Most would agree that a professional is only as good as the tools they use. A world-class luthier, for example, may have a preference for wood, and could also design small tools and molds they use to make their job easier.
But could this be the case for our kitchens? After all, our kitchen is where we store all of our cooking utilities and appliances, the use of which helps us create delicious and wonderful meals for our family on a consistent basis. Can refurbishing that space help us become better cooks, and develop a more rounded palate?
It’s possible. You don’t need a great, shiny new kitchen to cook delicious food, nor do you need the latest and greatest appliances. A little investment in how you like to cook and a helpful environment that supports you in doing so can be wonderful... but where would you even begin?
Consider The Best Layout For You
First and foremost, consider your kitchen layout. It does matter. The fine-tuning you implement here affords you the logic of finding what you need when you need it, instead of rooting around in a million cupboards to find that casserole dish.
Consider the core of where you spend the most time, and design outwards from there. For example, the engine of power is your stove, and you can implement drawers and storage items (like a wall-mounted spice rack) for the items you use most when cooking with a pan. You can also prioritize safety with clear pathways and sufficient space to move between the main surface area and your side surfaces. This will help you turn around, even with a pan, without having to worry about knocking on someone.
When you have a logical layout that works for you, you can focus your mind more on cooking, and less on logistics.
Your Surface Areas Matter
The central element of your kitchen – the surface area – matters more than anything else. Why? Well, you can barely create meals with a stovetop alone. But if you do have good kitchen surfaces, you can purchase portable hot plates and cook even without a stove. So, arguably, the surface is most important.
When finally designing that kitchen overhaul, consider the true functionality of your kitchen space. A kitchen countertop replacement could be all you need to spruce up the kitchen and provide much more surface area for you to chop, knead dough, and fold pasta.
Choose materials that align with your style and ensure ease of maintenance – because who wants to scrub unhelpful stains and deal with unsightly dent marks for years? Some popular options include wood, marble, laminate, quartz, and even concrete or stainless steel, the latter is a main feature in commercial kitchens.
A great surface area gives you room for more appliances, more pans, and more canvas to put together your best meals, from the top down.
Preserves & Prepared Meals
The goal of any smart kitchen is to create a system where you can effortlessly locate ingredients, inspiring your deft home cook touch without the frustration of rummaging through cluttered spaces.
So, when you think about food storage capabilities in your kitchen, consider a space where everything has its place, contributing to a more organized, efficient, and enjoyable cooking experience. That could mean implementing a ladder where you can easily store your non-refrigerated goods, with simple categorizations to keep like ingredients together.
Freezing & Storage
You might also invest in a freezer that holds more over time, or storage containers that can help you meal prep with ease each week. If your refrigerator is too small for your purpose, consider purchasing a wider or deeper option. Some can even track ingredients, offer recipes based on what you have in the fridge, and implement common utilities like filtered water and ice production options. All of that can be worth your time.
This also saves you money in the long run. When you can buy in bulk, store your foods, and keep them for longer, you don’t have to keep replenishing smaller items, you can keep everything you need, purchased wholesale, for quite some time. Sometimes, all you need to enjoy a better home cooking approach is to have everything you need in one place.
The Lighting Counts
From checking if a chicken breast is raw in the middle and seeing the correct thermometer temperature, being able to check if the smoke is ventilating correctly up through your extraction fan, seeing a slippery surface and cutting with a sharp knife and protecting your fingers - being able to see well is an essential element of cooking not talked about enough. This is especially true if you need to wipe down your glasses after they steam a little.
For that reason, having adequate, stylish lighting in your kitchen can be a great upgrade, even if this is the only one you invest in. Making sure the lighting is clear but not too harsh, and that alternate bulbs (like one under the extraction fan hood) give you more precise coverage when you need it can be a worthy investment. In the long run, this will help you feel more connected to your cooking and less likely to make mistakes.
Easier Clean-Up
Part of being a home cook is caring for your kitchen and kitchen equipment. For this reason, improving your ability to clean up your home well can be a fantastic use of your time. That might involve detachable hose sprays from your taps to help you clean plates before you wash them, a nicer dishwasher, a dry rack that naturally seeps into the sink, and materials that can easily be cleaned or rejuvenated over time.
This way, you can keep your kitchen clean and comfortable to use, while also staying a place you want to cook and spend hours learning new cuisines in. If the kitchen is the heart of the home, you will have certainly developed it to your wonderful new standards.
With this advice, you’ll be certain to refurbish your kitchen and perhaps become a better cook because of the effort.