1. Consider more than just cooking when designing your kitchen. Kitchens are now often landing zones for the whole household – mail/office space, cell phone charging stations, entertaining. When planning your kitchen design, throw the net wide and consider all the uses.
2. Group similar activities into zones. Primary zones like prep, cooking and cleanup create the kitchen framework and should be distributed to avoid crowding, but close enough to share common needs. Locate prep and cleanup zones near each other. Distribute secondary zones like baking, beverage, communication centers, storage and entertainment throughout the primary zones to spread out activity. Use this system as an alternative to the standard kitchen triangle, which doesn’t work for all floor plans.
3. Plan for multiple cooks in the kitchen. Organize zones with enough elbow room to accommodate multiple people. Can someone access the dishwasher while another preps and cooks? Does opening the refrigerator door cut another person off from the sink? If you have the space, leave at least 48” of clear counter space to one side of the stove or cooktop.
4. Face your guests. If you are the social type, create an interactive layout to better connect with your family or guests while in the kitchen. Give people a comfortable place to sit to help with prep, do homework or just visit.
5. Buy eco-sensible materials. Shop for eco-friendly alternatives to standard kitchen materials. Cabinet boxes can be made from non-off-gassing particleboard or sustainable wood from managed forests. Research has shown granite can be radioactive (The New York Times “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?” 7/24/08). Check out cool & durable countertop materials that contain recycled materials. Recycled glass: Icestone.biz, Vetrazzo, Trinity. Post-industrial-waste integrated with cement: SquakMountainStone.com. Recycled paper: PaperstoneProducts.com. Bamboo+paper: EcoTop. Decommissioned money: Shektastone.
Invironments helps you create spaces that connect you to your joy. We encourage cooking enthusiasts to delight in their craft and get more out of their kitchens. We create beautiful, eco-friendly kitchens and minimize the frustration of a typical home remodel. Unlike other interior designers or kitchen planners, Invironments manages the entire project. We hire the architect, contractor and painter, while overseeing the entire job from concept to curtains. See our designs at www.invironmentsdesign.com or visit our showroom located at 1646 Pearl Street in beautiful downtown Boulder. (303) 413-8003.
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