There’s nothing like spending some serious time at home to make a person realize what does – and doesn’t – work about the kitchen. Most of us live on-the-go lifestyles, cooking a few meals a week at home at most. Now that we’re in a situation where seven days a week, three meals a day are happening, your kitchen is being put to the test.
Here’s the top concerns many local homeowners are discovering:
The kitchen is too dark. #1 complaint, across the board, is not enough natural light and insufficient task lighting for meal prep and clean up areas.
It’s really hard for more than one person to work in the kitchen at the same time. If Dad’s doing dishes, there’s not enough space for Mom to get dinner going without everyone bumping elbows. And while that sort of thing is cute in romantic comedies, after a few weeks of quarantine, not so much.
There’s not enough storage. Even setting aside the entire question of one’s toilet paper supply, the fact is that many kitchens just don’t have well-designed storage space for the amount of food a family would go through in just a week of eating at home. If you’ve found yourself wishing for counter space or somewhere to put next week’s cereal so the kids don’t eat it all today, you know what we’re talking about.
Obviously, you’re not going to get started on a major home renovation right this minute. But it’s not too soon to start thinking about how you’d design your next kitchen, now that you’ve been through this experience. Would you take on the challenge of a dark, cramped room by adding windows for more natural light? Could you reposition the task areas in your kitchen – the stove, the sink, prep countertops – more efficiently or do you need a larger kitchen all together? There are countless ways to address the storage concerns: what one will you pick?
Luckily, you’ve got time to think these things through. And when you’re ready to start turning your dreams into plans, and those plans into action, your local kitchen designer is ready to help!