Merillat Masterpiece Fairlane in Maple Burnished Praline
If your family is like most, your kitchen is more than just another room. These days, life happens in the kitchen. The kitchen is the hub of your home, the center of all the day’s activities. And even if you have a showcase dining room, you may actually eat most meals in the kitchen.
With your family’s busy schedule, things tend to overlap. Cooking, homework, bill paying, small talk…it’s all going on across the kitchen counter or at the kitchen table. The eat-in kitchen is the new normal, and when renovating your space you need to design accordingly to make it as family friendly as possible.
To begin, put some thought into how you want your kitchen to function – your lifestyle will dictate the design. Ask yourself what will help make your space operate efficiently and comfortably. Consider all of the ways in which you currently use your kitchen, where your children or other family members hang out, and then develop your solutions around these factors.
In a small kitchen we know how hard it can be to keep things organized and flowing smoothly. It seems like stuff piles up everywhere, from the week’s worth of mail on the counter to your kids’ after-school clutter. Combine this with existing storage and work flow issues and things can get out of hand quickly. Take heart; you don’t have to put up with daily clutter and limited storage space. When planning a redesign, a few simple considerations can help make your kitchen a “clutter-free” zone and feel larger than it actually is.
Layout Options
The first thing to do when redesigning a small kitchen is to choose a layout that fits your space requirements and needs. Here are some options to consider:
L-Shaped Kitchen – This is the most popular design, appropriate for any size kitchen. The L-shaped kitchen is made up of two walls (or legs) and gives you the possibility of having a center island depending on your available space. In general, this design will have 2 or 3 appliances on one wall with the refrigerator typically at one end, the range or cooktop at the other end with the sink located in the middle. This shape of kitchen generally provides good traffic flow.
Over the years, the kitchen has become the hub of life in many homes. Sure it’s for cooking and eating, but its function can serve much more – a conversational area, a work place for adults and kids – the possibilities are endless. The right design should reflect these needs. Considering how you want to plan the design or redesign of your kitchen, you’ll want to ask yourself a few basic questions:
