Designing a Kitchen that Instagram Loves
By / January 18, 2021 February 24, 2023Furniture, Lighting and Décor recently wrote an article that explores the trends of a kitchen that garner the most likes on Instagram. Here are the most important trends to feature in your kitchen if you want Instagram users to hit that like button:
- Shaker kitchen cupboards
- Wooden floors
- White cupboards & flowers/plants
- Kitchen island
- Brass door handles & marble countertops
Now, don’t think you have to cram every trend into your kitchen design in order to get a lot of likes. It’s never worth it to force something that doesn’t fit. But, the most popular kitchens on Instagram did all contain various combinations of these trends, with the number one kitchen featuring all but two of these elements. The more of these trends that you can cohesively blend, the more likes you’ll probably get.
A Starting Point
Shaker kitchen cupboards are a great base to build your design around because out of all the top kitchen posts, they were featured a whopping *92.6% of the time. While they’re a highly traditional style, shaker cupboards are only growing in popularity. It’s clear that people love this look.
Supporting Trends
Wooden floors are the second biggest trend, in 74% of the top posts analyzed. White cupboards and flowers/plants are both in third place, with each of them being in 70.4% of the top posts. White walls were also a big hit, suggesting that people love white kitchens in general. Kitchen islands were featured in 51.9% of the top posts, while brass door handles and marble countertops were both featured in 44.4% of the top posts.
No matter how you combine these trends, they’re sure to help your kitchen design become “Insta-worthy!”
*All percentages rounded to the nearest tenth.
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Custom Pantry Ideas
By / October 8, 2020 March 17, 2023While the kitchen is the heart of the home, the pantry is the storehouse of the kitchen. Pantries are the backbone to the preparation of any meal and gives ingredients a place to live. Like all hardworking spaces, it can be challenging to keep your pantry organized, especially while spending more time at home. However, we have found that when the pantry is built for your family’s needs and to fit the design of your space, it is easier to keep it organized. Gather inspiration from our custom pantry ideas.
Decorative Pantry
Decorative pantries are a dream. Not only are they beautiful and appealing to the kitchen design surrounding them, they are completely functional. Thomas R. Kelly of TRK Design Company designed a pantry in this kitchen to feature a grand barn door. Whenever the pantry is not in use, ingredients and other items in the pantry can be covered with the beautiful door that enhances the aesthetic of the kitchen it lives in.
PKsurroundings designed this pantry featuring by-pass doors with metal mesh inserts. When closed, the metal detailing on the doors adds texture to the kitchen design. The by-passing doors make it easy to quickly grab the ingredients you need and put them right back after using them, keeping the space completely organized and therefore, making meals a lot easier.
Built-In Pantry
Built-in pantries are fantastic because they rarely take up room in the kitchen. They are typically designed to cleverly make use of a wall that would otherwise be bare. Kountry Kraft designed this pantry to be built into the hallway next to the kitchen in this home. The pantry doors were crafted to match the rest of the cabinetry in the kitchen to create a holistic feel.
Walk-In Pantry
Some may be more excited about a walk-in pantry versus a walk-in closet, and we don’t blame them! If you desire to minimize your cabinetry footprint, walk-in pantries are the biggest storage space you can incorporate. The opportunity for organization is endless. Kountry Kraft designed this walk-in pantry to feature two large doors that match the kitchen cabinets.
Corner Pantry
You may be thinking, “My kitchen doesn’t have room for a pantry,” but think again! The beauty of custom cabinetry is that it can be designed and crafted specifically for your home’s corners, nooks, and crannies. Stonington Cabinetry & Designs took the corner of this kitchen and made it a snack pantry, as well as a beverage center. The cabinetry matches the rest of the kitchen, so when closed, you don’t even know the pantry is there. Deep, wood pull out drawers make it easy to organize snacks, spices and more.
Are you interested in incorporating any of these custom pantry ideas into your home? Find a Kountry Kraft dealer near you and get started designing today! Follow @kountrykraftcabinetry on Instagram for daily inspiration.
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Kitchen Office Spaces
By / September 2, 2020 March 17, 2023Kitchen office spaces are rising in popularity, as the number of those working from home has increased this year. Some homes do not have space to support a full separate office, however there may be room within your kitchen for a dedicated workspace. Some parents may want to be able to get work done, while staying centrally located near their children. Another great use is for children who are attending school virtually. A built-in, customized kitchen desk is the perfect solution.
Kitchen Office Spaces
With any kitchen desk area, it is best to use cabinets that match or complement what’s in the kitchen so the space blends in seamlessly. Kitchens & Baths by A Matter of Style designed a built-in desk for a kitchen located in Cheshire, Connecticut. This desk is built with the same style cabinets as the rest of the kitchen. The design of this desk cleverly utilizes open shelving and closed storage space for form and function.
