15 Features Every Kitchen Should Have
Your custom cabinetry choices should reflect the personality of your home and fit your personal lifestyle, but whether your tastes are ultra-modern kitchen cabinetry or a more timeless, traditional look, all kitchens should share a few things in common. common when it comes to convenience and resale value. Regardless of which path you take in custom cabinetry, here are 15 features every kitchen should have whether you’re reworking your space or planning a complete renovation:
1. An Efficient Floor Plan: It’s great to have a kitchen cabinet for absolutely everything and plan for lots of structured storage, but avoid adding custom cabinets in areas where you don’t need them if they will ultimately interfere with smooth traffic flow. Mobility is the number one feature that you will notice, guaranteed, every time you walk into the kitchen. If you’re completely redoing the room and it helps, walk around preparing a big meal, imagining exactly where you’d like everything to be and how the placement of the cabinets will best suit your needs, before you sit down to draw your dream kitchen.
2. Accessible and Organized Storage Cabinets – Lots of places and everything in its place! Any professional organizer or Feng Shui guru will tell you that creating and using such storage is important to your personal satisfaction with a room. This is no less true in the kitchen, where mess while cooking can be a danger to both your sanity and health. Make a list and double check it: what do you need to store, what would you like even more space for, and how can you make the most of your space without sacrificing an efficient floor plan?
3. A pantry: No matter if you’re a professional cook or sometimes a family chef, storage is crucial in the kitchen and the pantry is the king of accessible storage. A well-stocked and organized pantry means you’ll always know what you have and can quickly assess what you need. Placing dry goods, extra condiments, and other staples in the back of a kitchen cabinet doesn’t help when planning a menu or writing a shopping list. If you don’t have a large pantry with shallow shelving and you have room for one, consider putting it at the top of your list for organizing kitchen life.
4. Tidy Countertop Appliance Cabinets: When measuring and planning your custom cabinetry project, don’t forget to plan for the things you don’t currently have that you really need. A great example of something you may not have in your kitchen right now is cabinets for appliances like bread makers, juicers, coffee grinders, and other items you enjoy but don’t use on a daily basis. This is especially true of kitchens in older homes that were built when these items weren’t as common and didn’t need their own place. Don’t copy what you already have, make a plan for what you want!
5. Proper Countertops: Keeping countertops uncluttered with adequate storage space is key, but be sure to leave enough room for all your chopping, mixing, and frosting needs! You may have all the space in the world in your cabinets, but without the space to perform daily kitchen functions, you’ll find the space inefficient for your needs, and you’ll also find yourself avoiding intensive cooking adventures.
6. Windows for views and daylight – No matter what mood you’re trying to create in your space – Old World, Euro-chic, Modern American or something else – Windows are crucial to your mood. Natural sunlight creates depth and interest in architectural elements and also works wonders for your emotional health. If you’re thinking of reselling your home, remember that the windows that frame the exterior features will impress buyers.
7. Good landing spots: A beautiful kitchen, with custom cabinetry with quality furnishings, will increase the value of your home in terms of marketability and your own personal likeability. But what about the life capacity? Good landing spots for handbags, briefcases, school bags, keys, cell phones, and other gadgets are a must for today’s families. Reserve some spaces in your kitchen planning to leave bags of groceries and other items without occupying your kitchen areas. You will thank yourself later!
8. Pull-Out Cutting Boards: Not every kitchen can boast all the bells and whistles, but there’s certainly room for some modern conveniences in every space. Included among these simple indulgences is the removable cutting board. Especially useful during busy holidays when you may have multiple cooks in the kitchen, don’t forget you can add items to your kitchen that you may not have had before. Just because you got by without it is no reason to deny yourself small luxuries!
9. A High Spout Faucet: A low spout faucet is the hallmark of an outdated kitchen and old sink. Invest in a high-arch faucet and deep sink that together will accommodate today’s oversized and heavy pots and pans. If it’s within your budget, consider pull-down faucets with water filtration, multiple spout functions, and aerated flow with the versatility to keep up with you.
10. An area to eat or snack: Recent studies on Generation Y show that these new homebuyers will not be looking for their parents’ house. For one thing, the formal dining rooms are “out,” to be replaced by more European-style kitchens with breakfast bars and convenient eating areas. Keep this in mind when remodeling your kitchen: Today’s lifestyles are more dynamic than ever. The kitchen can stay beautiful and reflect your personal style while accommodating this growing trend!
11. Durable, easy-to-clean surfaces: This may seem like an obvious “must have” feature in a kitchen, but don’t underestimate its importance in everyday kitchen use. Durable, long-lasting countertops like granite are attractive, easy to clean, and less likely to capture bacteria than more porous surfaces. Consider other natural sources for your countertops to enhance your custom cabinetry, and remember that while the kitchen comes first for functionality and ease of use, there are plenty of modern materials out there that will meet all your needs, including style.
12. Good lighting: Buyers may also be interested in skylights, recessed lights, and other elements in combination with natural light that make the space appear larger and more user-friendly. You’ll appreciate the under-cabinet lighting and adjustable lights for viewing your food and assessing its doneness, as well as reading recipes. There is nothing less attractive than a dark kitchen, so brighten it up and show off those beautiful custom cabinets!
13. Effective Ventilation – Ventilation is important for a number of reasons, the most important of which is safety. You may think ventilation is necessary just to keep odors out of the kitchen while you cook, but in truth, keeping grease out of the air and settling on your surfaces is the number one need. Grease on surfaces and grease trapped in filters is a fire hazard, so when planning your kitchen project, don’t forget to factor effective ventilation into your budget.
14. Recycling Bins: As household waste recycling gains popularity among today’s families, so does the demand for places to sort and store recyclables between collection days. Allowing for plenty of accessible storage space and a comfortable floor plan, set aside space for recycling as well, at a minimum for plastics and paper goods. If you’re one of the most savvy homeowners on the planet, allow a bin or closet to store your cloth shopping bags, too!
15. Some Important “Extras”: When everything is in place and you’ve tackled all the important things, highlight your custom kitchen cabinets by organizing your space with functional accessories. Kitchen utensils and gadgets, pizza stones, decorative (and useful) trivets, and especially fresh herbs and plants will bring your kitchen to life and accentuate the ambiance you’ve chosen to create.
Whether your kitchen takes you a step back in time with old-world weathered cabinets or into the future with sleek aluminum or thermoplastic cabinets, remember that today’s busy lifestyles require many of the same features, regardless of the style. Focus on our 15 features and you’ll be sure that the space you create is a beautiful and functional kitchen for you and your family!