5 Things to Consider When Renovating Your Kitchen
As you use your kitchen now more than ever during this unique time of working from home, home schooling, cooking, through Zoom meetings, or even as a space of serenity during your morning cup of coffee, we are sure there have been moments where you have asked yourself if a better layout would help you be more organized or productive or if you should redo your kitchen or other elements of your home. Perhaps you have thought, “If only my kitchen had ______.” One thing is for sure – you don’t have to compromise beauty for functionality in your kitchen.
The heart of the home can be both beautiful and practical. When it’s the right time to renovate your kitchen, we want to equip you with the correct information to maximize functionality and create a beautiful aesthetic to suit your home and lifestyle. Here are the top five kitchen renovation choices to consider.
1. Kitchen Layout – Design a Layout for Work Flow and Movement
An essential element to consider when thinking of your kitchen layout is how your workflow will operate. When positioning the three main elements of the kitchen which are storage, preparation, and cooking, make sure that there is proper accessibility and traffic flow.
What kind of movement does your layout allow? Sufficient space between the working stations is also important to make sure that two people can interact in the same space comfortably without bumping into one other.
Here are a few questions to consider when renovating your kitchen:
• Is your current kitchen layout functional? If not, what would you want to change in your kitchen?
• Do you have the ability to reconfigure the kitchen layout, including moving walls, electrical, gas and/or plumbing fixtures?
• How will changing my kitchen layout accomplish my goals?
2. Organization
Organization is good for the soul. We know that when our kitchen is organized with a designated spot for cooking gadgets, cutlery, knives, spices, pots, and pans, it’s a joy to navigate in the space. When items can be appropriately organized inside of a cabinet or a drawer, and are easily accessible, it frees up valuable countertop space for prep work. It makes cooking far more enjoyable and less cluttered and stressful.
Carefully planned interior accessories are a great investment that makes a huge difference in your efficiency and cabinet functionality.
3. A Convection Steam Oven
As you can no doubt surmise from the name, this is an oven that uses moisture — steam heat — to cook food. This hot appliance is gaining popularity for its ability to keep foods moist as it cooks them. It’s also touted as a healthier cooking method, as foods retain more vitamins when cooked with steam than with dry-cooking methods.
A convection steam oven allows you to cook the food with steam heat, then finish it with dry heat for browning before serving. A Convection Steam Oven is the number one appliance we suggest to each client and every client that has installed it says it’s wonderful! “It’s a little smaller in size, so it heats quickly and is efficient in anything from reheating leftovers to cooking a beef tenderloin to baking a cake,” one of our clients recently remarked.
4. Open Shelving
In addition to closed storage, we love the look of open shelves in kitchens. For ultimate functionality, open shelving shouldn’t take the place of necessary storage in your kitchen. Open kitchen shelves are not intended for bags of flour, boxes of cookies, and everyday food items, simply because they aren’t as aesthetically pleasing. However, you can use this space to highlight your fine china, fresh flowers, or even everyday tableware, provided it’s made up of well coordinated sets. In many kitchens, open shelves are pure luxury.
This is where you can easily place a few items of decor so that they are out of the way and keep your countertops clear for workspace. For a more polished design, use open shelves to feature a contrasting wood species and finishes.
5. Kitchen Lighting
Proper lighting is often one of the last things to be incorporated in kitchen design, but it is essential for creating a productive working environment. Under-cabinet and in-cabinet LED lighting can be used to illuminate a work surface, provide ambient light in place of overhead lighting, and highlight decorative elements such as cabinets with glass doors and finished interiors. These details certainly add to the investment of a kitchen renovation, but their importance is significant in function, beauty, and is a smart idea for the cook in all of us!
Keystone Millworks handcrafted furniture style cabinetry will be here to support our industry partners during these extraordinary times. Now more than ever, we need to stay connected. We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about our product or process please don’t hesitate to contact our Concierge Team at inquiries@keystonemillworks.com.