Alpine White cabinets connect this workstation with the rest of the kitchen designed by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs. The space next to the block of cabinets was thought to be unusable, but a desk served as a perfect, practical addition. It’s a handy spot for handling messages, mail, and bills.
Using the same materials as the rest of the kitchen, this office blends seamlessly into a previously unused space. Generous floor to ceiling cabinet storage makes it easy to stash mail, homework, cookbooks, and important documents. Design by Dovetailed Kitchens, Inc. in collaboration with Lisa Teague of Upcoast Design.
Interested in seeing more kitchen designs with built-in desks? Visit our Inspiration Gallery.
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2020 Kitchen Island Trends
By / February 5, 2020 February 2, 2020Islands in kitchens are still on trend for 2020. Besides the obvious reason to add an island in a kitchen renovation, such as extra counter space and storage, a kitchen island can become a unique centerpiece while still being highly functional. This kitchen design by Dovetailed Kitchens Inc. in collaboration with Lisa Teague of Upcoast Design incorporates an island with a plethora of clever design details that create a functional and beautiful space.
One of the rising kitchen island trends is to create contrast with the island being a different color than the rest of the cabinetry in the kitchen. Here, the kitchen cabinets themselves are #239 Wimborne White by Farrow and Ball while the island is painted with #1536 Northern Cliffs by Benjamin Moore to create a contrast that still accents the entire theme of the kitchen. Wimborne White is one shade off from traditional white, with a small amount of yellow to create warm undertones. Northern Cliffs is a gray color that will make the island a focal point for all who enter.
Another rising trend is adding functional pieces to the island to not only make it an extra area for seating, but can be a workspace as well. The inclusion of a butcher block is perfect for those who like to cook. The butcher block allows for additional workspace that can easily be cleaned. Incorporated into the butcher block is storage for knives, a lip to catch any liquid run off, and a scrap bin that allows for easy clean up. Underneath this area in the island can be the storage for trash and recycling so when the scrap bin is used it goes right into the trash instead of needing to be emptied. Also the addition of a small wet bar sink gives a place for cleaning fruits and vegetables or even filling pots for cooking.
Finally, the overall design of the island is a one of the biggest trends. For many, a kitchen island serves as additional seating, however, that can be a problem when other appliances might be in the way. Here, the addition of the smaller wet bar sink allowed for the space of the island in front of the fridge to be functional. The remainder of the space on that side is used for seating and has a small overhang to accommodate the seating. Each end of the island is different, one having an overhang for additional seating, while the other is flush with the island base because of the oven and stove being on that end. Read more about this kitchen design by clicking here.
Want to learn more about the 2020 kitchen island trends? Follow us on Instagram @kountrykraftcabinetry. Interested in cabinetry for your home? Find a dealer near you by clicking here.
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Kitchen Island with Seating
By / December 4, 2019 March 20, 2023On today’s blog, we are revealing the components that create the perfect kitchen islands for holiday entertaining!
Seating
As so many holidays revolve around big meals, plenty of seating is the top holiday-hosting must-have. Kitchen islands are typically where everyone gathers to mingle with those who are cooking.
Easily Accessible Outlets
It is a great idea to design easily accessible outlets into your kitchen if you plan to host holiday meals. Why? Because islands are often used as a serving station for holiday dishes, so you’ll want to be able to keep your warming dishes and slow cookers plugged in.
Food Serving Space
In addition to having accessible outlets, you also need to have space to place your warming dishes, slow cookers, and other serving trays. When designed with serving space in mind, islands are easy to set up to create the perfect traffic flow for guests to navigate through the kitchen without getting in each other’s way.
Storage Space
In order to keep counters free of clutter, it is important to have well designed storage space as the foundation of your island. One of the best parts about custom cabinets is that the storage area can be crafted completely custom to fit your needs. If you need a place to fit all your pots, pans and lids, special drawers and shelves can be designed for your island.
By designing a kitchen island with these in mind, everyone will love coming to your home for the holidays! Interested in learning more? Find a Kountry Kraft dealer near you by clicking here, or give us a call at 610.589.4575.
Follow @kountrykraftcabinetry on Instagram for cabinet design inspiration!
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Planning a Kitchen Remodel? Consider your Kitchen Island
By / October 19, 2016 February 22, 2023When designing your kitchen, it is really important to take your most frequent kitchen island activities into consideration. Some may say that cooking, cleaning and eating are the only activities going on in their kitchen. There are many more activities throughout your kitchen that you may not take notice to.
While entertaining guests or gathering with family, the kitchen island is where the majority of the activity takes place. The Kitchen island acts as a meeting place where people gather around to enjoy appetizers, have a conversation, prep food items, host a cooking lesson, create a craft, enjoy a meal, etc. But what are the most frequent kitchen island activities?
