About This Post
The kitchen is the heart of every home, but it doesn’t beat in the same rhythm for everyone. For some people, it is just a place to prepare food needed to survive, while for others, it is the place where the magic happens. If you belong to the latter group, you want your kitchen to be functional, aesthetically pleasing, and have everything you need to prepare various culinary delights. So, if you want to create a chef’s kitchen, whether for your personal or professional needs (hosting a cooking show or writing a culinary blog), the tips below should help you make it just right.
A functional layout
First and foremost, the kitchen needs to have a layout that supports cooking, storage and cleaning in an intuitive manner. In fact, most of the professional kitchens are divided into these three work zones. Dividing the space into a dry area, baking and storage area, and wet area for cleaning and wet prep is convenient. However, while wet preparation and cleaning can be in one space, it would be more convenient to separate them by installing two sinks. Still, you don’t have to remain strictly within the layout rules. The kitchen layout depends on what you cook the most and how you cook.
The best appliances
Cooking, food prep and storage are no joke, and they should be taken seriously especially when you are choosing appliances. This is the list of appliances you will want to include and some tips for choosing them:
- Range and cooktop: Most professional chefs suggest using ranges or cooktops with high-output burners. However, these units are not standard for households, but for commercial use. You can still choose quality appliances that use gas instead of electricity for cooking.
- Oven: If you are a baking enthusiast, you should acquire a separate oven with a broiler of at least 3,000 watts of cooking power.
- Dishwasher: Dishwashers should have a spacious interior space and a heater which raises the water temperature above 120°F, which makes grease a much easier challenge to tackle.
- Refrigerator: Proper food storage is essential for every household, especially the one where there is a lot of cooking. Appliances like professional Electrolux refrigerators provide you with all the perks you need, ranging from an external water dispenser to wave-touch controls.
A well-organized storage space
Storage solutions might be the most challenging thing to incorporate into the kitchen, especially if you have plenty of cookware. That’s why it is better to consider them even before you decide on the kitchen layout. Count and measure your cookware, ranging from dinner plates to heavy-duty pans. Here are some storage tips to consider:
- Avoid open shelves. They might look nice, but they gather dust. If you want to display some of your dishware, use glass cabinet doors.
- Choose adjustable cabinet shelves.
- Store cookware you use at the same time in the same place (e.g. mixing bowls and measuring cups go together).
- Store items near their point of use (e.g. pasta pots close to the sink).
- Opt for cabinets with large deep drawers.
- Attach a rail and hooks onto the backsplash to hang small pans and ladles.
Sink with an abundance of space
As we already mentioned above, it is always a good choice to include a double sink or two full-sized sinks if there are more people using the kitchen at the same time. Don’t use round shapes, even though they look nice; they occupy plenty of the work area. Single-handle lever faucets are a good choice because they are simple to operate even when your hands are covered in flour. Gooseneck models are great for washing pots easily.
The two surfaces that matter: walking and working
It is essential that the material used for kitchen floor is not slippery and that it is fairly stain-resistant. The ideal kitchen floor is wood strips, but you can also go with vinyl and wood/plastic laminate. As for the other essential surface, the kitchen countertop determines just how professional your kitchen is. There is no one ideal choice for the kitchen countertop material, and it would be best to use a mix of materials. For example, you can choose laminate for most of the countertop, as it is inexpensive, and install a square tile in the area where you plan to do most of the chopping and prep.
Finally, when you set the backdrop for your culinary adventure, you need to stock up on quality cookware, dishes and smaller appliances, such as a blender. From there, all you need to do is relax, and create magic in your dream kitchen.
