Some kitchens look really lovely, but they don’t actually work very well once you start using them to cook – you might have plenty of cupboard space, for example, but you’ve not got anywhere to prep your vegetables, or maybe there’s a bit impressive looking island, but the hob is too far from the sink, and so on. But there are plenty of ways to make your kitchen better for cooking, and here are some ideas to help you get started.
Look At Your Workflow
If you cook on a regular basis, you’ll already have a natural way of moving around the space – you’ll do things like take the food from the fridge, wash it, chop it up, cook, plate it, and so on, and if those areas where you’re doing that are too far apart from each other, it’s going to be annoying, and potentially unsafe because you’re walking around a lot more.
The best thing to do is try standing in your kitchen and going through a simple meal step by step – where do you feel cramped? Where do you have to move things around? Could you tweak the layout a little bit to make things better? And if you’re not sure what to do or how to change things, speaking to expert kitchen designers can help make things work a lot better and ensure the kitchen is easier to use.
Create Proper Prep Space
Worktop space is so important in a kitchen, but you might not realise just how much you need until you’re actually trying to cook a meal, and if you find you don’t have enough of it, you’re definitely going to notice very quickly, especially when you consider that cooking properly means you have to save space for chopping boards, bowls, and ingredients all at the same time.
If you can’t extend your counters, what about clearing them? You could move the appliances you don’t use every day, for example, and maybe add some wall-mounted storage for utensils. The fact is, even gaining an extra foot of space can make cooking feel a lot easier.
Improve Lighting
Cooking in dim light isn’t the best – after all, you need to see what you’re chopping and whether something is browning properly, not to mention the safety aspect of it all.
Installing under-cabinet lighting can be a good thing because it shines directly onto worktops, and it’s a very practical addition to your kitchen when you can’t change the overhead lights or don’t need that much extra. In the end, good lighting means fewer mistakes and it can make the whole space feel a lot more inviting at the same time.
Keep Tools Within Reach
If your most-used pans are at the back of a deep cupboard or your knives are stored in a different part of the kitchen from the prep area, you’ll have to keep interrupting yourself when you’re cooking just to get what you need.
That’s why it’s wise to think about what you use most often and store it nearby. You can use hooks, drawer organisers, and pull-out shelves among various other things, and they’ll all make everyday cooking much less of a chore.