A small kitchen can be a challenge, but there are steps you can take in even a modest kitchen renovation that will maximize your storage and workspace. Here at Harkraft, we have helped many homeowners create the kitchen of their dreams. With effective design, planning and selection of cabinets and appliances, your kitchen will feel like it is twice its size when we are done.
We being our design process by learning everything about your kitchen needs. We look at what is being stored in the cabinets, and ask about kitchen gear and pantry items might be stored in bins and closets in other rooms. This gives us an idea of your total storage requirements. We will also ask many questions, including:
With this information in hand, we can begin to create some designs to review with you. There are three types of space that we try to maximize when we redesign a kitchen: floor space, cabinet space, and counter space.
We may be able to steal some place from an adjacent room in our new floorplan, eliminate a half wall or extend the countertops further into existing floor space. By replacing some fixed cabinetry with a rolling island, we may be able to carve out the space you need to include a small kitchen table.
One of the easiest ways to gain more storage space is to replace soffit-hung cabinets with cabinets that reach to the ceiling. You will also gain considerable storage space by optimizing the cabinet internals with drawers, racks for baking trays, and adjustable height shelving.
Customers who replace a portion of their base cabinetry with storage drawers are amazed at how this maximizes their storage. Toe-kick drawers can add substantial storage for low profile item as well.
We often redesign the corners in a kitchen remodel to boost storage and counter space. Corner pullout drawers, appliance garages or even double-hinged corner doors with fixed shelving yield significant storage space.
Some homeowners choose to replace a traditional kitchen range with a wall oven and counter inset range top to gain more storage space. Others may decide to move or give up a kitchen window and replace it with cabinets.
Think beyond the cabinet for some of your storage needs. Consider open shelves for your cookbooks, decorative canisters and mixing bowls. Small storage nooks for little items like your spice collection can even be built in as a stud-space niche.
We look for opportunities to add a fixed island, peninsula, or rolling cart to give you additional prep space. We will also advise you on alternatives for less-frequently used items that might be taking up counter space:
Replace knife blocks with wall-mounted knife bars
Countertop toaster ovens or microwaves can be replaced with under the cabinet models
We can add storage for large stand mixers into the cabinet design, either as tambour-doored garages or on an easy-lift platform in your base cabinets
Sometimes, a kitchen may have enough counter space, but it is broken up by corner angles and the location of the sink and range. The deep counter space in a sharply angled corner is difficult to use as a prep area and is often a magnet for unsightly clutter. Simply moving the sink into a corner or the range top to an island allows an uninterrupted stretch of countertop that makes kitchen prep feel so much easier.
Your kitchen is the heart of your home, and the whole family will thank you when you when you eliminate the stress of cooking and eating in cramped quarters. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with Harkraft and you will soon be enjoying the kitchen of your dreams.
