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Saturday, March 5, 2011

Setting A Perfect Kitchen Island For You

Wondering what would be the perfect Kitchen Island for you? Any idea what Kitchen Island would be? For some, you may think of an island where there are lots of kitchen appliances and lots of busy cooks doing their stuff. But coming from the word itself, Kitchen Island is a counter in the kitchen that is usually in the center and which is unattached to the wall. It is a space saving technique for most houses as most of our homes today are small and compact.

How To Set A Perfect Kitchen Island

The ideal distance between an island and a counter is at least 42 inches, or 36 inches if you are pushed for space. If it is to be a counter, it should be about 36 inches high, but if it includes an eating area, this should drop to 30 inches. If you prefer it to be a function bar, it should be at least 40 inches in height. There are lots of kitchen design ideas that you may consider for you to set up your own Kitchen Island. You may choose a wide range of designs and styles suited to your needs. Just be inspired to all the creations seen online or from home magazines.

What You Could Get Having A Kitchen Island?

Setting your own Kitchen Island can help you maximize your small kitchen space with all your kitchen appliances in it. If you do not have enough space to fit any countertops on your kitchen, this will be a good option for you. Other advantages such as having extra storage or shelves; if you need more space for work; and a feeling of having a central focus on your kitchen room may be your possible reasons of having a Kitchen Island. However, installing a Kitchen Island may also take risk especially if you do not want it to be permanently installed. You may choose freestanding varieties that are portable and can be removed anytime you want. For example, a portable island may be in the form of a trolley, preferring this kind of Kitchen Island may tip over easily and can be hazardous if you have kids at home. Even a permanent island can give you risk if it was not bracketed carefully to the floor. You may find another solution like “kitchen peninsula,” which means a surface attached to one of the walls but having the option to put it up or down when needed. But still, your safety should be one of your most top priorities.

From the basic countertops down to luxurious and fully designed Kitchen Islands, one must take all the considerations before setting one like including the kids you have at home and of course, the space of the kitchen where you will put the island. The idea of having it permanently installed or preferring the portable island will depend on your needs, style and convenience when deciding to have one. Cooking would never be this fun having a Kitchen Island of your own.

Maximize Your Kitchen Space

A kitchen that makes efficient use of every available space is a rare sight. More often than not, cupboards are filled to bursting with supplies alongside some junk that we never seem to get ourselves to throw away. Usually, this clutter overflows into countertops and workspaces and this interferes with how the kitchen is used. There’s really no reason to store everything in the kitchen, it’s just that it has always been that way and this force of habit is hard to break. There are things you can do to ease the transition into having a usable kitchen for a change:

Corner cabinets for the kitchen are often overlooked because of the awkward way that they open. The harder access almost always relegated these otherwise useful storage spaces into mere decorations. This seems like a waste of a perfectly-good storage space. Fortunately, advances in storage solutions and space-saving designs have now given a way for us to reclaim this lost space. Turntables and shelves that you can pull out are just some of the innovations that allow you to make the most out of every nook and cranny around your kitchen. The great thing about this is that you can use this space for actual things you use for cooking, cleaning, and maintaining stuff around the kitchen. You can then take the useless junk and place them in the attic where they belong.

Many people remain oblivious to the many cupboard storage solutions that get introduced year after year. This is really a shame as many of these are really innovative and make creative use of space that you never thought of before. Take the common spice rack for example. Many of you probably have one in one shape or form. The usual rack is often placed on top of the counter, probably near the stove, for easy access. What would you say if you are given a way to hang your rack and gain some additional work space for chopping and food preparation? Modern storage solutions allow you to do just that with a rack that you hang from your overhead kitchen cabinets. There are also models that you screw onto the back of your cupboard doors which basically does the same thing – keep your spices accessible while storing them neatly out of the way. Another great way to organize and make small storage spaces seem double in size is to install tiered shelving inside your existing kitchen cabinets. This way, instead of stacking cans and jars and not seeing the back of cabinets, you can just pull out a shelf and gain access to the back row without disturbing those stored near the door.

One more great space-saver is a hanging pan rack. Ones like those you see in cooking shows or TV houses can get quite expensive, but the benefits can easily outweigh the initial cost of having one put in. For one, you gain a lot of extra space being taken up by your pots and pans. Also, a proper pan rack, along with nice cookware, simply looks good and lends a lot of credibility.

Taking it further, hanging things out of the way generally a good idea. Hooks and small shelves placed in strategic areas give a lot of added convenience to even the smallest kitchen space.