The Value of Writing a Mission Statement or: How to Figure Out What You Want and Need in Your Kitchen Design
How? Easy. Write a Mission Statement.
Imagine this: You're standing in the middle of a busy, crowded store with kids hanging from your shirttails, and an obnoxious salesperson waiting for you to decide on....what? Choose an element, any element - flooring material, backsplash tile, paint colors. Something. It's always something, isn't it?
I'll tell you a secret: choosing individual elements is not what its all about. Choosing elements in concert with the rest of the kitchen is the key. No, scratch that - writing a Mission Statement is the key.
You're probably thinking, "Why do I need a Mission Statement?". All you really need is a new kitchen, right? Well, yeah. But....
The trouble arises when the relative newcomer to the kitchen remodel arena is faced with the innumerable choices available today. Thousands of ideas exist: at IKEA, at the local big box stores, at specialty stores, not to mention on the internet! There's
so much available, and noone wants to make a mistake. After all, most of us have been looking forward to this remodel for a long time AND, if you're like me, you don't anticipate the opportunity to be able to do it again. Add to that the fact that (even with IKEA), none of this is cheap, it makes a mess and it disrupts your family as well as life in general for a protracted length of time. No wonder it's stressful!
[BREAK=The real cost of remodeling : Your Health]
Remodeling is actually on the list of psychological stressors used by doctors to determine your overall stress level as it affects your health. If you're not familiar with the list of stressors, here's a little intro: Different life events are given a specific number of points to represent the level of stress and their potential impact on your health. Life events like Death of a Spouse (#1 on the list at 100 points), Divorce (#2, 73 points) and even events which are generally considered positive, like Marriage (#7, 50 points) and Pregnancy (#12, 40 points) are high on the list of stressors. Events like Minor Traffic Violations (#43, 11 points) rank lower.
Remodeling (#28, 25 points) is actually considered more stressful than a Change in Residence or Change in School (#'s 32 &33, 20 points each) or Christmas or Holiday Observances (#42, 12 points). Of course, remodeling doesn't exist in a vacuum. Add in a Major Purchase (#37, 17 points), and a Major Change in Financial State (#16, 38 points), and you often have a Major Increase in the Number of Arguments with Spouse (#19, 35 points). The consequence can be a Major Change in Sleeping Habits (#38, 16 points) and of course having your kitchen ripped to shreds often makes for a Major Change in Eating Habits (#40, 15 points). Put it all together and you have a recipe for MAJOR STRESS! Not exactly what you'd hoped to be cooking up, eh?
[BREAK=So what about this Mission Statement?]
What does this have to do with a Mission Statement? Well, a mission statement is THE way to define your vision. The process of writing it will help you to refine your concept, to focus on your goals, and to clarify the mood or feeling desired. The end result will be invaluable in communicating those ideas to your spouse, contractors, salespeople, friends, and family. It will also serve to remind you of your dream, to evaluate appliances in terms of what will achieve your benchmarks for functionality, to guide the purely aesthetic choices you'll make for your kitchen, and generally to keep you "on track", so to speak, when you find that there are too many choices to choose from. It will be your touchstone, your way to achieve instant clarity. Instant clarity? Tell me how to get
that!!
Here's a basic starting point. It's pretty easy. Fill in the blanks.
"I want my kitchen to ___________________ and I want it to look like _________________and I want to feel __________________ when I walk into it."
ex.: "I want my kitchen to fit all four of us during meal prepand I want it to look like itbelongs in our house and I want to feel energized yet calm when I walk into it."
ex.: "I want my kitchen to allow for homework, billpaying and casual meal prep 2x day 6 days a week and I want it to look like a french country chateau and I want to feel warm and cozy when I walk into it."
Or rewrite the statement to suit your needs:
ex.: "I want a high-quality, low dollar kitchen that serves our cooking and baking needs efficiently. I want the colors to be soothing and calming, the materials to be natural and the lighting to be sufficient. I want to have a sense of peace even in the midst of the nightly chaos because I know where everything is."
[BREAK=Write it down]
It's important to write it down. It's psychological. Also, you'll need to pull it out when you walk into the tile store! Get started!
