Our kitchens are a big part of our daily lives. In our kitchens, we prepare meals for the people we love, teach our children to cook, experiment with new recipes, and make dinners we’ll eat with friends. But it’s even more than that if you think about it—it’s where the people we love find sustenance for their hearts and minds. Whether it’s gathering around a kitchen table or leaning against a counter, holding a cup of coffee, it’s where we go when we need to talk. It’s no surprise that the kitchen is often called the “heart of the home.”
The team at Roeser Home Remodeling enjoys the challenge of creating functional kitchen layouts for families because no two homeowners have the same vision for theirs, which makes it interesting as well as rewarding work for us. And nothing makes us happier than knowing that we’re bringing someone’s dream for the perfect kitchen to fruition.
If you’re considering remodeling your kitchen with a family in mind, it helps if you have a plan before we visit with you. Following are some suggestions that will help you get started. Let’s begin by discussing what you have and then we’ll see where you want to go.
What You Have
Walk through your kitchen with a notepad or your phone open in an app that allows you to make notes. This would be a good time to grab a tape measure and take measurements of your kitchen as you go.
- Look at your overall layout. What do you like? What do you hate? Is the sink or stove too far from the prep areas? Maybe you have a sink that you really love. Or not? Maybe you’ve always wanted a farmhouse style sink? Or you hate the faucet? Add all of this to your notes.
- How is the lighting? Are there dark corners that get on your nerves? Or is the over-all space just poorly lit? Studies have proven that working with inadequate lighting is bad for our minds and that good lighting can make all the difference.
- How many cabinets and drawers are there? What do you like? What would you love to replace?
- Does your pantry have enough space to hold family-sized amounts of food? Is everything sort of piled in there for lack of a better idea? Is it a serious pain to find things because some of the shelves are out of your reach or too deep?
- How much square footage is available to you as is? Do you have a room you could live without if you were to expand your kitchen?
- Do you have family-friendly kitchen appliances? Is your refrigerator large enough to hold the food you need? Is it well-lit with plenty of drawers? What about your stove? Are the burners large enough to cook large pots of food? Are some of the burners showing their age? Does your dishwasher clean your dishes adequately? If you’re planning to grow your family, will it all be enough?
- How much prep space is available? If you already have teens, are they in and out of the kitchen a lot getting snacks? Do your children or teens help you prepare meals or do you envision this happening as they get older?
- Do you like your windows as is or do you want more of them?
- What is your seating situation? Do you have room to add to it?
What You Want
Now make a second list. Picture the kitchen you want. Don’t be afraid to dream a little. When we discuss functional kitchen layouts for families, we often ask the following questions and make suggestions.
- What does your dream layout look like? Do you like small and cozy? Or large and spacious? There’s no wrong answer here. Do you have teens who are in the kitchen a lot, grabbing snacks? Some parents find it easier to place the refrigerator near a doorway for this reason.
- How much seating space do you need or want? If you entertain regularly, allow for that. Built-in seating is a sneaky way to add storage space to your kitchen.
- Is your kitchen dark? What kind of lighting would you like? There are a lot of great choices out there that look and feel great. Maybe more natural lighting—by adding a window or a skylight?
- Don’t have a pantry and want one? Where would you put it? Or maybe you’d like to expand on what you have? We specialize in custom closets and pantries are just closets for food. So we know that the best kind of pantry is the one that makes you happy, easy to organize, and keeps that way. It doesn’t have to be huge to accommodate a family—just well-laid out. Here are some great ideas that may help you with that.
- Do you want more or different cabinet space? Have you considered replacing some of what you have with deep drawers? They are often more efficient and waste less space than cabinets do. In lieu of drawers, maybe you’d prefer cabinets with pull-out shelves. What about adding lazy-Susan style shelves to corners?
- Need new appliances? Take a look at appliances online or visit a few appliance stores. Take some measurements and consider if what you want will fit into your available space. If they don’t, then add that to the list of questions you want to ask us. We understand the importance of family friendly kitchen appliances and may be able to help you create a layout that will accommodate the ones you want.
- How much prep-space is ideal for you? If you don’t have a kitchen island/breakfast bar, consider adding one for the sake of extra prep space (as well as storage). Consider adding counters at different heights so children can help make dinner and make it for themselves when they get old enough.
- If you want more windows, make note of where and how big you want them to be. Do you have a sink without a window over it? Have you always dreamed of having one
Roeser Loves to Talk About Functional Kitchen Layouts for Families!
It goes without saying that like most people, everyone on the team at Roeser Home Remodeling has kitchens of their own. So as professionals, we understand that deciding what you do and don’t want in yours is personal to you. Because of this, we treat our clients’ wishes as though they were our own.
Our standards are high and we don’t accept every project because we will only do the job if we can do it right. The Staff at Roeser Home Remodeling brings the same expectations to every job—quality, customer satisfaction, and integrity. You will always get our best. Without fail. Our goal is to make the entire process as easy as possible while still giving the client the high-quality results they deserve.
Roeser Home Remodeling has been the recipient of many awards, including Best Houzz of 2020. Our Director of Design, Brandi Ward, has won several awards for her kitchen designs, and recently accepted one from ShowPlace Cabinets for her beautiful kitchen design. Brandi is an expert in creating functional kitchen layouts for families!
We are members of the Home Builders Association of St Louis, which shows our willingness to be held accountable for the quality of our work. Roeser Home Remodeling uses only the best materials, including products like Wellborn Cabinets and Showplace Cabinets. And we have an A+ rating with BBB.
Want to know more? Check out our portfolio and give us a call.
