Kitchen Design Tips for the Home Chef

The kitchen is one of the most used areas of the home. According to the 2014 Eating & Health Module (EHM), American adults aged 18 and above spend 37 minutes on average in the kitchen preparing food. However, if you consider yourself the family’s chef and pay extra attention to the foods that your family consumes, then you may be spending more time in the kitchen than any average American. 

While everyone else would believe that the food that you prepare is what matters the most, a home chef like you should not settle for anything less. Your kitchen should be able to give you the right space to prepare your recipes without any fuss.  

Below are the elements that every home chef should consider for a professional-grade kitchen:

• Keep in mind the kitchen triangle rule

The “kitchen triangle” is an effective concept in designing an efficient kitchen. According to this concept, the three points in the kitchen which are the sink, cooktop, and refrigerator should be close enough for ease of movement. With the kitchen triangle, there will be less walking around the area while preparing the meal because every important element of the cooking process is within the triangle. 

• Enough countertop space

All home chefs know that the lack of usable counter spaces can be really frustrating. Your kitchen countertop is your workstation; this is where you will do the chopping, dicing, and mixing so make sure that it is not fully occupied by appliances. You can start by clearing off the countertop of clutter and other unnecessary clutter. 

• Go for double sinks

The sink plays an important role in the functionality of your kitchen. Home chefs are also multitaskers, and installing double sinks is a way to make cooking easier and less messy. You can clean the vegetables in one sink while you can wash cooking utensils in the other. Also, make sure that the sink is deep enough so your kitchen floor won’t get too messy with splashes of water. 

• Quality over quantity

You may be tempted to purchase that latest cooking gadget displayed at the store, but, does your kitchen need it? Professional appliances and kitchen gadgets are great investments but focus on the ones that you regularly use. Go for quality over quantity to avoid making your kitchen look and feel too cramped. 

• Don’t forget the lighting

Another essential component in a home chef kitchen is the proper lighting. Your kitchen’s lighting to be placed strategically to be able to maximize the visibility in the area. Pay attention to the countertops since this is where food preparation takes place. You may also like to put accent lights over the island counter or above the bar to highlight the area. 

• Storage

When you love cooking, you never seem to get enough of every kitchen gadget and utensils that your eyes can see —- don’t worry, most home chefs are guilty of that. And with all the kitchen items that you have for cooking, it is just essential to have a proper storage system where you know where to get which item.