bedroom, or living room. But our obsession with making our kitchens pretty, aesthetic spaces has meant that one key factor has suffered as a result: functionality.
Of course, it’s only natural that most of us dream of a beautiful, stylish kitchen, especially if the rest of our home is styled to within an inch of its life. Consistency, as we all know, is part of the secret to great interior design, and often a great-looking kitchen is a catalyst to you wanting to spend more time in there in the first place. But, it can also be a curse when it comes to how usable your kitchen actually is. For example, maybe you went a little over the top with the minimalist trend, and now you have virtually nowhere to store your pots and pans. Or perhaps you are a lover of busy bohemian styles, and your surfaces are so jam packed with trinkets you barely have enough room to prepare food. Whatever your scenario is, you should never have to sacrifice functionality just to get a visually stunning home.
Here are a few ways you can put purpose back into your kitchen, so it’s a place that works for YOU – not the other way around.
Have everything you need within easy reach
More often than not, we tend to have those kitchen implements that we reach for time and time again. Maybe you are the queen of the one pot dish, and therefore you use your wok pretty much every day. Or perhaps you swear by your slow-cooker and make a selection of meals in it at least a couple of times a week. Whatever it is, these are the kind of items it can be very helpful to have close to hand. After all, it may look cleaner and tidier to have them put away, but if you’re only going to need to scramble through draws to find them every day, there is little point in this.
Consider some alternative storage ideas for the things you use most – such as a bar to hang commonly used pots and pans from (just make sure it’s safe and secure first!). The same ethos can also apply to food. For example, most of us use salt and pepper in every single meal to season the food, so there’s no point having your grinders tucked away at the back of an already busy shelf. Buy some trays or baskets suitable for positioning on your kitchen worktop and pop all the spices and herbs you tend to need in there for ease of access.
Have enough room for everything
On a slightly different note, you may also need to make sure you have enough room in your kitchen for everything you own. Once you have a family, it can feel as though the amount of kitchen items you own goes up tenfold. Lunch boxes, baking equipment, cookware and a much larger snack cupboard – it’s any wonder it’s not all spilling out of your front door! But what do you do when getting a kitchen extension is not an option?
Well, firstly, realize that you may simply be able to utilize the space you already have. Consider how much wall space you have. If there’s plenty going spare, why not have some kitchen wall cabinets installed? If it’s not going to intrude on the kitchen space you have, get some deep ones built which enable you to store many more things in there.
The same goes for your fridge freezer – if you’re still using the one you had before your little darlings arrived, you may need to rethink the decision to hold onto it! Most moms become pros at batch cooking, meaning your freezer will usually be chock-a-block. Upgrade to a larger one to enable you and you family to store much more food – it may seem like a huge expense, but bear in mind that it will save you money in the long run.
If you are concerned about how your kitchen will look with all this extra storage, remember you can get some hidden storage and food prep areas that seamlessly slot into your cabinets, so no one except you will ever know they are there.
The rule of the ‘golden triangle.’
If there was ever a rule for kitchen functionality, it is the rule of the ‘golden triangle.’ The golden triangle is also known as the ‘work triangle’ and has been defined by the National Kitchen and Bath Association as follows: ‘an imaginary straight line is drawn from the center of the sink to the center of the cooktop, to the center of the refrigerator and finally back to the sink.’ It is supposed to make your kitchen much more efficient and easier to operate in and is something people have sworn by for years. If you don’t already have the work triangle set up in your kitchen, consider having a re-shuffle to create one and see how it can change your cooking experience.
You can also bear in mind specific areas such as your sink – for example, make sure you have space on the left to stack pots that are waiting to be cleaned and an area to the right where you can drain them once they have been washed. This will ensure that you always have a clean and clear sink – just one step closer to achieving that functional kitchen that serves its purpose.
