How to Make Your Kitchen the Family Hub of Your Home

To make sure that your kitchen works for the whole space, focus first on design or functionality and then on beauty. Yes, you will enjoy a custom cabinet space in which to display your favorite dishes or crystal collection. However, consider putting these display units either away from the working pieces of the kitchen or near the ceiling for best visibility.

Open Up the Space
A kitchen with a narrow doorway doesn’t provide the easy access that’s necessary for an inviting atmosphere. Bring in a contractor to determine if the wall between the kitchen and the dining room or the kitchen and the family room is load bearing, and do what you have to do to open the space. Make sure there’s a flat space for working or serving food to draw guests and family members in. If possible, give the room two entries by using a kitchen island instead of a peninsula.

Paint It Right
Brighten up the space by applying lighter tones of paint. When you decide to paint your kitchen, don’t forget to cover at least your upper cabinets to brighten up the area. If you like, you can use a darker shade on the lower cabinets to anchor the room. You might also play with reflection by applying semi gloss light colors on the upper cabinets and dark tones in a flat finish on the bottom. Using bright and vibrant colors helps to lighten your kitchen up, and using delicate pastels with contrasting finishes gives your kitchen a fun, playful look. If you’re going to go with multiple colors, consider adding white cabinet pulls to bring everything together.

Access Is Key
If you’re going to make the kitchen the family hub, then everyone in the family needs to be able to reach what they need. Healthy snacks and drinks need to be reachable by little ones as soon as they’re big enough to open the refrigerator. If you are getting older and struggling to bend to see into some cupboards, add sliders or drawer glides to make it possible to access everything you need comfortably and conveniently.

Kitchens are the hardest working rooms in the house and the room that everyone needs to get into on a regular basis. Be ready for some serious disruption when you remodel your kitchen, and be ready to pay a little extra to get it done quickly. The less downtime you have to deal with, the sooner you can get back to normal.