Have you ever tried to lay out a new kitchen or a bathroom or just remodel your old one? If you are about to for first time or again, you'll appreciate these handy guides that are used by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) certified designers.

A good kitchen or bathroom design does not happen by accident. It's the result of good planning and knowledge of how things like lighting, plumbing, fixtures and doors go in a room. Your general contractor or carpenter may be great but don't expect him or her to know how high to place the shower faucet or what the distance is for your kitchen's work triangle.

For example, everyone will talk about a kitchen triangle. But no one ever tells you what the measurements should be. Actaully the perimeter of the triangle should not be more than 24 feet and each leg should not be less than 4 feet or more than 9 feet.

Now lets look at a shower. How high should the shower faucet be? NKBA says that the minimum height is 72 inhes but recommends that you tile 3 inces above it.

For those who don't have the budget or just like doing things ourselves, there are the guidelines provided by the NKA. See NKBA Kitchen Guidelines and NKBA Bathroom Guidelines.

If you are planning on doing a lot of remodeling, it might be worth purchasing the guidelines.