The kitchen is fast returning to its honored place as the heart of the home. In these days of hurried schedules and harried lives, the kitchen has become the focal point of the home and needs to accommodate a variety of people and their diverse activities.
So many kitchens, though, make us groan because they no longer suit our needs. The most common complaints can usually be solved creatively and affordably with the help of a kitchen designer. Here are some practical cures for the common kitchen groans.
| Groan | Cure |
|---|---|
| The trash can is in the middle of the kitchen. | Install a pull-out trash can in a base cabinet or under the sink. |
| It's hard to reach into the base cabinets — and it's too dark to see anything in there. | Install roll out shelves or deep drawers so everything comes out to you. |
| The dishwasher makes so much noise. | Replace it with an extra quiet one. You can barely hear the better models. |
| That silly little cabinet over the refrigerator is hard to reach and a waste of good space. | Put in a 24" deep cabinet that comes out to the front. |
| Dirt collects on the ledge of the backsplash, and the wall above it is beyond cleaning. | Backsplashes can extend from the countertop to the bottom of the wall cabinet. They can be made from the same material as the countertop, or from other low maintenance materials such as tile. |
| The vinyl floor is hard to clean and has a seam that is coming apart. | Replace the floor with custom vinyl tiles, natural wood, or ceramic tiles instead. |
| There's no place to store the broom. | Create space in the existing pantry by adding a partition or hang a hook inside a closet door. |
| It's hard to work because the lighting is so poor. | Improve the lighting by installing undercabinet lights along with more general lighting (sufficient recessed lights or large fluorescent ceiling fixtures). |
| Small appliances on the countertop take lots of space, get dirty quickly and are unsightly. | They can be easily accessible, yet tucked away, in a tambour door appliance garage or on roll out shelves in a base cabinet. |
| The cooktop is hard to clean. | Today there are smooth top ceramic glass cooktops if you are going electric and sealed burner gas tops which have one continuous recessed surface for easy cleaning. |
| The base corner is deep and dark and impossible to use. | A lazy susan or swing out shelves can be designed for use in the corner. |
| The refrigerator sticks out into the middle of the kitchen taking up gobs of space. | You can replace it with a 24" deep, built-in refrigerator or your kitchen designer can plan so that the deep refrigerator has a concealed look. |
| The sink seam is always hard to keep clean. | If you install a solid surface countertop, you can also have an integrated sink. With a granite countertop, you can, at least, have a sink that is mounted from underneath so the seam is hidden. |
| There isn't enough counter space. | Sometimes there is enough space to simply add an island. But more often this problem calls for an overhaul to create more usable space. A new floor plan that rearranges cabinets, sink location, cooking stations, and maybe even doorways, can net wonderful results. |
| Cooking. | How about reservations! |