The kitchen is commonly a home’s central hub, which means it should be designed in a way that reflects and meets the daily needs of those who live there. A couple with grown children might benefit most from a kitchen that easily extends itself to, while a someone with a lot of family in the home might find that a more practical, durable design better suits their needs.
If you fall into the latter group, the following are some considerations to make when undertaking a kitchen remodel with family in mind.
An Open Concept
If your kitchen is regularly subjected to the comings and goings of lots of little feet, an open layout will likely make your life a lot easier. With many people in one residence, there will be more frequent trips back and forth from other rooms to the kitchen for snacks. Designing a layout that seamlessly flows into the rest of the house will ultimately create more flow among your family’s daily happenings.
Easy-Access Pantry
Fulfilling constant snack orders throughout the day can be more than a tad draining, especially as you’re working to manage a thousand other daily tasks. For this reason, an accessible pantry can significantly improve your quality of life. Keeping kid-friendly goodies in an easy-access location allows your little ones to satisfy their needs while minimizing your daily interruptions.
Durable Surfaces
As any parent knows, the more kids you have in the house, the more messes there will be to clean. Rather than fretting over every spill, consider investing in durable, easy-to-clean surfaces. Man-made quartz surfaces are better for high-traffic homes than natural stone as the material is less porous, making it less likely to stain.
Family Organization Center
With big families come lots of tasks, and there’s no better place to manage those tasks than from the centralized location of the kitchen. Consider designating a section of your cabinetry to daily task organization. Things like calendars, bulletin boards, notepads, and other scheduling tools can be easily accessed and then just as easily tucked away when they’re not in use.
Multipurpose Island
A large, highly functional island serves a multitude of important uses when it comes to family life. It provides a space for your family to congregate and download the day; it offers additional space for you to cook or for the kids to get help with homework; and it serves as both a place to eat and to store items that have nowhere else to go. In other words, it solves a lot of potential daily problems in a relatively small space.
Custom Drawers and Cabinetry
Custom cabinets might be among the most valuable design decisions you can make. In a chaotic house, little brings more relief than the daily organization that cabinets offer. From keeping trash and recycling out of sight with a custom pull-out to installing organizing pegs to keep dishes stacked in order, there are nearly limitless benefits you can take advantage of to improve your daily flow and functionality.
