When designing a kitchen, your primary focus must be on enhancing everyday life and meeting the needs of your family’s daily routine. However, if you also love to entertain, host family and friends during the holidays, and engage in extra cooking and baking, then you should also consider the requirements for your kitchen design during the holidays.
The holiday season places extra demands on a kitchen, including more storage needs, additional space for food preparation and clean up, extra oven space for high volume cooking, and additional seating for guests, among other things. By creating spaces that support cooking special dishes, hosting family and friends, and gathering for parties or holiday meals, your kitchen will be ready for anything you can throw at it during the holiday season.
With the holiday season in full swing, take note of what works and doesn’t in your kitchen design when hosting holiday gatherings. Use this as inspiration for your next kitchen remodel and find more ideas to inspire your plans in our blog.
Layouts That Encourage Togetherness
Start by selecting a layout for your kitchen design that fits your space, family needs, and hosting style. Open-plan kitchens are a top option that helps connect the kitchen, dining, and living spaces, making it easy to interact with guests while preparing food. They are also ideal for a busy family home as they encourage interaction among family members and allow a parent to keep an eye on their young children while working in the kitchen.
Consider thoughtful traffic planning in your kitchen layout to accommodate multiple cooks preparing large holiday meals or Sunday family dinners, as well as guests milling around and socializing while you cook. If you have the space, include an island to supplement your prep space, storage, and gathering spaces. An island also helps to separate key work zones and to provide separation between cooking and socializing areas, which improves safety and efficiency. If you don’t have space for an island, then a peninsula is another option to extend your prep, serving, and gathering space.
Storage Options That Make Everyday Use and Holiday Hosting Easier
When planning storage for a busy kitchen design, start by identifying your core storage requirements for everyday use. Determine what type of storage you need and where to make sure your ingredients, snacks, cooking, tools, gadgets, and more are available and neatly stowed.
Create a flexible pantry that can handle high-capacity for extra food storage during busy times. This could be customized storage in a section of kitchen cabinets or a walk-in pantry.
Include out-of-the-way storage for extra holiday items like decorative serving platters, oversized cookware, holiday table linens, and seasonal dishware and serving pieces. Keep everyday items stored where they can be easily accessed daily, while extra holiday items are kept in upper cabinets or tall shelves in a walk-in pantry.
Prep Zones That Work for Every Occasion
A zoned approach to your kitchen design’s organization helps to create designated spaces for everything you need to do in your kitchen, from food prep and cooking to clean up, dining, relaxing, homework help, crafting, and more. The holidays present special challenges for a busy kitchen design, so seasonal activities should be factored into your kitchen work zone plans. Consider where you need to place electrical outlets so you have a place to plug in gadgets and countertop appliances where you bake and prepare food.
During the holiday season, high-volume cooking often requires more than one person working at the same time, so consider the best way to incorporate enough prep space to accommodate this. Baking is often a holiday tradition, from Thanksgiving pies to Christmas cookies, so a dedicated baking zone is ideal. Include counter space designed for rolling out dough, such as a section of marble. Incorporate space for storing baking ingredients and tools, a mixer lift cabinet for your stand mixer, and room to leave baked goods to cool.
A Full Service Bar for Effortless Entertaining
A beverage center is an ideal addition to any kitchen design, but especially useful in one where you frequently host guests. Consider where to place your bar for maximum convenience, ideally where it can be easily accessed by visitors without interfering with cooking and clean up.
A bar can be as simple as designated cabinet and countertop space in a section of your main kitchen’s layout. Or, it can be a customized standalone bar either in your kitchen or adjacent to the kitchen in an open plan living area.
Outfit your bar with features that fit your family’s preferences and your entertaining style. You could include a specialty coffee bar with your preferred coffee makers, mugs, and supplies. Create a one-of-a-kind cocktail set up with mixers, glassware, and cocktail shakers. Or include wine storage and a display space for your wineglass collection. A combination of open and closed storage is ideal so you can stow supplies while displaying decorative bottles and glasses.
A beverage fridge lets you store milk for coffee, soft drinks, mixers, and wine at the perfect temperature. You could even include a bar sink and a small second dishwasher to make for easy cleanup. A designated beverage zone reduces crowding in a busy kitchen, keeps drink refills away from the cooking area, and makes guests feel more welcome since they can get their own refills.
Seating That Adapts to Any Gathering Size
When planning seating options for your kitchen design, first consider your available space, how you plan to use your kitchen, and your family’s daily routine. Plan seating that fits your family’s day-to-day needs first. This could include a breakfast nook with a small table and chairs or banquette seating, barstools at an island or peninsula, or a kitchen table.
Then factor in options for easily expanding your kitchen’s seating areas to accommodate extra people when hosting visitors or throwing a party. An extendable table is an ideal option for increasing space for a dinner party or holiday meal. You could also bring out extra seats, such as folding chairs or slide-out benches, to handle higher volume events.
Remember to factor in seating in adjacent areas like the living room, and leave enough space for guests to safely move throughout your home when bringing in extra seats. The key is to make guests comfortable with different seating options while making sure your kitchen remains safe.
Décor Updates to Easily Transform for Every Holiday
A neutral base color palette is an ideal choice for a kitchen remodel. It also serves as the perfect backdrop for decorative accents and colorful accessories, which means you can easily layer holiday decorations onto a neutral kitchen to update your home for different seasons and holidays.
When planning holiday décor for your kitchen design, opt for easily swappable accents, such as towels, greenery, centerpieces, and tableware. Include a layered lighting design that lets you easily set the mood for any occasion with dimmer switches or smart lighting controls. A clever lighting design allows you to quickly transition from reading recipes and chopping vegetables to soft lighting for dining and socializing.
Kitchen Tools Built for Big Holiday Meals
Appliances are the main tools in your kitchen that let you store food, prep and cook, and clean up with ease. Double-wall ovens, high-capacity pro-style ranges, multiple burners, and convection ovens all help you meet the needs of daily cooking and large-scale, multi-course cooking for holidays.
Upgrade your refrigerator and freezer capacity by adding a second refrigerator or freezer in a garage or walk-in pantry. Or include extra refrigeration with drawer refrigerators or freezers to hold key ingredients near your cooking area. This lets you meet the needs of large meals when you need to store larger quantities of ingredients or to freeze leftovers. Choose an efficient dishwasher, a higher capacity model, or even a second dishwasher to make clean up easier.
Create a Kitchen Designed to Celebrate Every Season
Invest in a kitchen design that supports both daily life and major celebrations. Start by planning a layout that is efficient and includes storage and workspace to meet everyday needs and the extra holiday load. Plan for seating that expands when you need it and add extras like a custom beverage bar that make hosting easier and more enjoyable.
Remember that thoughtful planning makes daily life and holidays smoother. Let our experienced design team help you create a kitchen that will work for your family all year long.