Graph paper with paper templates for the appliances and sink cabinet is the best place to start.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've done that in the past. Would like to move on to a software.

People curse it, but I choose to plug stuff into the IKEA planner. The NKBA has a similar free planner that I think has a kitchen version. I've only used it for bathrooms a few times.

when I was planning my own house I loved using graph paper, automatic pencil, a good eraser and a straight edge. My husband thinks sketch up is fun (I DON'T) so I'd draw things up on graph paper and he'd plug it all in to sketchup for me.

I'm with you painter71. I'm tired of graph paper and the IKEA planner was a pain, never saved my plan correctly and could not draw out my vaulted ceiling. I just bought a Punch software and not having much luck with it. I need to see a 3D view after I do the floor plan so I can visualize the space better. We have a difficult space for the kitchen.

I downloaded Sweethome 3D, it's free and I also have a Mac running 10.6.8, I haven't used it much so I can't comment on that aspect of it.