It happens to the best of us – things are going well, then all of a sudden you hit a brick wall.  No new ideas will come.  Circular thinking takes hold and days pass without any inspiration. Hitting a creativity block can be discouraging but it’s not hopeless!  Inside, find 9 ways to break the creativity block and get back on track with your design.

While kitchen renovation may, on the surface, seem to be a largely physical endeavor – ripping out old cabinets, building new ones, arguing with the salesperson who messed up your order – there are also many creative aspects. Visualizing the space, reassigning cabinets to different functions, choosing a color scheme – all these require a degree of creativity that many of us are not used to exercising on a daily basis, and even the most creative among us sometimes hit a mental block through which it is impossible to move forward.

Here are some tips to help you break out of the creativity block:

1. Go for a walk

Sometimes simply changing your physical location and getting some physical activity can stimulate new ideas.  Get up and go for a walk – let your mind wander as you explore your neighborhood.  Allow yourself to dream while you walk – try not to purposefully pursue any train of thought.  You’ll be surprised at how such a simple method can be so powerful – a change of atmosphere can lead to wonderful insights.  Give it a try!

Alternative: Play with your kids or your dog.  Go for a run. Take a sauna.  Do something different, something physical. Don’t think about your issues while you’re doing it – to borrow a phrase, just do it. See what happens…maybe nothing, but at least you will have had a chance to relax.

2. Brainstorm

Get out a big pad of paper (preferably non-lined) and brainstorm. Pretend you have no requirements, no code restrictions, no budgetary considerations, and write down everything that comes to mind.  All ideas are created equally here with no regard to the practicality, feasibility or logic.  The key is in letting your mind go wherever it wants – you’re just the note-taker.  It helps not to think too hard.

Alternative: Mind-mapping. Mind-mapping is a method of diagramming thoughts around a central idea using words, images, quotes, symbols, dimensions and other relevant data.  It is thought by some to stimulate both sides of the brain and unleash the mind’s potential.  Mind-mapping can be done through software or web-based applications, but give it a try on paper with some crayons, markets or colored pencils.  Go on – it’s fun!

3. Restrict yourself

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”  Plato said it, and he was a really smart guy so I put a lot of faith in this one. This seems in direct conflict with the above advice to free yourself from restrictions, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable a method. The restriction doesn’t have to be a real one – the important thing is to force yourself to thinking about things in a new and different way. Try to plan your kitchen without moving any walls or with a smaller sink than you had wanted – see what happens.

Alternative: Ask what if? What if your chosen doorstyle was discontinued retroactively? What if your budget was suddenly cut by 50%? What if you had a requirement to have no less than 15 drawers and pull-outs and absolutely no base cabinets with doors? How would you adapt to cope with those challenges?  Again, the point is to stimulate creativity and release yourself from a one-track thought process.

4. Be Nosy

Ask if you can poke around in your friends’ and neighbors’ homes.  Inquire about what works and what doesn’t in their spaces, even if they’re radically different from yours. Attend Open Houses and Home Tours in your area and bring your camera – take lots of pictures and make notes about them so that you don’t forget why you did so in the first place.

Alternative: Get yourself invited into the kitchen at your favorite restaurant or, better yet – volunteer at the local food kitchen and see what works in commercial or industrial settings. If possible, visit during peak hours so that you can get a feel for how the space works under pressure, and during off-peak hours so that you can poke around and/or ask questions.

5. Give up trying to find the ‘perfect’ solution

Very few of us have the luxury of unlimited time, space, and money necessary to make all our dreams come true.  In most any remodeling situation, there are trade-offs to be made, and often there is no “right” answer.  Accept that you will need to make decisions about what works best for you given your time, money and space constraints and you’ll be free of the nagging thought that somewhere out there is the ‘perfect’ solution. Whew – what a relief!

Alternative: Meditate on this: Thomas Edison said, ”I am not discouraged , because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” Scrap everything and start again. Keep in mind that your second answer might be more right than your first. 

6. Explain it to a stranger

Face it – your friends and family are probably tired of hearing it anyway.  Try to define your problem to a complete stranger or a new friend.  Pay attention to the justifications you make and the language you use to frame things – are you creating your own barriers to creativity? Are you subconsciously defeating yourself by limiting your options to only those that fit within your pre-defined framework? It’s worth an examination.

Alternative: Pretend you’re giving a speech – do it in private, in front of the mirror (or not).  Outline your challenges and obstacles and explain your solutions to date and why they don’t work.  Come to some conclusions.  Then take questions from the audience – what are the questions?  Better yet – what are the answers?

7. Question the rules

The Rules were written to help guide the choices made by design professionals, but often what were once regarded as ‘rules’ are discarded in favor of newer theories about what works.  Case in point: the ‘Work Triangle’ was long considered to be The Golden Rule when designing a kitchen, but in recent years many pros have been designing with ‘Work Zones’ instead.  Note: Many ‘Rules’ address important safety considerations and should not be disregarded.

Alternative: If you have some, ask your kids. They probably don’t know about The Rules, AND they might have some keen insights….like why your back is always aching after dinner. Even if they aren’t able to provide you with a breakthrough, you may find out why the dishwasher never gets emptied or why noone else seems inclined to participate in recycling.  Go ahead – ask them.

8. Be Wrong

What if you’re wrong? Maybe you’re holding on to presumptions that are faulty, or are no longer relevant or true. Or maybe you’ve just not found the information that brings you to that ‘Aha!’ moment. Examine your assumptions. Is the sink really that hard to move? Are the codes really as strict as you think they are? Ask the hard questions and you might be surprised at the answers you find.

Alternative: Maybe your kitchen is wrong. Seriously – lay blame elsewhere if it helps.  Say you’ve been struggling to find a way to add shallow cabinets under the breakfast bar for out of season storage, but there’s not enough distance to allow for it. Perhaps your soffit is empty and you could add a second row of cabinets for that storage instead. Don’t let your kitchen lie to you – find out its dirty secrets!

9. Keep a notebook

Literally – keep it.  Buy yourself a really nice one: Moleskine Notebooks. Keep it with you all the time so that when inspiration comes, you’re ready.  Jot down notes when you see something that might work.  Sketch out your thoughts, draw diagrams, paste in pictures from magazines, color-chips from the paint store and make notes of websites to visit. Even if this doesn’t capture your moment of inspiration, you’ll thank me later.

Alternative: Leave yourself a message.  Record a voice message to yourself on your electronic handheld or call your cell or home phone and leave a message. Whatever it takes to not forget that brilliant insight – do it!

Bonus Tip: How to make a decision

Once the floodwaters are broken, often a wave of creativity results in more than one great solution.  You’ve done the methodical listing of pros and cons, asked your significant others, slept on it, and still you are no closer to a decision.   How to choose?

Flip a coin.  No, I’m not kidding.  Flip a coin and make your decision based on the flip – then live with it for 24 hours.  How do you feel about the choice you’ve made?  Can you live with it permanently?  Do you wish the flip had gone the other way?  Examine your feelings about the flip of the coin, and your decision will make itself.

Above all, remember that stress is the enemy of creativity. Remind yourself that while the stakes may seem high, it’s not life and death.  Don’t forget to have fun!

Tags: IKEA Kitchens, Kitchen Design

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 11:01 AM by Susan and is filed under IKEA Kitchens, Tips and Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.