Is A Small Kitchen Cramping Your Cooking Style? Custom Cabinetry To The Rescue!
ShareSmall kitchens are the bane of the serious cook who loves nothing more than experimenting with new flavors, recipes, and cooking trends. Unfortunately, many cooking enthusiasts live in homes that seemed perfect when they were purchased but quickly proved to suffer from shrinking kitchen syndrome, once the boxes of cookbooks, small appliances, and cookware were unpacked.
While purchasing a larger home is certainly one option worth considering, cooks who don't want to move can make some custom cabinetry changes that will make better use of their current space and allow them to truly enjoy their kitchens. If you count yourself as one of the many frustrated cooks who could benefit by improving your current kitchen through changes to your cabinetry, the following ideas can help!
Incorporate usefulness and storage into the basic design
A small kitchen makes it impossible to provide dedicated storage space or work surfaces for each tool or item needed to create your favorite recipes. To overcome this obstacle, consider incorporating specific user-friendly surfaces and storage right where they are needed most. Some good examples of this include:
- adding a drawer for flatware and napkins in or near the breakfast bar or other kitchen eating area
- installing specific countertop materials for different usages, such as a block of marble in the baking area or a butcher block near the prep sink
- making storage of necessary tools part of the decor, such as using a magnetic strip on the backsplash for knives or freeing up precious cabinet space by using a unique pot rack to hold bulky pots, skillets, and pans
Making just a few simple changes, such as those listed above, can help reduce the amount of space needed for storage and make even the smallest kitchen a more enjoyable place to cook.
Consider existing architecture when designing custom cabinets
Working to utilize the layout and existing architecture of their kitchen can often help homeowners find more space in a small kitchen. For instance, a small kitchen with a large window could benefit from the installation of a custom storage rack over the window that would allow storage for decorative glassware while still letting plenty of light filter through. In addition to freeing up cabinet space, tinted glassware stored in this manner can offer the attractiveness of stained glass, while still providing useful storage in a small kitchen.
For even more ideas, contact a reputable custom cabinet maker in your area and ask them to view your current kitchen and offer ideas for making it better fit your culinary needs and dreams.