art_of_kitchen_visualizationIt may be surprising to think of visualization in a kitchen remodeling context. For the professional athlete on the day before a big game or as a self-help measure to build confidence before a stressful day visualization might be helpful, but how does it apply to my new kitchen?

Visualization has a long list of benefits, yet it can still create feelings of awkwardness. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to actually do something?

All fair questions.

Visualization is never the answer in itself, it must always be followed by physically achieving the visualized outcome, but as an initial first step it can provide several benefits. Even in your kitchen!

Visualizing your new kitchen can provide several key insights that will benefit your remodeling project in the long run. Here are just three ways visualizing can improve the process.

1.) Establish Ideas

Think of it like a rough draft. No idea is worthless. Just let your imagination run free and see what happens. After you’ve dreamed and brainstormed, then you can go back and cut out the unrealistic options. More likely than not, you’ll unearth a few features you wouldn’t have realized otherwise

2.) Reveal Values

Don’t think about your visualization process too literally. Think about the underlying reasons and motivations behind your thinking. Your new kitchen may not look anything like your original mental picture, but there is a reason you arraigned your thoughts in that initial pattern. Exploring why you structured things in particular patterns can provide insight into aspects of your kitchen that did not initially draw conscious thought.

3.) Create Reality

As you begin to finalize details, visualize the completed product. Some things need to be seen to be believed. By visualizing your new kitchen, you can begin to grasp the reality of your new kitchen. When you run through a list of items and features it can be hard to understand the long-term consequence and impact of each decision. The kitchen will be new for a month or two, then it just becomes the kitchen you may have for the rest of your life. Imagining how every piece fits together will help you determine if it’s something that you really want for the long haul.

Some people consider visualization as creating specific pictures in their mind. This can be frustrating, especially for people who struggle with imaginative thinking. Luckily, this magazine-worthy kitchen mind-picture is not necessarily the type of visualization you need most for this situation.

When we talk about visualization, we’re much more concerned with purpose and functionality than with aesthetic arrangement.

Why?

Because there are plenty of pictures available for you to be able to grasp what colors and styles you like. Sometimes, you may even see a model picture and be thrilled enough to say, “Just give me that one”. What a model picture can’t do is predict your kitchen’s dimensions, your thought processes, or the way you ideally move about the kitchen.

These areas that stand to benefit the most from visualization.

Your visualization is naturally going to compensate for the way you prefer to operate. The placement of cabinets and appliances will be positioned to let you move organically and fluidly.

By mastering the art of visualization, you won’t just get a kitchen that looks better. You can unlock the kitchen that works best for you.