10 Useful Features Your Kitchen Design Renovation Must Have
If you’re like me, you probably flip through HGTV Magazine thinking about your dream home. You have your favorite shows, and, somewhere, there’s a file with all your dreams in them. Mine is a list of features I want; a friend of mine has a box of magazine clippings. No matter how you keep track of your dreams, most people spend little to no time thinking about their kitchen design. Unless you’re a cook, those dreams are all about the rest of the house.
Inevitably, years of dreaming and planning leads to a desire for near perfection. Whether you cook or order out, the kitchen has to match the rest of the house. After all, you spent the money to make your dream come true; why settle for less? In all your planning, here are 10 features that your kitchen design renovation must have:
1 Lazy Susans
If you’re vertically challenged like me, you have a problem reaching the back of the cabinet. As a result, you waste money on food that expired because you couldn’t see that you had it. There’s a chair that lives in your kitchen just to help you reach the second shelf. Do you climb on the counter to reach the top shelf? If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered if all home builders are giants.
To save you from falling off your brand new counters at 5am, I present to you a lazy susan:
These are rotating shelves inside your cabinets. When you’re putting away groceries, you rotate the shelf to stock new items. It’s easy to see what items you already have. It won’t help you reach anything, but you’ll see what’s in your cabinets!
2 Pullout Fillers
Maximize storage with pullout fillers that serve a purpose. Instead of a wood panel with nothing behind it, install a spice rack or a bottle holder! These useful cabinets are available for every space in your kitchen, including the toe kick in base cabinets. It gives you extra storage and uses up space that would otherwise do nothing. Here’s an example:
Personally, I recommend installing a spice rack and a utensil holder. These two items are worth their weight in gold. Once you have a designated space for these items, it clears up the counter for other things.
3 Trashcan Pullouts
Having children taught me that where you store your garbage is important. Designate that space now with a trashcan pullout:
These trashcan pullouts are great placed underneath the sink, or near your work area. It minimizes the smell and discourages over stuffing. Making your space that much neater is worth working it into your kitchen design.
4 Pull Out Faucet
Did you know that a faucet with a built in sprayer exists? People can claim that the pot filler faucet is more useful, but a built-in sprayer can do that and more! Check this out:
Seriously, save space at your sink with this. Make room for other things like an over-the-sink strainer.
5 Tip Out Trays
Have you seen those fake door panels that some cabinets have? I consider them annoying because I believe it’s wasteful. That space is ideal for small storage, so install a tip out tray:
Can we make these a trend? Lose the fake doors completely and opt for maximizing storage. A tip tray can easily store a knife or spoon that you’re not ready to clean yet!
6 Dividers
Consider using dividers to organize your kitchen and maximize space. A cabinet divider can store your pans neater than stacking them. Store your favorite spices or coffee pods in a drawer:
These tiny details go a long way to creating a clean, organized kitchen with plenty of space.
7 Silicon Mats
Save your surfaces with silicon mats. Use them underneath your sink, inside your pantry, and even at your coffee station. Anywhere liquid will settle should have a silicon mat. It not only saves your cabinets and countertops, it saves cleaning time. Whenever it gets dirty, pick it up and hose it off.
These are easy to buy and easy to maintain.
8 Glass Rinser
Instead of a wand, these nifty spouts shoot water into areas your hands don’t fit. It makes little containers, coffee mugs, and water bottles much easier to clean! Instead of guessing your items are clean, you can make sure they are with this:
I know some sources call it a bottle cleaner, but it’s good for all kinds of kitchenware. It’s definitely a purchase you won’t regret!
9 Cabinet Lighting
Before you say anything, look at this:
Brighten up your dark kitchen with some cabinet lighting. Instead of an overwhelming lamp, you can have a soft glow that gently lights your way. Never worry about awkward lighting ever again! Install sensors for lights that automatically turn on whenever someone walks by.
10 Appliance Storage
I have appliances shoved into every available space in my cabinets. The only items that have a home are the coffeemaker and the microwave. Ask me how often I lose the crock pot because I forgot where I put it. No matter what else you decide to put into your new kitchen design, seriously consider appliance storage.
When everything has a home, everything is easy to find.
Kitchen Design Assistance
If you need help designing your new kitchen, head on over to our Professional Design Program! We help people bring their dream kitchens to life!