Aug 26, 2020
Frances is pretty passionate about internal elevations making or
breaking the outcome of your home, which is definitely apparent in
this episode of the podcast. She outlines what internal elevations
are, what advantages they provide, and further, what can go wrong
if you don’t have proper internal elevations for your kitchen.
Without them, it’s like asking your builder to navigate without
a map!
In this episode, you’ll get to understand why they are so
important and how critical they are to you getting your kitchen
design right.
SHOWNOTES
So often we see people not fully understanding the investment
benefit in having detailed Internal Elevations and Joinery Design
completed for their kitchen (and their home)
In today’s episode, Frances outlines what you can achieve in
completing internal elevations and joinery drawings before the
build starts. She covers;
- What are internal elevations and how they make a difference and
why they are critical for so many reasons
- How they serves you and your builder
- How not having them can lead to expensive mistakes and design
disappointments
- The difference between cabinetry drawings and joinery
design
Cabinetry Drawings vs Internal Elevations
Cabinetry drawings show the joinery only, while internal
elevations show everything that you will see when facing the wall
front on. Think, splashbacks, appliances, tap position etc.
What are Internal Elevations?
While afloorplan gives you an aerial view of the design,
Internal Elevations will show you the detail
front on.. Typically, there are four internal elevations for
each room showing each wall and what you can see on that wall, as
if you are facing it.
- It provides specific details such as;
- Size and placement of cabinetry
- Design and construction notes
- Detailed joinery design- i.e Is it floating?
- Placement of taps
- Tile layout
- Accessory placement
- Handle details
- Anything else that is visible front on
When working from floorplans only, you, nor your builder
can see what is required.
Things that can’t be seen in a Floorplan but ONLY shown
in on Internal Elevations;
- Are you having cupboards, drawers, how deep, how wide, floating
height of cabinetry
- Benchtop thickness, waterfall edges and shadow lines
- Extent of splashback, tiling, feature walls and skirting
tile
- Any overhead cabinetry, or shelving, thickness and
placement
- Fireplace detail, location, height, surround
- Location of heating and cooling ducts
- Some homeowners feel they can easily instruct the cabinet maker
or builder onsite.
- Cabinet makers are not designers perse. They have great ideas,
but may not take into consideration your lifestyle and
functionality requirements.
- Can lead to lots of issues onsite, and miscommunication about
what’s actually wanted.
Why are Internal Elevations so important?
- Allows you to have an understanding of how the proposed spaces
and rooms will look.
- Helps you visualize, and assists you in making decisions on the
location of cupboards, windows, doors, and power points.
- By knowing the position of all the critical items in the room,
it allows you to make other dependent decisions such as wall
finishes, doors, and windows.
- Lack of good internal elevations leads to unnecessary guesswork
on-site for the builder, owner, and contractors. Everyone is
looking for answers on how to build and detail certain elements of
your home.
- Fair too often we see people with only floorplans showing the
aerial view of their cabinetry layout, or internal elevations with
minimal design detail which opens up so much room for error,
misinterpretation, and misunderstanding about expectations on the
final outcome.
- Cabinetry to fit a space without any design consideration
around functionality and needs for space is also not design.
- It’s a costly exercise to get wrong.
Here are some of the ADVANTAGES for investing in good
internal elevations.
- Allows you to manage, assess, tweak and finalise exactly what
is being built before it is built.
- Gives you visualisation to make a sound and informed
decisions.
- Fixed price quoting – The builder can quote a fixed price
because he can see exactly what’s going on.
- Build accuracy – The builder knows exactly what he needs to
build and he knows exactly what is expected of him. He can see the
detail and not have to guess or assume anything.
- Less stress – All details are finalised at plan stage so you’re
not being rushed to make decisions and being asked things you don’t
know enough about.
- Minimise overwhelm – It’s all been decided well before the
builder starts.
- Manage costs – Able to make changes if needed, before the
building starts, minimizing variations
- Mitigate mistakes – Everything is detailed on the drawings
which means all parties know what is required of them. And you’ve
had time to explore options to make the right decisions.
- Saves you time – Minimise the amount of calls from the builder
to seek clarification.
- Holistic approach – All the people that are working on
your project are working together according to your master plan.
When done well, internal elevations may show impacts on spaces or
other rooms and being able to have conversations up front to make
tweaks and changes for the best overall outcome.
Here are some of the DISADVANTAGES for not investing
in good elevations.
- Some believe that they can instruct the builder and cabinet
maker on all the joinery details
-
- Think they will save money by not investing in elevations
- Instructing them at build stage, often with the frame already
completed, has a knock on effects of joinery design on others areas
such as windows, or doors which are generally too late to
change.
- Compromises are already occurring
- Increases cost when variations occur on site
How do we do Internal Elevations at White Pebble
Interiors?
- Briefing Session
- What’s important to you,
- What functionality requirements you have
- What’s the look and feel you want
- Detailed Deep Dive Needs Assessment Allows us to understand
your lifestyle
- How you use your kitchen
- What you need to access to
- What you need to store
- We analyse the Brief and Deep Dive documents. We consider the
space, and set about designing with functionality and flow in mind,
and how that will meet your needs.
- We think, collaborate and consult with you so we design
something that will fulfill your functionality requirements and
your vision.
- We discuss our Design Rationale with you, highlighting why the
design is the way it is, what factors were considered in our
approach, and how certain aspects may work better in some layouts
than others.
- It’s easy to fill a space with cabinetry, but it’s the thinking
behind the design that sets homes apart and make them function in
the best way possible. Design can look amazing but if it does not
work it is a waste design-- Functionality is KING.
- This arms you with the information you need to make informed
decisions. The right decisions for you and your lifestyle.
Available Services
BOOK A CHAT
Ready to renovate or build your kitchen but not sure where to
start?
Get the help of a property expert and save yourself from making
costly mistakes with a free Forever Home
chat. Click here to get access to Frances' calendar;
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KITCHEN BLISS PACKAGE
Overwhelmed by the amount of decisions that need to be made when
creating a stylish, functional and durable kitchen? What materials
to select, what colours will co-ordinate together, what design is
going to best suit the space, and your requirements.
We offer kitchen design packages that include joinery design and
material selections for a complete kitchen design. Click the link
here to find more.
Related Resources:
Read our latest blog on Internal Elevations and Joinery Design
here.
Episode 43: Kitchen Design Essentials – Flatpack Vs Custom Designed
Kitchens
Episode 41: Kitchen Design Essentials – Cabinetry Materials
Episode 39: Kitchen Design Essentials – Splashbacks
Episode 38: Kitchen Design Essentials-Benchtop Criteria and
Materials – Part 2
Episode 36: Kitchen Design Essentials – Benchtops part
1
Episode 14: Forever Home LIVE- Joinery Drawings and Why Do Them
Early On
Episode 30: Kitchen Design Essentials -Kitchen Design Layouts and
Location
Episode 32: Kitchen Design Essentials – The Builder’s
Insight
How to Choose the Right Bench Top
Top 5 tips for selecting benchtops