If you’re building a new home from the ground up or remodeling your old one, you probably have a Pinterest board full of modern kitchen design ideas. It’s a popular concept and for good reason: People not only spend a lot of time in their kitchens (eating is important), it’s also used as the main area for entertainment since most gatherings revolve around food.
Having a kitchen that’s spacious with clean lines and eye-catching furnishings provides an inviting space for you and your family, as well as large groups of friends. Are you ready to create the kitchen of your dreams in your home? Here are my top six design aspects that provide an ideal way to organize, prepare food, and entertain in both form and function.
1. A Double Oven
When preparing food for a large gathering, one oven is never enough. If you think that having two ovens is overkill, think about that time you were baking a cake and also wanted to make baked ziti for your dinner party, but you were running low on time. A double oven would have been a lifesaver. (OK, that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s certainly a time saver)!
Baking 48 cookies for a fundraiser? Yeah, you can do it all at once, and in 20 minutes, you have four-dozen cookies ready to go. You get the idea. Trust me – when Thanksgiving rolls around, you’ll be glad you doubled up on your oven purchase!
2. Lots and Lots of Cabinetry
You’ve accumulated a lot of cookware, bakeware, utensils, and kitchen appliances over the years, and you need space to store all of it (you never know when your moment to shine on ‘Top Chef’ may come, and you need to practice)!
Cabinetry with lots of shelves, drawers, and compartments is a perfect way to organize your cooking items and kitchen gadgets, and the more the better.
3. A Walk-In Pantry
If you have a family, you know that running low on pantry space is not uncommon. All of the cake mixes, canned goods, flour, sugar, pasta, spaghetti sauces, and the like just won’t fit inside a tiny pantry with shelves that are 12 inches wide. When it comes to modern kitchen design ideas, this one’s a no-brainer.
A walk-in pantry not only provides a way to organize your food items so that they can be found quickly and easily. Say goodbye to those dusty 7-year-old cans of soup that got lost in the corner of a dark pantry! A walk-in pantry also provides storage for non-food kitchen items such as large stock pots, napkins, and paper towels.
4. A Single Deep-Basin Sink
Most sinks are split into two compartments: the left two-thirds are for dishes, and the right one-third is for the disposal. While I get the idea behind it, it’s just not practical. Whenever you need to soak large pots and pans, they don’t fit in the main sink area because it’s shaped like a square due to the disposal sink. And so you’re forced to let dirty pots and pans soak on the countertop. (What an eyesore!)
There’s no reason that you can’t have a disposal be a part of one large rectangular sink. If you want to soak your dishes after a dinner party so that they’re out of the way (without having them take up precious space on your island), this sink will do the job.
It not only holds a ton of pots and dishes, but it’s deep enough to keep them hidden from view at a distance. Oh, and the silver button in the top right-hand corner? That’s the disposal button (another modern kitchen marvel). No more turning on a million light switches to figure out which one grinds up food scraps!
5. An Island
Having a kitchen island is a must for three reasons:
- They provide a place to do food prepping. When you’re chopping vegetables and rolling out dough for your homemade cherry pie, it’s so nice to have plenty of working space.
- A kitchen island provides a way to display food for your parties. Whether you’re setting up a buffet for your holiday meal or just want to have hors d'oeuvres and finger foods for your book club, an island does it best.
- They’re great for extra seating. When you have several guests from out of town and the kitchen table is getting a little crowded, having tall chairs or bar stools at the island provides the perfect solution.
6. Dazzling Light Fixtures
Don’t be afraid to add a little sparkle to your contemporary kitchen. A fabulous way to complement your granite countertops is to add light fixtures that shine!
Since your cabinets, flooring, and countertops are going to be fairly matte and neutral, be sure to make a statement piece with your accent lighting.
It’ll be nice to get compliments on the things that really liven up the party (aside from your amazing cooking skills and your charming personality, of course).
Is there anything that you would add to the list that is an absolute must-have for your dream kitchen? Share your modern kitchen design ideas in the comments below!
