Stephanie 
Any serious foodie probably knows how important a home cooked meal is. They will want to make adjustments to their kitchen to make it comfortable to cook in that works best for them. It’s just like how anyone who develops a fascination with DIY will want to arrange a craft room so their tools can be more neatly displayed in their workspace. As they might hang their hammers and screwdrivers, you may set up a neat herb garden on your windowsill.
Now, deciding how your kitchen works best for you, one question might come to mind now that you’ve nailed a few recipes and may want to expand your kitchen repertoire – how should a foodie redesign their home kitchen? Take into consideration the format of the room and space may narrow down a great deal of options before even beginning.
All of this is more than fine, of course, but knowing where to start can feel like the toughest part. With that in mind, you may wish to consider some of the following options:
Food Storage
Every good cook knows that ingredients need a home, and if you’re a real foodie, you might collect odds and ends more than you realize. That could mean that for some cooks, the pantry setup matters more than almost anything else in the kitchen.
A good place to start is by integrating shelving that lets you see everything at once to save time and stops food from hiding at the back until it expires. You might also install deep drawers, which ten dto work work better than cupboards for heavy pots and appliances. From there, a proper spice rack near the stove lets you season as you cook without having to dig through your cramped cupboards. Balance this out with the positioning the room allows for and your preference as a cook.
Lighting
Kitchen lighting needs to work harder than anywhere else in your house because of all the steam, condensation, and heat it can be exposed to. Clean and unimpeded windows do provide natural light to help add something of a glow to your room, but you also need good task lighting over your main prep areas.
The space above your stove especially needs proper lighting, or you’ll end up cooking in your own shadow. Under-cabinet lights help too, letting you see what you’re doing without overhead glare on shiny countertops, and can add a nice ambiance to the space, especially allowing you to cook without overly bright lights shining on top of you from above.
Surfaces & Countertops
Counter space really does disappear quickly once you start cooking properly and adding different appliances, so making sure you have enough room with wider surface areas, those that conform to walls or a central standing unit in the middle can be great. Having different heights helps for some kitchens, such as a lower section for kneading bread, a standard height for general prep, and maybe a higher spot for tasks that need more control, but that’s somewhat advanced and it’s fine if you keep everything the same height.
Just remember that the space on either side of your stove matters most. You need room to rest hot pans and space to prep ingredients before they go in, with perhaps further durability in countertop material to match that.
Oven Style
No kitchen is complete without an oven, but of course there are many styles to choose from. Gas gives you more control and works during power cuts, which is nice, but some feel a little less comfortable using it. However, professional chefs love gas because they can manipulate the flame more easily to cook on the stove.
That said, if you prefer baking, electric tends to be more even and is a little greener too. Magnetic induction heats fast and stays cool to touch so it’s quite safe and also fairly economical. We can’t tell you what to opt for of course, so think about how you actually cook rather than what looks impressive. If you love to bake, double ovens let you cook at different temperatures at once, and that’s why many prefer a nice range, because they can multitask. We’re sure you’ll make an excellent choice, just be sure to do so alongside the best kitchen remodeling effort.
Pan Hooks
One of the best investments a home cook can make, outside of a great chef knife for slicing and dicing, is a set of good, reliable pans. No matter if you prefer using non-stick, hex clad, or stainless steel, or all the other options out there, good pans need proper storage.
That’s because stacking them damages their surfaces and makes them hard to reach. We’d recommend using wall-mounted rails or ceiling racks, as this allows you to keep them handy and show them off nicely. Your most-used pans should hang where you can grab them without stretching. Just make sure your walls can take the weight before you start drilling as you otherwise would.
Appliance Integration
Depending on your preference, you may wish to integrate appliances into the kitchen itself. Just remember that built-in appliances look sleek but cost more to repair or replace, and freestanding ones give you more flexibility. Think about what you actually use for the best outcome. A stand mixer needs its own spot if you bake often, and your food processor should live where you can grab it easily. However, we absolutely would recommend making sure you have enough safe plug sockets, as power points can determine how much plugging and pulling you have to do, or how often you need to run extension cords across your workspace.
Ventilation Hoods
Even vegan home cooks can char vegetables and other foods, meaning that good ventilation to keep your kitchen fresh and stops cooking smells from wandering through your house isn’t just for those who cook heavy steaks in butter.
If you want to perfect this installation, a proper hood vented outside works better than one that just recirculates air. They need cleaning regularly to work properly, so make sure you can reach the filters easily and remove the grease if there is anyway. The best hood in the world won’t help if it’s too noisy to use, so check the sound levels before you buy too, one for professional kitchens are often quite loud, so find a happy medium if you can.
With all of these options, you’ll be more than ready to redesign your home kitchen with care for all your foodie needs.
