The kitchen is the heart of your home. It’s where your family creates memories. When your loved ones come together, it’s the kitchen they gather in.
Your kitchen is a vital space. So, it needs to be more than just attractive – it needs to be functional. If you’re ready for a new kitchen, consider the latest trends and innovations that will bring efficiency and beauty to your kitchen.
Here are 10 features that you’ll adore in your new kitchen.
Quartz or Granite Countertops
A new kitchen deserves premium countertops. Say goodbye to those old laminate counters!
Quartz is a manmade material that is non-porous and highly resistant to staining. Quartz countertops do not have to go through regular re-sealing. Quartz is extremely strong and thus it is a durable material for your countertops. It also comes in many styles and colors.
Granite is also a beautiful material that is durable enough to last for years. Granite is a natural stone that is sealed before installation and is recommended to be resealed every three to five years. It’s highly affordable, making it a sound investment.
Kitchen Island
An island can be a great amenity to enhance the look of your new kitchen and impart an upscale appeal. From mobile islands, to seating area islands, having one in your kitchen is an added efficiency bonus.
A kitchen island adds storage and surface area for preparing meals. Your kitchen island could include additional cabinets, pull out shelves and drawers.
An island can also serve as an informal dining area for your family or when entertaining. Even in your day-to-day life, an island is a great place to spend some time with your family while preparing meals.
The kitchen island you choose can be customized to meet your needs. For instance, you can choose to have a bookshelf for keeping cookbooks, or a wine cooler, instead of cabinets and drawers. An additional dishwasher drawer can also be tucked into the design of the island without sacrificing too much space.
Warming Drawer
A warming drawer is another amenity that you can add to your kitchen that will change the way you cook and serve meals. It’s especially useful if your family eats their meals at different times.
When closed, warming drawers look like any other drawer under your countertops. They can also be mounted directly above or below a wall oven for more convenience.
A warming drawer comes in handy for keeping food warm as you prepare and assemble the full meal, or as you wait for your guests to arrive.
Custom Kitchen Cabinetry
New cabinets can transform an outdated kitchen into an organized and functional space, and enhance the aesthetic appeal at the same time. Cabinets come with a wide variety of finishes and styles. There are limitless design options that you can choose from.
Cabinetry is one of the main components of your new kitchen’s design. Though you could choose to go with stock cabinets, if you want a truly unique look, create your own custom cabinetry. You can work with your designer to decide what wood, style, stains, paints and pulls are best for your new kitchen.
Of course, beyond the style of the cabinets themselves, you’ll want to consider the layout of your cabinetry. Ask your designer how best to place cabinetry to create the most storage and space. There’s nothing more frustrating that an unorganized kitchen. With ample cabinet space, you’ll have a place for every small appliance, dish and cutlery. You can also install cabinets to hide away your trash and recycling bins with handy pullouts.
Coffee Station
If coffee is a staple in your home, and it is the first thing you make in the morning, consider adding a coffee station in your new kitchen. A coffee bar is something that might make your mornings a bit smoother. It will allow you to stock everything you need to make your coffee, including your favorite mugs, grinders and more.
You might even add another sink by the coffee bar to make cleanup easy. You can choose to keep it simple or have a restaurant-worthy coffee station with a professional grade espresso machine. If you’re a coffee connoisseur, this is a feature that will make total sense for your new kitchen.
Functional Kitchen Layout
The most important feature of your kitchen? A layout that will make your kitchen attractive and workable. Your kitchen layout is a blueprint for how your kitchen will function. It’s not just about the style, but how you will cook, eat and socialize in your kitchen.
The layout addresses where the appliances, counters, sinks, windows and other elements are placed. The most common kitchen layouts include U-shape, one-wall, galley, G-shape, and L-shape.
Your kitchen should be designed with special attention to how the work areas relate to each other. Appliance location, counter space, and traffic flow are factors to address along with existing ones such as the windows and doors.
Typically, kitchen work areas are designed with one of two layout options: the work triangle or work zones. The work triangle arranges the oven, refrigerator and sink in a triangle to make maneuvering between them a breeze. Work zones are an evolution of the work triangle. This technique involves grouping fixtures and appliances together with others they are commonly used with.
Under-mount Sinks
Unlike the traditional kitchen sink that drops in and rests on the countertop, under-mount sinks are installed underneath the countertop. In this case, the edge lip of the sink is not raised on the top of the counter but mounted below a solid surface countertop. This creates a much more appealing, modern look.
Under-mount sinks are best suited for countertops made of strong surface materials such as quartz, granite, marble or concrete. This sink design also helps keep food and other debris from being trapped underneath the lip of the kitchen sink for easier cleaning.
Induction Cooktop
An induction cooktop uses electromagnetic technology to transfer heat to the cooking appliance. Unlike traditional gas or electric cooktops, this technology cooks faster and is also more energy efficient.
The amazing part of induction cooktops is that the surface never gets hot to the touch. This can be very convenient if you have small children. It’s also very easy to clean.
You spend a lot of time in your kitchen, so make it a space you love. At Kingswood Designs, we can help make your new kitchen everything you’ve imagined. We will pair you with a designer who will make recommendations for features that you want to include in your new kitchen. Call us today and learn how Kingswood Designs can help create your ideal kitchen.
