Cook Smarter, Not Harder: 3 Functional Kitchen Remodeling Tips To Follow

Your kitchen may be falling short in functionality…

This has turned the joy of cooking into a daily frustration. 

From cramped spaces hindering movement to inconvenient layouts blocking seamless access, the functional shortcomings of your kitchen are leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

But not anymore!

I’ve worked with many homeowners on kitchen remodel projects, and in my experience, kitchen functionality comes down to 3 important elements.

Let’s talk about them…

1. Understand Priority Dislikes

The first item to address when starting a kitchen remodel is your priority dislikes. These are the things that you dislike about the current state of your kitchen. Many homeowners grapple with kitchens that feel too restrictive, hindering free movement and making daily tasks a struggle. 

For example, one of the most common things I notice in kitchens is that they are confined. Between appliances, cabinets, countertops, and islands, space disappears quickly. As a result, homeowners are forced to jam themselves into uncomfortable situations to do simple tasks like cooking and cleaning.

Another common dislike I find in kitchens is the arrangement of cabinets in relation to appliances. I can tell you from personal experience that so many homeowners struggle with this one specific problem: cabinet doors that overlap with the dishwasher. Whether you’re putting dishes in or taking them out, many homes have a cabinet door that hinders the use of the dishwasher.

We here at Franco Building & Remodeling strongly dislike this particular problem because it goes against our number one rule for kitchen remodeling: the kitchen should serve you, not the other way around.

These dislikes come in all shapes and sizes and can often be overlooked when remodeling a kitchen. But when you make it a priority to identify them and share them with your remodeling contractor, it will get the conversation rolling in the right direction with the right intentions.

With these dislikes brought to light, your remodeling contractor will work with you to develop a plan that eliminates them and optimizes your space to function more effectively.

2. Identify Priority Needs

Here are the facts about kitchen remodeling: there are functional solutions to every kitchen problem. It doesn't matter the complexity of the problem there’s always a way to make functional changes that serve you better.

With that established, the second item to address before starting a kitchen remodeling project is to ask yourself, what are your top priority needs?

What changes will make the largest impact on your kitchen? What do you need for your kitchen to work best for you?

The answers to these questions vary from person to person but will help you and your remodeling contractor better understand what is the most important from your perspective. Armed with that information, your remodeling contractor can create a plan that emphasizes these needs and ensures they are met.

Here is an example of one specific priority need I’ve noticed in kitchen remodels that we’ve done over the last year.

Simple functional adjustments.

When I say simple, I mean it. These are not massive changes or complete reworks but rather, simple adjustments that make your kitchen operate ten times more efficiently. One of the best use cases of this is the spice rack.

Ahhh, the dreaded spice rack, every kitchen cook’s worst enemy. It’s the root cause of more kitchen meltdowns than anything else. It’s a war zone filled with loose spices and seasonings scattered about like a sand-filled desert.

But it doesn't have to be.

A simple spice rack custom fit to the specs of a drawer or cabinet allows you to stack spices upright with easy access so that you can focus more on your meals and less on the organization. No more cluttered chaos squeezed into a small space.

I’ll be the first to tell you that every homeowner we’ve installed a custom spice rack for becomes the envy of all their neighbors.

3. Focus On Design

Most of the time when I bring up the word design, people think I’m talking about the visual look of a kitchen. While that falls under the umbrella of design, that is just one small component.

Design is more than aesthetics; it's about planning for efficiency and practicality.

Planning allows you and your remodeling contractor to take a 30,000-foot view of the entire kitchen and address each part of your project with intention. Planning ensures that your kitchen is functional and serves you best whether you’re cooking, eating, cleaning, or entertaining in the space.

This planning covers everything from major changes, like appliance movement and cabinet replacement, all the way down to the small, microscopic details such as adding extra electrical outlets to the kitchen island for easy charging and appliance use.

From colors to fixtures, form to function, design is the roadmap for your kitchen remodeling project, and when contractors collaborate with homeowners to create designs together, the results are truly amazing.

That’s why it’s important to work with a trusted remodeling contractor who has a proven history of successful kitchen remodeling projects. They’ve done it before and know that a great project comes from strong planning that involves both the homeowner and the contractor.

At Franco Building & Remodeling, we put a heavy emphasis on design as it helps us show clients how we’ve taken their priority dislikes and priority needs and combined them into one complete plan to make their kitchen the best it can be. This design is referred to constantly between our team and our clients to make certain that we are all on the same page with the same goals, and headed in the same direction. 

A new functional kitchen awaits you…

There you have it! 3 things to focus on before you start a kitchen remodeling project. Take these with you and start writing down your priority dislikes, and needs, and share them with a remodeling contractor who can bring this dream kitchen to life.

Speaking of remodeling contractors…

Our team is eager to get started on your kitchen remodeling project! Drop us your information right here, and I will personally email you with a time to chat on the phone.