Meta Kitchen

KitchenWe’re currently in the midst of constructing a two-storey extension and I thought I’d get some kitchen ideas from budget DIY icons, MFI.

Using MFI’s online planning tool, I only needed to enter some basic room dimensions, indicate positions of doors and windows and select some appliances…the software then filled in the remaining spaces with wall and floor units. Twenty minutes later, I was presented with a bunch of elevations, a floor plan, parts list and a number of very cool 3D visualisations; here are the results.

Designed by Planit.com, the Shockwave based planning wizard is a little clunky, but the results are actually pretty good and help take a lotta pain out of designing your kitchen as well as giving you some idea of its cost and complexity. Unfortunately, the bathroom designer didn’t fare as well. This may my own fault, in trying to squeeze a toilet and sink into a 0.95 x 1.6m space…

What’d be really interesting is a participatory layer…

  • Could user’s share and geolocate their creations for others with similar home layouts?
  • Is there potential here for some value of shared value and revenue generation?
  • Ten years after a user submits and purchases a design, approach them again with a suggested overhaul.
  • Market to customers with a portfolio of designs illustrating how your home could look…

Next step? A Second Life showroom 😉


Comments

3 responses to “Meta Kitchen”

  1. Kitchen design

    Kitchen design

  2. Imran,
    Many thanks for this post reviewing our kitchen planner. Always pleased to hear users’ opinions. This is an area we’re actively reviewing at present, so I’m pleased to hear the experience worked for you.
    As a matter of interest, did you eventually purchase a kitchen from MFI? We’ve got some very good deals at the moment ;-).
    Regards,
    Jon Boxall, CTA, MFI IS.

  3. p.s. I forgot to mention that the Second Life idea is great! I know a number of other companies are using Second Life for marketing purposes. A virtual kitchen showroom is a great concept!

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