Most Frequent Kitchen Island Activities
According to RICKI – The Kitchen Think Tank
- Cutting up food.
- Mixing ingredients.
- Conversations with family and friends.
- Serving food.
- Eating.
There are a wide variety of kitchen accessories to accommodate the kitchen island activities in your home. Customized knife drawers keep them safe and secure in a drawer rather than out on the counter where everyone is gathered around. We often utilize pull out cutting boards, this helps with saving counter space when you are prepping food you can cut food off to the side rather than directly on the counter allowing more counter space. Custom spice drawers make it easy to access all of your cooking ingredients with one hand. You don’t need to reach over heads or take extra time to pull out a ladder to access your spices. Our double-level cutlery drawer allows you to combine storage of utensils and mixing spoons or cooking utensils. This makes all of your utensils needed for cooking and mixing easily accessed in one place.
All of these kitchen accessories can be incorporated into your kitchen island. Incorporating these accessories will create more space for your kitchen activities as well as keep you organized. For more storage and accessory options click here. Follow us on Houzz for more inspiration.
Designing Custom Kitchen Cabinet Drawers
By / July 13, 2016 March 20, 2023Kountry Kraft offers a variety of ways for designing custom kitchen cabinet drawers that adapt to your lifestyle. From plate holders to pull out shelves, custom kitchen cabinet drawers make it easier to access all of your household items. Make your life more simple, and make the most of your space by incorporating these features right into your kitchen.
Whether you need access to dinner plates at a lower height, or you are unable to reach your coffee mug early in the morning, Kountry Kraft’s custom kitchen cabinet drawers can make your kitchen built for you.
Custom Kitchen Cabinet Drawers
The use of drawers in your kitchen will allow you to view and easily approach everything without the use of a step stool. Cabinet drawers also allow you to place dish-ware at a lower height, enabling your younger child or grandparent to assist in kitchen chores. Place your pull out drawers an arms length away from the dishwasher and sink to make the putting away of dishes easy and quick.
Pull Out Shelves
Incorporating Hafele pull out shelves into your custom kitchen cabinets will allow for easier access to back of the shelf items. Whether you’re reaching for a snack, or your morning coffee mug, pull out shelves will make accessing your every day items easy.
Built-In Shelves
Easily access your favorite recipes and books integrating these built in shelves in your custom kitchen cabinets. No need to travel down the hall to fetch your favorite cookbook when you can place it right in your kitchen! If your children love to do their homework while eating dinner, store their homework books in the built in shelves as well.
When you’re ready to incorporate custom kitchen cabinet drawers into your kitchen, click here to contact a Kountry Kraft dealer to help make your kitchen adapt to your lifestyle.
The Perfect Kitchen Layout For Your Lifestyle
By / May 18, 2016 March 17, 2023If there is one thing that relaxes me it is being in the kitchen. The kitchen is like the holy grail of the house. However, nothing is more frustrating than a kitchen layout that is difficult to maneuver around. You have to grab your eggs and milk from the refrigerator, which is on the opposite end of the kitchen from the mixers and the oven. Frustrating, right? The only way to fix this frustration is to change the kitchen layout to suit your space and have a better workflow. Listed below are four types of kitchen plans to create the perfect kitchen layout for your lifestyle.
Perfect Kitchen Layout Options
First is the galley kitchen layout. If there is not much room in your house, this kitchen layout is the best option for you. A galley kitchen includes two countertops, parallel to each other, to make the entire kitchen easily accessible. This layout is the best use of limited space. If choosing this layout, you want to select light colors to create the illusion of open space.
Next is the U-
shaped kitchen layout. The U-shaped layout is an ideal look for opening up floor space. It features three walls, which are lined with countertops, appliances, and cabinetry. When choosing this layout, homeowners should place their busiest appliances into a triangular workspace. There are many benefits to this kitchen layout, including a lot of counter space, and the ability to support a kitchen island.
The L-Shaped kitchen layout creates the feel of an open floor plan with two walls perpendicular to each other. This layout is perfect if you have more than one cook in the house. If eating space is what you are looking for, this layout is perfect for you! You can add an island to the center, or a table to accommodate your guests while you cook.
Finally, the single wall layout is typically found in small homes, because it works by keeping all appliances and ingredients in the same area with little reach and takes up as little space as possible. This design has countertops on both sides of the range oven. When choosing this layout, your best option would be to choose compact appliances to add extra counter space. This kitchen layout is ideal for loft and studio homes or apartments.
While these are not the only kitchen layouts you can choose from, these are the four most basic options. Deciding which layout to choose is going to be based off of a few things, including budget, how much storage space you will need, and how often or how many people you tend to entertain. Remember to take all of these into consideration, and LOVE the kitchen you choose. If none of these are to your liking, check out these other kitchen layouts we love.