Your Essential Family Kitchen Checklist

When designing a kitchen for your busy family life, we know there are certain things to include in your design that will make your life so much easier. Having a lot of people in your kitchen can be incredibly stressful especially when they're only young and need a an extra eye on them! We've come up with a handy list of everything we think you could include in your kitchen design to help keep chaos at bay.

Photography- Anna Stathaki, Interior Design- Hannah Gooch Studio.

One of the first elements we would recommend if the kitchen is large enough, is to incorporate an island into your design. Having an area of the kitchen where you can not only gather around with friends and family, but also where people can sit and chat whilst you prepare dinner and drinks for the evening is such a useful design feature. Having a seating area at the island is also a brilliant place for children to sit and for you to keep an eye on them whilst you get on with other tasks in the kitchen and ensure that they are away from any hot appliances or pots and pans.

Often when cooking dinner with family, it can often be very rushed and there is simply not time to sit down at the dining table and all have a meal together as a family. In these instances a small seating area at the island where you can quickly serve up dinner to hungry family members is perfect.

A larder is also a brilliant choice for your kitchen to help keep everything running as smoothly as possible. By having a larder, you are able to keep everything to hand that you may need, and have easy access to ingredients and utensils that you may need for cooking and preparing within the kitchen. By using a bespoke kitchen manufacturer, you can customise your larder to whatever layout you may choose. This means that you will have perfect and unique storage for the items that you use the most in your home.

We don't often talk about the 'golden triangle' within kitchen design, as it can be called so many things but we always recommend a layout that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Whilst we don't necessarily only work to everything being in a very specific layout, we do like to ensure that your kitchen is designed for optimal use. By having your sink, appliances and preparation areas within close distance of one another, it makes everything much easier as your kitchen is designed for functional use.

Hidden storage is such a good option for a busy family kitchen too. By having extra storage in your island or options such as pull out caddies in your larder means that you can have everything that you may need to hand without cluttering your surfaces. We've created some beautiful kitchens that have hidden storage within the island- such as extra storage for utensils or crockery. Having integrated appliances within your kitchen is also a brilliant idea, as it saves space around your kitchen and also creates a main area for food preparation and cooking. This keeps other areas clear and ensures that you have enough room for you and your family to move comfortably around your kitchen.

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