The 11 Biggest Kitchen Design Mistakes to Avoid

Remodeling a kitchen is probably one of the biggest do-overs in a home. The kitchen is truly the heart of any house — the spot where people gather, eat, gossip, and enjoy each other’s company over a good meal. It should be a warm, easily accessible, efficient and practical spot that draws people in. It should also be a reflection of the folks that live there and a mirror for the rest of the home’s design. Since I married a construction guy — namely, a civil engineer — who also loves doing things himself, I’ve had personal experience both remodeling, demoing, and creating a kitchen from scratch. My husband, Kyle Nicholson, has over 20 years experience in the industry and, thanks to a very design-savvy mother, he also knows about interior design choices.

We’re currently building our 4000 square foot dream house in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina (with Kyle acting as the general contractor), and know our fair share of information when it comes to DIY, construction, and taking plans from sketches on napkins to a big, beautiful home. A kitchen needs a strong, efficient design, and having just drawn ours up and now seeing it come to life, we know a few things about the best, and worst design choices you can make in this — the heart of the home.

Though frequently an afterthought, backsplashes are a huge draw for the eye in your kitchen. They tie together the upper portion of your kitchen — likely filled with either closed cabinets or open shelving — and the bottom portion consisting of your countertops, lowers, and even the floor. Not adding one in will leave a bank of drywall that can be painted, but it will likely be the subject of frequent cleaning and scrubbing since it won’t be protected from splatters and splashes around cooking surfaces. A Dream Kitchen mentions everything from glass to our usual go-to of ceramic tile to metal to brick for backsplashes, with each element offering pros and cons. Metal is easy to maintain and is sturdy, while tile is a classic touch with tons of customization available without blowing your budget.

When it comes to design, you want to choose a backsplash that ties the kitchen together without being too loud or too trendy. Mismatching grout, choosing a loud color, or going with all white everything can be no-nos depending on how the rest of your kitchen is panning out.

Have you ever tried finely mincing garlic but nearly taken off the tip of your finger because you can barely see? Me too. It could be blamed on my lack of culinary precision, but I’m happier to blame it on poor, low lighting in the kitchen; a huge design no-no when renovating your kitchen. Older kitchens may suffer from dim lights and old bulbs, but there’s no excuse for crappy lighting in a newer kitchen or one that’s being actively renovated. “Advances in can lights have made post-install much easier, also the lumen measurements for modern light bulbs far outweigh their predecessors for a fraction of the wattage, which means they can be used in almost any older fixture. And color is important, whether it be cabinets, countertops, tile, or paint; go as light as possible white if that matches your aesthetic,” says Kyle Nicholson.

Poor lighting can be attributed to relying on outdated fixtures, but it can also be blamed on not bringing natural light into the design and incorrectly guessing the size of the fixtures you need. Too small pendant lights over an island not only look dinky, but they’re going to do little to nothing to help you see.

Without a doubt, you’ve run into the issue of wanting to make a batch of cookies with your standing mixer, or a delicious smoothie with your blender, or a pile of zucchini zoodles with your zoodler, only to find that — after setting up your station — you’re too far from the nearest kitchen outlet. While having a wall full of outlets isn’t exactly appealing, it is practical — and necessary — for ease of access and ease of cooking in your kitchen. You shouldn’t be stretching cords around the stovetop, over counters, and anywhere near your sink. On top of that, every outlet in your kitchen needs to be GFCI, or Ground-fault circuit interruption — as established by the National Electrical Code. Outlets in kitchens need a higher standard of protection since they’re installed near water sources.

According to Kyle Nicholson, the exact number of outlets you have in a kitchen is usually dictated by building codes. “Because kitchen appliances usually have short cords, outlets are usually required every two feet or so along countertops,” he says. “You would then need outlets for all major appliances, which may require dedicated circuits/different amperage.”

The kitchen inadvertently always becomes the center of, well, everything. Think of any party, gathering, or get-together you’ve ever been to; everyone always ends up congregating in the kitchen. Whether it’s around the island, leaning on countertops, or at the dining table, the kitchen demands places for people to rest, chat, and sit. A lack of seating is easily one of the worst things to navigate in the kitchen.

When you’re designing your kitchen, your dining area may be a part of the space, and, if it is, great. If you have a separate dining area, though, you’ll want to make sure you’re including either bar or counter seating, plus possibly another casual sitting area for enjoying a snack or meal. It could be a simple breakfast nook or a full-size table. You don’t want — or need — to cram in seating or force an island with bar stools if it simply won’t fit, but neglecting to think of where people — be they guests or your kids — will sit and enjoy a snack is a big design no-no. “It always helps to have seating in the kitchen area since people tend to congregate there. If the kitchen footprint is unachievable, consider a peninsula at the entry point of the kitchen to provide a close enough situation,” says Kyle Nicholson.

In a kitchen, you have many, many things to store. Be it a stack of nesting glass bowls or your giant stand mixer or your big ol’ crab pot or your daily-use plates, you need places to put all the everyday and not-so-everyday items for your cooking and eating space. Not having space, though, to put all the stuff can lead to cluttered counters and a rather off-putting vibe in your kitchen. “Consider the kitchen as a gathering space, if at all possible, create a butler’s pantry of sorts, and push the bulk of storage (especially upper cabinet storage) into another space. It is amazing how much upper cabinets can make a room feel smaller,” says Kyle Nicholson.

