Must Have Elements For Your Kitchen Remodel

Design by: Caitlin Flemming

The kitchen is the heart of the home and where you spend a lot of your time. Whether you are entertaining guests or feeding the kids, the kitchen and how it functions can either be a saving grace for your family or a huge pain point. If you are in the midst of a kitchen remodel or starting the planning process, this post is for you. As an interior designer I have designed many kitchens over the years and have found there are a few things that every client needs (and may not know it!) that I make sure to incorporate it into every kitchen design. 

Trash/Recycling Receptacle Pull-out

Storing a garbage can under the sink is not always an option because of the sink size and plumbing location, needing to use the under sink storage for cleaning products, or you would prefer to have a larger trash can so you aren’t making as many trips to the garage. Enter the trash/recycling pull-out drawer. This full height cabinet pull-out system can house your garbage can, recycling bin, compost, or some combination of the three depending on your needs. It eliminates the tall stainless steel garbage cans left next to the end of your cabinets and provides a concealed and convenient way to store kitchen waste. I recommend putting the pull-out system close to your kitchen sink or where you will be doing meal prep work. This will ensure that there is minimal travel when needing to throw food scraps away or when you are scraping off your dishes. 

Spice Drawers + Cutting Board Storage

Having the correct type of storage for things like spices, oils, and cutting boards is a must. Especially if you cook a lot. Having an organized drawer or pull-out cabinet for spices that is close to your range or cooktop will make cooking a breeze and save you time. It has also become very trendy nowadays to have small shelves or niches flanking the range to store oils or the couple of spices you reach for all the time. You also want to make sure you have a cabinet with slats for vertical storage where you can store cutting boards, cookie sheets, etc. Being intentional with where things go and knowing what your options are for how to better organize the interior of each of your drawers and cabinets will take your kitchen to the next level. 

Drawers for Pots and Pans

Something that is often overlooked is making sure to have some large drawers with heavy duty glides for storing pots and pans. Whether you have a cast iron skillet, an entire collection of pots and pans, or a dutch oven, these items have weight to them so ensuring the drawers they are stored in have the mounting hardware equipped to hold them is imperative. Storing these items in a pull-out drawer rather than a cabinet with shelves will provide easy access and better organization.

Appliance Storage

If you have a dedicated walk-in pantry this can be a go-to place to store appliances that aren’t being used every day but what about the items that are used constantly such as a coffee machine, microwave, or toaster oven? If you have the space, consider adding an appliance garage to your kitchen. This usually is stacked with upper cabinets and sits right on the countertop. The cabinet door or appliance garage access is usually a cabinet door with similar mechanisms to a garage door or the doors can open and slide back into themselves. Having dedicated counter space for the everyday appliances that can also be concealed when not in use makes is a game changer for having a clean and organized kitchen. You can also add outlets to the back of the appliance garage so the appliances are always plugged in. Gone are the days of pulling out the toaster oven from a lower cabinet every morning! 

Strategically Placed Locations for Plates, Utensils, etc.

Other areas to think through are the proximity from the dishwasher to where you store your utensils, plates, bowls, glassware, etc. Having these items in cabinets and drawers that are closer to your dishwasher makes for a quicker and easier time when unloading clean items. 

Miscellaneous Elements to Consider

• Think through traffic areas of your kitchen and how you will be moving about, if there are any current pain points of how you move in your kitchen that you want to change, etc. 

• Work stations - prepping, cooking, cleaning. By identifying where workstations are you will be able to assign cabinet locations for where it makes the most sense to put utensils, appliances, dry food storage, etc.
  Refrigerator/freezer, sink, and range/oven locations. These are also apart of your work stations and considered high traffic areas. If you open your refrigerator and are standing in front of it looking for a snack will a person be able to walk behind you comfortably to get to the rest of the kitchen? Can two people be standing at the sink and cooking at the range at the same time? Is the distance between the refrigerator and pantry too far?

• The microwave should not go above the range. This is a design no-no and the preference will always be to have an actual hood vent above the range or cooktop. Explore under cabinet microwave drawer options or concealing it within a pantry or appliance garage.

• Always have your dishwasher next to your sink, or very close to it if your kitchen layout doesn’t allow it.

You don’t know what you don’t know when planning your kitchen remodel and since there are so many things you need to make decisions on - countertops, cabinet color, hardware, flooring, and backsplash just to name a few - sometimes the small details of where you want your toaster to be stored or which drawer to put cooking utensils in are overlooked. But thinking through these details will make all the difference when your back to using your kitchen and its functionality is *chef’s kiss*.

If you are in the planning and researching phase of your remodel and feel like you don’t have the time, energy, or knowledge to do so… Hiring an interior designer may be what you need. Don’t hesitate to fill out an inquiry form to see if Kallan Interiors would be a good fit for your project :)