In many ways, the kitchen is the perfect area for everyone to congregate. While it used to be more about the fact that the family would sit on a sofa in front of the TV, now, numerous people are making a concerted effort to get talking and socializing, rather than spending time on their phone. If you are looking to revamp your home and turn your home into a place for the family to congregate, rather than being all fragmented, the kitchen is the perfect space. So how can we start to make this kitchen space the perfect place for family gatherings, but also, family bonding?
Make Room For A Big Table
Simple, isn’t it? If you want your family to gather so they start talking more, you’ve got to provide the space for them to do it. Part of the reason that families congregate in the living room is that it’s the only space for everybody to sit down. But the fact that the TV is there, people naturally start to gravitate towards that than have a conversation. If you have the luxury of redesigning your kitchen, you’ve got to think about the functionality. Installing a kitchen island could be the perfect way to make the most of the space, but also get the family in the kitchen. Kitchen islands are very popular. And the costs can vary. It all depends on the material that you want. The more high-end material is granite, and you can take a look to see if it will suit your kitchen aesthetic by taking a look here: https://www.precisionstonedesigns.com/products/granite-countertops. Everybody needs breakfast, and even if you’re all so busy that the kitchen becomes this revolving door of activity, you can at least spend 5 minutes together sat at this island before going your separate ways.
Add A Comfortable Color
It’s not just about the design or the layout, but it’s got to be vibrant enough for people to want to stay. If the walls are dull and uninspiring, and you don’t have the finances to change everything, at least change the color. Look at the accessories and fixtures you already have, as this will dictate the style and colors that you can use as a springboard to redecorate. You can always contact a painting contractor, or if you already have a specific aesthetic, for example, wooden cabinets, change the paint color to accent the accessories. It’s a fine balance because you need the space to be stylish, but also make it somewhere that the children will want to stay. If you’ve got wooden flooring, a black and white wall setup could make things stand out and provide that contrast. On the other hand, if your kitchen doesn’t get much sunlight, adding vibrant colors will create that sense of sunshine.
Don’t Forget The Safety Features
The kitchen needs to be safe, first and foremost. If you’ve got young children, or even toddlers, the kitchen has to be childproof. It’s a space where there are potentially a lot of hazards. And if you’ve got young children, you need to implement a few important safety features. This page will provide you with the starting point. But the main thing you need to consider is the cabinets. All the cabinets will need locking, because if you are storing sharp knives or dishwasher tablets, you need to make sure wandering hands stay firmly away. Also, consider adding slow close hinges to the drawers and doors. Children’s fingers can always get pinched or jammed, and this will minimize the potential for that. And on top of this, get a stool! A small step stool can stop children climbing and falling. There are step stools that can be easily stored, but it should be a vital part of your kitchen. After all, if you want your children to help and get them involved in the cooking and preparation of food, they need to be tall enough to reach the preparation areas.
Create A Space Away From The Preparation Area
If you decide to add an island, this may very well be too close to the preparation area, this means you’ve got to think about the practicalities. If you are busy cooking or prepping your meal, and you’ve got family members coming in and out, this can be a melting pot of frustration for you. As such, think about the space and make it habitable for everyone. But at the same time, if you have a preparation area that’s too big, people will actually walk in there to fill the space. You’ll have to decide whether it’s a preparation area that can only accommodate one person at a time.
Get Organized
At the very least, if you don’t have the space to have the whole family together, you need to have a more organized kitchen. If you have a space that is full of clutter, you can start by assigning tasks to each family member and getting then to clear away the clutter. It’s also worth installing additional drawer space. If your kitchen has a lot of accessories, this can give the impression that the space is too much for people to congregate. If you can see where your kitchen is going wrong because your family isn’t spending much time there, declutter and get down to the bare essentials; you can find that is just more opportunity for everyone to gather in this space.
The kitchen should be a place for the family to sit and spend time together. The dinner table is one of those places where you can find out how school has been, if there’s been specific issues, but it can also just be a place for you all to get together and spend that all-important family time. And if you tend to congregate in front of the television, but you’re wondering why you don’t tend to talk as much, the answer is right there in front of you! Instead, take the opportunity to gather in the kitchen, be more sociable, but more importantly, spend time as a family. As families tend to be quite fragmented these days because of modern life, let’s bring back the kitchen and the dinner table as the most important area of the home.