Truth be told, in our own home that we’re currently building, we’ve added pull-out drawers to lower, deep cabinets; pushed our refrigerator into a large butler’s pantry, and done floor-to-ceiling storage in other areas. Doing so has allowed us to have more stylish open shelving, but not feel like we’re lacking spots to put things. Everything still has a place and is easily reachable. No cluttered counters here.

Before the world of open floor plans that we all seem to live in now, rooms were much more segmented. Just take a stroll into any home from the 1960s and earlier, and you’ll notice that each space was its own, well, space. You didn’t really have sight lines into different areas of the home, and a room was just that — a room; not a big open area where multiple activities — from TV watching to cooking — could all be going on simultaneously. These days, closing off a kitchen from the rest of your home feels dated and like a poor design choice — especially since it ends up being the heart of any event. “As the saying goes… everyone ends up in the kitchen, so keeping it open to other living spaces helps to keep it inviting but also allows some of the other rooms to absorb the overflow of people congregating in the kitchen,” says Kyle Nicholson.

Closing off your kitchen these days is a bad design choice. If you’re looking to eventually sell your home, the accessibility and sight into other spaces is a huge selling point. Taking down a wall or opening it up may seem like a big undertaking, but with a little professional help, it could be worth it in the long run.

When we started putting together our kitchen plans for our new house, I frequently told Kyle that I needed the ultimate triangle. At some point, our 5-year-old overheard us and said, “We’re going to the Bermuda Triangle?” I may have semi-traumatized my child. The triangle, much to Liam’s relief, is the area of efficiency in the kitchen between the refrigerator, stove, and sink. Having all three of those items within reach makes cooking easy and practical, since you can grab your items from the fridge, slice and dice on the counter, wash your hands, and then go to the stovetop.

“The triangle speaks to the shape created by the paths of travel between the sink, refrigerator, and range/oven/cooktop. It is important that this is unobstructed because this area is necessary when preparing food,” says Kyle Nicholson. There’s no official measure between these areas, but all three should be close enough that you’re not journeying for any one path. A design that forgets the triangle or puts a refrigerator too far or a sink in an odd space can make the efficiency of your kitchen non-existent.

We may get some hate for this, but dark countertops are more often than not a design mistake in the kitchen. There are plenty of spaces where a dark counter can and will work. In a kitchen where you want to be able to easily see and address messes, however, choosing a color that sucks in light is not the direction you’ll want to go. There are several reasons why dark countertops aren’t a good choice most of the time. First, you’ll have a much harder time seeing spills and crumbs to clean up — instead of finding them only after you put your hand incidentally in it. Next, they actually show more smudges than their lighter counterparts, which, for a neat freak like me, is a definite deal-breaker.

In a smaller kitchen, dark counters can make the space feel more cramped. The lighter the surface, the more natural light will reflect, making your kitchen feel bigger. If you’re drawing to pare down the overly-big kitchen you have, then by all means — go for the dark counters. If you’re trying to have an open-feeling, airy space, though, go with a lighter color.

If you’re moving into a fixer-upper and are having to adjust the mistakes of the past, you’re likely going to be dealing with a lot of mismatched kitchen styling, thanks to numerous homeowners each trying to put their mark on a space. While carpet and wall paint can be pretty easily addressed in a bedroom, different cabinets, ’60s backsplashes, and laminate flooring are a little more daunting to deal with in the kitchen. At the same time, going down to studs and having to design your kitchen from scratch can be daunting for folks new to the challenge.

The important thing is that, if you start changing things in the kitchen, don’t stop short and leave a mess of mismatched styles. You may think that the honey-colored all-wood cabinets are fine to leave — and they may be — but if you’re swapping out the floors and backsplash for something more modern, the kitchen is going to end up feeling less than cohesive. If you’re going to choose one element that needs to stay as is, work with it — don’t ignore it and update everything else, leaving that element out. If you’re starting from scratch, get inspiration from magazines and designers so you can consider the space altogether — not just one element at a time.

You know that horrible feeling of waiting in a doctor’s office — the bright, blinding, fluorescent lights gleaming off of the all-too-white fixtures and chrome hardware? That’s absolutely not the vibe you want to bring to your kitchen. By the same rule, you also don’t want to go overboard — bringing in Tuscan kitchen vibes with tiles, mosaics, tchotchkes, overly-yellow lighting, and introducing an abundance of stuff on countertops. Your kitchen should reflect your own style, but should also reside in a realm of design and efficiency.

Going with the all-white-everything trend (which is on its way out the door with Millennial Grey vibes) can result in your kitchen feeling light and bright, but cold and sterile. Instead of making literally everything white, try using white elements on the backsplash or countertops. Go a bit warmer on cabinets or do a fun, retro-inspired set of appliances in brighter colors.

Never, ever would I condone painting countertops. I’ve seen it DIYed and fail miserably — the paint looking okay at first, but chipping later. Even Kyle Nicholson, who would try anything once, is iffy about it. While he admits that paint has come a long way and could revitalize a tired space, it simply shouldn’t be used on certain surfaces — these include countertops. “Plus, only certain kinds of paint will be able to deal with constant exposure to water — especially standing water that happens around sinks. Overall, chances are it’s going to look uneven, not be fully usable, and would demand a ton of upkeep,” he says.

If you really can’t stand your countertops and your design budget is tight, make sure you explain all options. Granite, quartz, stainless steel, sealed concrete, and polished wood can all be used for countertops and can be treated enough to stand up to whatever your kitchen throws at it. They also all have very different price points that can work for most any budget. Put the paintbrush down and explore every option first.