A beautiful kitchen is a dream come true. Cabinet and countertop colors, appliance finishes, and hardware all work together to create a room that is beautiful and comfortable - and is often the heart of the home. But it is just as important, if not more so, to create a kitchen that is functional, efficient, and designed for the way you live. With a little planning, you can have a kitchen that not only looks great but helps your life run smoothly.
What Activities Take Place in Your Kitchen?
Think about all the ways you use your kitchen – cooking, entertaining, casual dining, work/homework. Each one of these activities can be broken down into designated areas to minimize retracing your steps and make your kitchen more efficient. When cooking, you could have a prep zone, cooking zone, and cleanup zone. The prep area is for washing, chopping, and measuring ingredients and might include your sink or a vegetable sink, knife block or knife storage, and measuring cups/spoons. The cooking zone is where the magic happens in your oven or on your range or cooktop. Keeping your pots and pans within easy reach eliminates unnecessary extra steps. The cleanup zone handles the dirty tasks at your sink, dishwasher, and trash can. Storing your dish soap, dishwasher tablets, and trash bags nearby helps get these often-unpleasant items checked off your to-do list quickly.
Do you like to eat in your kitchen? An eat-in island or bar or a separate breakfast table or banquette can provide a casual space for you and your family to gather. When deciding on the number of seats needed, think about how many “extras” you might have. Have any of your children’s friends become like members of your family? Is having aging parents move in a possibility? Having enough seating for each person in your life who routinely gathers in your kitchen makes everyone feel more comfortable and welcome.
Cooking and eating aren’t the only activities in today’s kitchens. The kitchen is often a command center for the home. Many people pay bills, work from home, and help their children with homework here. The kitchen table or island may be perfect for these tasks, or you may want an assigned spot such as a built-in desk, so you have a place to keep your paperwork organized.
Entertaining
How often do you entertain - just for the holidays or do you host a weekly dinner party or game night? Depending on how often you entertain and the size of your gatherings, some options you might want to consider are two ovens (or one oven and a convection microwave), two dishwashers, a freestanding ice machine, a wine cooler, and/or a larger range or cooktop for extra burners. Will you want to store table linens, serving dishes, and other special occasion items in the kitchen or can those be in a buffet or china cabinet in the dining room? Also consider the flow of guests if you frequently serve buffet-style. Think about where you will serve appetizers and desserts, as well as the placement of plates, utensils, napkins, sides, and entrees. You want guests to be able to move around comfortably and not create a traffic jam – or get in the cook’s way!
Storage
When deciding storage solutions, think about what you will keep in the kitchen and what will be kept in other areas such as a pantry. Pots, pans, cookie sheets, and casserole dishes are commonly stored in the kitchen near the range. While food can be stored in the pantry, many people like to keep their seasonings within easy reach of their cooking surface. Think about where you use the items you reach for the most and keep them close to those areas. Another thing to consider is how you store those items. Drawers make reaching for pots and pans easier. Along those same lines, pull-out shelves prevent you from having to bend too far down to reach things that have been pushed to the back of the cabinet. Tray storage inserts give you access to your cookie sheets without the need to stack them, which can make a mess when trying to get to the one on the bottom. Lazy Susans are convenient for spices as well as accessing items in corner cabinets. Everything on them is within easy reach with a spin. Consider where you place your most used items and choose storage solutions that make your kitchen function efficiently and will cause fewer head- and backaches.
Lighting
Lighting is another factor to consider. A brightly lit kitchen can make cooking, cleanup, and paperwork more comfortable. Most kitchens have overhead lighting in the form of can lights, pendants, or both, but undercabinet lighting is important to prevent you from working in your own shadow. If your kitchen isn’t wired for them, you can find options that can be plugged in or recharged.
Conclusion
When designing or remodeling your kitchen, there are many decisions to make. Beyond colors, finishes, and appliances, think about how you and your family use your kitchen. A little planning can turn a beautiful kitchen into a space that makes everyday tasks simpler. A good kitchen is not only pleasing to look at but also helps make your life easier. And isn’t that what we are all after?