Custom Kitchen Remodel Start Guide.

January 4, 2026

Author Heritage Lane Design Team.

Do you want your new kitchen remodel to go horribly wrong? If your answer is NO then keep reading! This guide is for you! It is to provide a great start point in navigating and documenting the beginning process of building your dream Kitchen. This guide has been created using decades of experience in helping people through their projects. We hope it will help you too!

Often, your decision to replace your current kitchen begins with one or more problems you experience while using it. Perhaps it is very old hardware that is malfunctioning, such as crooked hanging doors, or your drawers won’t go in properly!

On top of those annoyances, you likely have some kind of odd quirk (or more) with how everything seems to be organized when you are using your kitchen. This may be because your garbage is too far away from where you usually cut items or open packages, which requires you to walk to the other side of your kitchen when discarding your recycling. To make matters worse, the only place for your garbage or recycling might be right in an open and visible space for everyone to see!

In this article, we will focus on the basic starting points for refining your kitchen as you work towards your new dream design!

Make a list:

Create a list of the major items you really want to correct, such as hardware issues, paint issues, missing appliances, etc. This information will assist your designer and manufacturer in zeroing in on items that matter to you.
Snap photos of the problems so you can present them to your designer. The better your designer understands your current problems, the better they can work towards your dream kitchen. When your designer is presented with as much information as possible, it will assist them to be better prepared to help you.

Create a Wish List!

This may be new appliances, re locating the sink in front of the window, perhaps a bigger sink! Maybe your kitchen never had a dishwasher designed into it, and you absolutely want one to save time. Your sink could be off in the corner, and the original stock cabinetry simply doesn’t work to line up all of the elements of your kitchen to make it work properly for you. This could also be due to the builder not wanting to run plumbing any further and saying it was good enough at the time. “Good enough” or “It works” are often the go-to phrases for lazy and shoddy end results.

Create a dream board!

As your kitchen frustrations grew you would have naturally been drawn to search out new trends or new looks in hopes of finding inspiration. Nowadays, inspiration can be found all over the place with the vast amounts of online information. The dreaming process is the magical part that gives you that warm, peaceful feeling when you are thinking about your new Kitchen. Those clean, properly working kitchens in the exact color palette that you love are motivating you to move forward.

Trends are always varying and changing, so finding multiple ideas at first will help you narrow down the style you want. If you haven’t started, now is a great time to do so!

Aesthetic idea list.

a) Color palette: Do you like light or dark colors? Does a multi-color or multi-material kitchen appeal to you?

b) Door style: Is a flat modern look with no hardware what appeals to you, or traditional raised panel, shaker, or thin shaker pulling your heart strings?

C) Functionality: Do you want an extra-large pantry or pullout recycling or garbage? How about a microwave conveniently located right where you need it? How many and what appliances do you need?

Rough Draft Sketches!

Now that you have a few of the basic problems and ideas written down, along with some new kitchen dream ideas, it’s time to start rough sketches. This only needs to be very simple, but what it will do is help your designer and manufacturer have a visual reference to your new ideas. It also allows you to jot down a few important notes you don’t want to forget about.

Include the following basic items in your simple sketch.

NOTE: You may need two drawings if major changes are being made, including your before and after.

Walls with rough length and location.
Ceiling height.
Windows with a width.
Doorways with a width if needed.
Sink location.
Fridge location.
Dishwasher location.
Pullout spice rack (desired location).
Pull out pantry (desired location).
Glass cabinets.
Special notes, such as the width of the desired walking spaces between wall cabinets and island or dining table.
Cabinets to ceiling?
Crown moldings.

Now that you have this amazing start and as many notes as possible, you can work through this with your designer! Armed with this information, you can zero in on your exact list of MUST-HAVE items!

Every client is always different with various unique priorities. Starting with your START LIST, you and your designer will talk through each item to fully and clearly understand what your needs and thoughts are. Maybe you really want your sink to be in front of the window. If that is the case, you would start here and work out from that point. Your sink should be exactly in the center of the window. Next, the width of your sink determines the size of your first cabinet. If you haven’t chosen your sink, your designer will assist you and will review the specifications to ensure everything works.

This is the first example where a custom-made cabinet can be an advantage. Your designer can tailor each and every cabinet to be the EXACT PERFECT SIZE for your needs and the physical limitations of the space. It allows you to maximize the positive impact and minimize any negative problems to the maximum degree. You truly get the absolute best outcome this way with no compromises.

From your sink location, your designer will locate your dishwasher to the right or left. This is done since the plumbing from the dishwasher connects to your sink. Typically, it is directly beside your sink cabinet. These plumbing connections are hidden within the back of your cabinets. Sometimes, because of a corner or odd dimensions, the dishwasher needs to be slightly over or just around the corner. With custom plumbing work, this can be done.

The next major items will be locating your exact Fridge and stove location. You may keep the same locations, but refresh the areas if your power supply is fixed and you have decided not to change your outlet location. From here, your designer will optimize your fridge and stove's exact location. Once these locations are fixed (or close, depending on minor adjustments). You and your designer can go through what cabinets will fill the space between your major design anchor points. Perhaps your wish is for several banks of drawers so you can store all your pots and pans while easily accessing the back of the cabinet. This convenience is a valuable time saver and back saver!

When filling in all the cabinets, one design element that truly shows the superior aesthetics of custom cabinets is the ability to have an entire row of doors or drawers be the exact same size to have perfect symmetry. Typically, with stock cabinets, you will end up needing to do various unsymmetrical-sized cabinets, which takes away from the quality of the workmanship. Maybe a row of cabinets all need to be 22.5” wide so all the doors are identical. This is the beauty of custom. You do not end up with odd sizes or weird looking layouts.

Properly designed and optimized cabinetry will make the investment in time and money worthwhile. You, your family, and guests will feel better because the design and workmanship look and feel better. Properly proportioned cabinetry also photographs far better. They don’t look or feel clumsy in photos.

It takes experience to perfect the final design, ensure you work with someone who truly listens to what your dream ideas are and doesn’t cut corners or compromises. When combined with an experienced and careful designer and builder your new kitchen will truly be something to be proud of and enjoy for years to come.

Heritage Lane

Design Team.

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