An important decision in any kitchen design is choosing the perfect style of kitchen cabinets. With thousands of options on the market, this can be quite a daunting task. Do you go for the modern look and risk your kitchen going out of style in a few years, or do you play it safe with the traditional look and risk looking dated and out-of-touch?

Styling considerations aside, there’s also the practical aspects, since your kitchen cabinets need to be accessible and functional. There’s no point with them looking great if you can only fit two plates and a sippy cup in them, and need to be an NBL player to actually reach the doors.

There’s a lot to think about when choosing kitchen cabinets, but here are some tips to make your life easier.

1. Opt for Semi-Custom

If you’ve got the budget to spare, by all means you can choose to have your kitchen cabinets fully custom-made. However, if like most of us, you need to spread your limited funds across the whole project, then semi-custom is the way to go. These designs use stock inset doors styles and colours but they can be tailor-made to fit your kitchen specifically.

2. Maximise Your Storage

If you’re the kind of person that does a lot of cooking, then you’ll definitely need space to keep all your appliances, utensils, white goods and ingredients tucked away in. This also means that you will need to be on the lookout for ways to maximise your available space.

For instance, a regular kitchen cabinet might have lots of empty space at the top. Installing practical drawers turns this into several levels of storage, maximising the vertical as well as the horizontal space. It sounds so simple, but many people overlook these simple ways to improve their storage solutions.

3. Think About How You Want Your Kitchen to be Organised

Along with kitchen cabinets, there are a plethora of additional accessories you can consider to ensure you’re keeping your kitchen organised in a way that is tailored to how you like to store your appliances, utensils and ingredients. For instance, utensil dividers are an easy way to keep baking tools away from knives or frying tools separate from cutlery.

Use a lot of spices? Consider a dedicated spice rack to keep all your seasonings in one place. Want to hide your trash away? A pull-out trash container is a great way to keep everything concealed.

4. Think About What You Use Most

While it might be tempting to go all-out with a new kitchen, there really is no point having cabinets full of stuff you will never use in your day-to-day cooking. If you’re the kind of person that likes to follow recipes on your phone or tablet, by all means, opt for cabinetry that comes with a built-in charging station, but if you prefer to just wing your cooking, there isn’t much point having these features.

Remember that your cabinets aren’t meant to be the focus of your kitchen – they are just there to make your kitchen more user-friendly. So, if there are larger appliances that need space on your countertops, plan your cabinet designs around them instead of taking up valuable overhead counter space and making things awkward.

5. Choose Fittings That Are Practical and Stylish

You might think that a door handle is just a door handle, but these smaller pieces of hardware can actually make or break your kitchen décor. Like they say, the devil’s in the details!

So what do we mean by this? Well, if you’re going for a traditional look in the kitchen, pairing stainless steel handles with a classic dark wood design will throw the whole thing off. You would be better off pairing the cabinet with more intricate copper or brass handles.

You should also be careful when going for the transitional aesthetic where you mix and match classic and modern designs. It’s a fine balancing act that the team at The Furniture People will be happy to help you get right.

Don’t underestimate the need for well-designed fittings, handles, doorknobs, cabinet doors and general kitchen cabinet hardware. Think about what’s practical yet also stylish and chic. There’s no point going for traditional iron cabinet handles if they’re awkward to open and a pain to keep clean!

The Final Word

As you’ve seen throughout this article, there are 1000s of ways to use your kitchen cabinets, whether that be for practical purposes, storage purposes, aesthetic purposes, or a combination of them all. So before you make a sizable investment, take the time to consider everything we’ve covered above. If you still need help, TFP’s expert team is here to guide you. Check out our extensive stock of constantly updated kitchen furnishings here!