We spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It can either be a pleasant experience or a trying one, depending on how your kitchen is designed. Believe it or not, there are several ways to make your kitchen more functional without breaking the bank. Check out the suggestions below to see what might help you get the kitchen you’ve always wanted.
Add a kitchen island or butcher block
Look around your kitchen: is there a lot of wasted floor space? Do you feel like you’re walking back and forth across an empty floor to go from refrigerator to sink to stove? How about your surface area? Could you use a bit more space? It may be time to add a kitchen island or butcher block. Many kitchens are built in a perfect square with a whole lot of nothing in the middle. What a waste! You can easily add more surface area, storage, and functionality to your kitchen simply by adding an island or butcher block. Depending on the size of the space, a simple portable butcher block may due but if you have the space, adding a kitchen island is a fairly inexpensive renovation with a big payoff. Find a professional designer that can advise you what will work best in your home.
Drawers with a purpose
Especially in older homes, drawers were made to be multi-functional but nowadays, you can take those drawers to better suit your needs. One of the most popular upgrades is spice drawers. You’ve been there: peering into a dark cabinet with spices 5 layers deep on a shelf. You can’t find anything, so you use the same five spices over and over again. No more! Keep all your spices organized and right where you need them with a spice drawer under your cooktop. It’s a great way to keep all those small containers organized without wasting any counter space!
Add another sink
People are surprised by this suggestion but it’s nothing short of brilliant if you think about it, especially if you can put that second sink in a kitchen island. If you share kitchen time with another cook, you’re going to love how convenient this is. One sink for food prep, another for the dirty dishes. Heaven!
Repurpose deep cupboards
Are there some cabinets so deep that you only use the front half? Think about repurposing a few deep cupboards with bench space, power points and lighting in them. Store your appliances here so you can use them then close the door and forget about them.
Maximize your cabinet space potential
Maximize your vertical space by having wall cabinets reach to the ceiling. That big space above your cabinets? Dust collectors. Go vertical and make your kitchen more functional! Increase the depth of wall cabinets from the standard 12” to 15”. There are several affordable lines of cabinetry that allow you to do this.
Kitchen upgrades that don’t require remodeling
Here are a few additional lower-cost ways to make your kitchen more functional:
- Hang pots and pans
- Add hooks inside cabinet doors for measuring spoons and measuring cups
- Always use your corner space and utilize Magic Corners or a Lazy Susan to access the space.
- Utilize the seldom-used cabinet above the refrigerator
- Store your cookie sheets vertically on shelves
- Group like utensils
There are many ways you can make your kitchen more functional, regardless of size. Try some of these and see how much your kitchen experience will improve!
