Assessment

• A checklist needs to begin well before the workers arrive or you set to construction yourself. The preparation stage begins with an assessment of your kitchen needs, goals, desires and problems. Look through books and magazines and visit furniture showrooms and convention exhibitions to collect as many ideas as possible.
  
  

Layout

• Let your space guide your layout. Kitchen designs basically fit four different layouts: a galley, in which all the equipment is placed against one wall; a corridor, in which the equipment is split between both sides; and kitchens that are shaped like an L or a U.
  
  

Budgeting

• Once you've settled on a basic design idea, it's time to work up a budget. The budget should be realistic enough to meet your tentative goals, but flexible enough to allow for one or two splurges. The budgeting process is the perfect time to add to your checklist the job of obtaining financing if necessary.
  
  

Hiring Contractors

• Budgeting and financing naturally leads into the search for qualified contractors if your kitchen construction won't be a DIY project. Place on your list the tasks of interviewing contractors, checking out references and researching the background of the contractors through agencies like the Better Business Bureau. This part of the process can be integral to the overall design element, because you should be taking the opportunity to get some professional feedback on your design ideas from these contractors.
  
  

Designers and Decorators

• Continue this latter element of kitchen design by adding to your checklist all the labor involved in meeting with designers, decorators, architects and any other professionals you plan to involve in the building of your kitchen.
  
  

Appliances and Equipment

• Your checklist should include information on appliances and equipment. This checklist should include precise measurements of available space as well as decorative information like preferred colors. Include information on whether you want appliances powered by gas or electricity. This part of the checklist should also include options for choosing free-standing or built-in appliances.
  
  

Counter and Flooring Materials

• Place reference information on your checklist relating to the type of cooking you do in your kitchen and how that style matches to materials for countertops and flooring. If you do a lot of baking, use your checklist to guide you to counter material like stone on which you can directly work the dough. If you do a lot of frying with grease, include data on the most stain-resistant types of counter and flooring materials.