The fact that we all expect to put a little bit of weight on over the Christmas period, suggests how important food is at this time of year, as well as how much your kitchen will be used…
Looking at your cooking space, is it in the best shape for the food-marathon that’s about to descend upon your home this Christmas? If not, you need to spring into action to get things tip-top in time for St Nick…
Check out this guide to top kitchen additions, to help give your kitchen the wow factor it deserves.
A Kitchen Island
If you have the space, a kitchen island is an excellent purchase. It serves as an extra counter space, providing an ideal area for food preparation, or can be used with additional seating as a breakfast bar and can offer much more space to store your beloved cooking tools.
This addition also gives a Grand Designs feel to the kitchen, letting visitors know that you’re hitting all the style points.
You can also make the kitchen island super child-friendly by adding a washable chalkboard paint to one side of it, so the kids can scribble away to their heart’s content. A genius way of letting them feel a little rebellious, while actually centralising their messy creativity!
Clever Use of Space
A rolling cart is a great idea if you have a smaller kitchen and is a portable way of adding in some extra storage and countertop space. This can also be used as a little pantry too for some of your vegetables and other foods that do not require refrigeration. If you’re unsure of what veg goes where, check out this simple step-by-step guide.
Use your wall space to the max with racks for hanging pots and pans, kitchen utensils, herbs and spices and whatever else you can think of! This also adds to the foodie theme come Christmas time, as you’re giving a sneak peek into what you’ll be using to create your culinary masterpieces.
There’s so many cool inventions now for the kitchen cupboard. There’s wire racks that extend out, so you can grab items easily. Vertical drawers that allow you to stack your condiments, bottles and jars to save on even more space. As well as corner cupboard units that offer up more room for additional kitchenware. You can also integrate deep drawers for large bowls, plates and the cooking equipment that you don’t use regularly enough to warrant having it on the counter top.
There’s also plenty of advice online for how to organise your kitchen cupboards – While this may not seem like something that should be worried, imagine a kitchen that is so efficiently put together that it saves you time every single day!
The Perfect Tap
Depending on the style of your kitchen, be it rustic country, sleek and modern or maybe shabby chic, there are still several ways to go with the kitchen tap; You can go for a simple one handle tap, a two handle tap or maybe even a commercial style pull down tap for a trendy, urban feel to the kitchen.
There’s also different materials and finishes to consider to get the look right. Check out this guide to the top five best kitchen tap reviews from Groom and Style to give you some tried and tested options.
Fancy Additions
Feeling extravagant? There’s so many additions that can be made to the kitchen to take it to the next level. Some of which can really stretch the purse strings, but equally, there are also some less pricey modifications available, ideal to suit smaller budgets.
First up is warming drawers. Yes, drawers in your kitchen for the sole purpose of warming your plates ready for mealtime! This would be a real crowd pleaser come Christmas Day, especially if you get your timings a little bit skewed and you haven’t got all food ready at the same time – nothing will go cold!
Imagine having an instant boiling water tap. Coffee or tea ready in an instant without the need to boil a kettle ever again. This also ticks the techy box if you’re into having the latest technology in your home. You can either go for an integrated one (for a really high end finish) or you can buy a machine to sit on the counter top.
And last but not least, we have the all important wine chiller. An area of the kitchen dedicated to chilled whites and rosés, complete with a handy nearby rack to store the reds. A real ‘adults only’ area that is ready and waiting for some popped corks and laughter over the festive period.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com
I would quite like a whole re-design of my kitchen which better utilises the space we have and then incorporates a dishwasher x
I would love to have an island in my kitchen but it just doesn’t work with the layout. I never thought about using the walls and ceilings though to hang stuff – thank you.
I would love to have an island in my kitchen but it just doesn’t work with the layout. I never thought about using the walls and ceilings though to hang stuff – thank you.