My Top 5 Kitchen Design Essentials

Here is a list of tried and true design essentials that I’ve personally tested in my own homes over the years. I hope you find them helpful when you embark on your kitchen remodel project.

---

Mix it Up

Use a variety of cabinet doors and open shelving to keep the kitchen design interesting. In my kitchen, I incorporated glass doors, chicken wire, open shelving, and applied molding doors.  The different features provide creative ways to display your favorite kitchen items along with places to hide the more utilitarian items you’d rather keep out of sight.

Bonus tip: choose drawers over doors in the base cabinets to maximize storage. If you insist upon using doors on your base cabinets, make sure to add roll-out shelves.

---

Enlarge Circulation Paths

When space allows, place 42” -44” between counter edges. For those times when there is an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, it’s nice having your own space.  That’s particularly true in our house, especially during the holidays, as I love getting my family involved.  While my daughter peels yams in preparation for the sweet potato pies, I am at the secondary sink cleaning the greens.

---

Maximize Work Surfaces

Allow for at least 18” of counter space on each side of your cooktop. Incorporate cutting boards wherever you can to maximize work surface areas without taking up floor space.

Bonus tip: placing a garbage can pullout underneath your cutting-board ups the efficiency quota, particularly if there is a hole in the cutting board to discard waste more easily. I don’t think I could work any other way after living with this simple convention.

---

Size-up Vent Hoods

Keeping the indoor air clean is more important now than ever. Your kitchen’s vent hood can play an important role in this effort. However, most people don’t realize that in order for the vent hood to operate at maximum capacity, it needs to be at least 6” wider than the cooktop.

Bonus tip: The vent hood and cooktop backsplash is a perfect area to create a focal point in the kitchen. I like taking my kitchen tile backsplash up the ceiling. So remember to allocate a generous line item in the budget for this area.

---

Customize Storage

When it comes to storage, being intentional about the design is key. It doesn’t cost much more to customize your cabinets, so why not go that extra mile to enhance functionality and efficiency.  When possible, flank narrow chef drawers and cookie sheet cabinets on either side of the stove.  They pack in a lot of storage for such small cabinets and increases the safety factor.  You won’t need to turn your back to the stovetop while cooking as often since everything you need is at your side. 

Bonus tip: consider decreasing the cabinet depth when designing pantry storage.  I find that when pantry shelving is no deeper than 14” the food is easier to access and is less likely to get lost in the back, which oftentimes results in waste. As you can see in the far ground of the right photo, I incorporated a floor-to-ceiling pantry. It’s only 14” deep and is a workhorse in the kitchen.

---

No matter what kitchen design essentials you choose to use, savor and enjoy ‘the heartbeat of your home” and make your kitchen work for you and your family.