If you are tired of your old kitchen design and really need to make a change, you are not alone. A lot of homeowners are remodeling their kitchen and bathroom for both better appearance and functionality. And the good news is that most kitchen and bathroom remodel jobs actually increase the value and worth of your home.

Maybe you have looked at lots of kitchen remodeling designs and just can't decide what will work best for you. It's easy to see beautiful pictures of a kitchen layout in a book or magazine and think how great they look. But actually putting them in your home is another matter altogether.

So the first thing to do is to decide exactly what it is about your present kitchen that you really like, and what about it do you really not like? For instance, do you have enough counter space? How about storage capacity? Is your food preparation area large enough? Is everything you need convenient, or do you have to keep going back and forth across the kitchen to complete each task?

Once you know for sure what the positives and the negatives about your present kitchen is, you can begin to decide on the changes that need to take place. A logical next step is to actually draw out your ideal kitchen design instead. Of course, you may not be able to actually implement your ideal kitchen design, but it can help you learn about what changes would please you most and you can begin to adopt some of those ideas into your present kitchen.

If more counter space is needed, where can you fit it in? If more storage space is required, can you add another pantry, or perhaps expand or deepen the one you already have? If you find yourself traveling too far to accomplish tasks in the kitchen, can you add an island in the center to make things more handy? If you have more than enough pots and pans, can you hang some of them on the wall?

Other considerations include making things more convenient in you kitchen. For instance, can you arrange the microwave to be very close to the food preparation area? This will help you quickly and easily heat and defrost food as you go. Likewise, the dishwasher should logically be close to the cabinet where your glasses are stored. The refrigerator is usually the most used appliance in the room, so why not try to centralize it in your new kitchen design?

While you are at it, give some thought to kitchen lighting as well. Very often counter tops are under illuminated at night. So why not arrange for some under cabinet recessed lighting to help you see what you're working on?

Once you have the general kitchen design on paper you can begin to make cost estimates regarding the work that will need to be done to bring that new kitchen to life. And when you have the basic layout all set, you can then began thinking about appearance and decoration including colors, cabinet styles, countertops, and all the other fun decisions that will help make your new kitchen design a smash hit.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find out more about bathroom remodeling ideas and basement remodeling ideas by visiting our Home Improvement website.