is the recommended minimum. For walkways where people won’t be working (no appliances or workspaces), the minimum is 36 inches.

Tip #2: Choose the right island lighting size and placement

If you have multiple pendant lights over an island, there are many recommendations for their size, placement, and spacing that you can find with a quick search.

If you have a single pendant like I do, you’ll center it over the island countertop and choose a light that is 1/3 to 1/2 of the width of the island. Then, hang it 30-36″ above the countertop.

Tip #3: Calculate how many eat-in stools you can comfortably fit

You may be tempted to squeeze in as many stools as will fit in your eat-in island, but packing your guests like sardines is probably not the most comfortable option. Instead, make sure that each stool has 24″ of width. So if you have a 72″ wide overhang, you can comfortably fit 3 stools. If it’s anywhere between 48″ and 72″, two stools would be a more comfortable fit.

You also want to be sure that when you design your eat-in island that you provide a deep enough overhang to allow for comfortable seating. If the overhang is too shallow, guests may bump their knees into the cabinets. The minimum recommended overhang is 12″, though many designers recommend at least 15″. I met in the middle with 13.5″ and my knees have plenty of clearance (I’m 5’5″, for reference).

Tip #4: Mix up adjacent cabinet fronts

If you study photos of high-end kitchens like I did, you’ll notice that no two adjacent cabinet fronts look exactly alike. You won’t see a cabinet with three drawers directly next to another cabinet with three drawers. Designers mix things up, which has more visual interest and also looks less cookie-cutter.

Tip #5: Incorporate cabinet front symmetry

But interior designers also make sure to incorporate symmetry in the cabinet fronts around key focal points, like appliances and sinks. The human eye is drawn to symmetry, so it helps to highlight these key features.

Tip #6: Add storage for dishes and cups near your dishwasher

When you’re designing your cabinets, it’s important to keep organization in mind. That includes not just clever storage, but also where to place cabinets to ensure ease of use.

For example, I placed my baking storage cabinets around my oven and cooking utensil drawers around my stovetop.

I also placed all of my flatware, serveware, and tupperware storage right next to my dishwasher and made sure that those drawers could be open at the same time as the dishwasher. This allows for quick and easy unloading and saves me a ton of time!

Tip #7: Mix metals and cabinet hardware

High-end kitchens often have mixed metals rather than one metal tone throughout. The cabinet hardware is usually all the same metal, but they’ll mix in new tones in faucets, lighting, and decor. This adds more visual interest to the room and makes it feel less cookie-cutter.

I do recommend choosing complementary metals. If you like cool tones, you have black, chrome, and stainless steel. If you like warm tones, you have brass, bronze, copper, and even polished nickel, which has a warmer silver tone.

I used aged unlacquered brass, oil-rubbed bronze, and aged copper.

Tip #8: Allow for multiple lighting options

One overhead light in a kitchen probably won’t cut it, so think about the areas in your kitchen where you will need task lighting, like around the stove. Do you have any dark areas where light doesn’t reach well? That will likely need its own lighting. I also like the trend of installing a little lamp next to the sink for cozy lighting when you do dishes at night.

Tip #9: Add a drip rail below apron front sinks

I love my apron front sink, but it does have one downside: It’s easier for water to drip down the front and onto your cabinet doors. This isn’t a big problem if you notice and wipe it off the door, but otherwise it’s likely to leave watermarks, which you can clean off but are just annoying to deal with.

Instead, I suggest you install a drip rail below your sink. This is simply a strip of water-resistant material that sticks out from the bottom of your sink and catches water before it falls onto your cabinet doors. I made mine out of scrap wood wrapped in copper leaf, but you could just used plain wood (I recommend an oil-based sealant for better water repellence) or even get a fabricator to make you one out of a stone remnant.

Tip #10: You don’t need to be an artist to design a beautiful kitchen

I was VERY intimidated to design my own kitchen, especially for this reason! Maybe one day I’ll learn how to use SketchUp or AutoCAD, but that day is not today. I also don’t have the patience to sketch everything out to scale on graph paper. Instead, I hold the overall vision in my head and make whatever ugly rough sketches I need to in order to figure out dimensions and layouts (see above).

Your kitchen design plans don’t have to be pretty. As long as they make sense to you and you’re the one doing the work, that’s all that matters!

I hope these tips are helpful to you! As you plan your cabinets, you may also want to check out Extreme Kitchen Cabinet Organization to spark some new ideas.

PS: If you want to learn how to use power tools and gain the skills to one day build your own cabinets, check out my course DIY Renovation for Beginners!