To help, here are some real life examples:
"I want my kitchen to
be central in our home and I want it to look like it
belongs to us and I want to feel
creative, organized and social when I walk into it." ~ evaperconti
"I want our kitchen to be an organized place where all our things are stored and easily accessible for our cooking needs. I want it to look contemporary, with neutral colors and be a peaceful entry into our main living area. I want to feel peaceful, organized and spacious when I walk into it." ~ stacylu
"I want my kitchen to look up-to-date and contemporary without it looking uber-hip or sterile. I want light natural wood, dark countertops and a striking accent color. I want more lighting that isn't blinding fluorescent. I want it to look pulled together, like everything has a place and that all my oops' and hair-brained ideas were on purpose. I want to feel happy and like the grown-up who will never grow up when I walk into it, and I want to be smiling when I walk out of it." ~ dede4wd
"I want my kitchen to have enough storage for food and cooking equipment and enough space for efficient meal preparation. I want it too look open, contemporary and urban and I want to feel organized when I walk into it." ~ nyc_home
[BREAK=More Examples]
"I want my kitchen to have more counter space, a comfy place to sit, and be more organized. I want it to look like it fits in with the house in a modern/old farmhouse kind of way as well as looking like it is "us" and to feel cozy and happy." ~ boopadaboo
"I want my kitchen to store all of my cooking equipment, and to help me be more organized. I want it to look cheerful and like it belongs in our house, and I want to feel confident and ready tocook when I walk into it." ~ Emmie9999
"I want my kitchen to flow with the rest of the house and provide enough storage without feeling cramped. I want it to look warm and inviting, updated but not so modernized that it clashes with the way we've decorated the rest of the house, with warm wood tones and a lived-in look. I want to feel like a comforting place you want to hang out when you walk into it." ~ peel
"I want my kitchen to be a good work-space for cooking as well as other hobbies and interests. A comfortable, easy-care place that friends can can visit with me even as I work or dabble. I want it too look like it belongs in my home; simple yet practical, and I want to feel calm, clear, even inspired! - and organized when I walk into it." ~ elan
"I want my kitchen to look like it belongs in my southern plantation style home. Adjectives that I've used to describe mystyle are: simple, clean, bright and functional. I don't want my kitchen to look like all the other kitchens I've seen in local model homes. I want to use materials that are unique and still keep with the house's character." ~ DonVon
[BREAK=Even More Examples]
"I want my kitchen to be aplace where I:
- Open the newspaper on the countertop for a good hour and be comfortably on my own.
- Pour a Nespresso, sit on the floor by the island and look at the squirrelsin the garden..
- Help the kids do their homework.
- Sit with the wife after dinner talking about everything and nothing..
- Bring fresh croissants and bread for breakfast, and have strawberry confiture and crumbs and butter/maple syrop stains all over the countertop, without this mess becoming a drama.
- Invite 10 friends for a casual dinner snack around the island,and they end up having a gourmet dinner in a casual way..
- Can do sessions of vodka or red wine or champagne or white wine or german or czech or english or irish or belgium beer or rosé wine or martinis or margaritas or....(the choices are endless really) tasting with the mates/ies..
- Can hire a chef to cook dinner, and he can cook a four course meal without breaking a sweat.
- Can look around and say in utter amazement: "Did I really came up with this kitchen design? I am soooooo good. Never mind the opinion of those people at Ikeafans, I didn't REALLY need their help"
and I want it to look
just like me when I walk into it." ~ Routechecker
"I would like a modern kitchen that complements the architecture of my mid century home without upstaging it. Still, I want it to be cozy for two, yet open enough for the same two to work comfortably together. I would like to reorient the main prepspace in the kitchen to focus on a view of the forested lot that I am so lucky to have. And, I would like to improve the efficiency of my kitchen by using proper ventilation, modern appliances, organization of items to place them near point of use, and smooth operating full extension drawers to make full use of the available space.
I pledge NOT to go crazy with expensive appliances and materials just to impress the neighbours, and to put my family's needs ahead of aesthetic considerations." ~ mid_century_madam
"I want my kitchen to have lots and lots of counterspace and great functional storage and I want it to look like a warm and cozy place with a little bit of funk and I want to feel comfortable and not closed-in when I walk into it." ~ skday
