Create a space the whole family can enjoy with tips from award-winning kitchen designer Jason Landau.
The kitchen is a place where you catch up on each other’s day. It’s the place where the kids sit at the table, diligently (ha!) doing their homework. It’s a place where you throw your mail, catalogs collecting on the countertops. Oh, and it’s also the place you’re supposed to cook.
In most households, the kitchen is the hub and heart of the home. It’s a multifunctional space, serving several functions as needed throughout the day. When designing a kitchen, you have to consider how you can create a space that allows you to transition easily from task to task.
Jason Landau, owner of Amazing Spaces, LLC in Briarcliff, should know. The award-winning kitchen designer has designed family-friendly kitchens all over the tristate area, including his own.
“Designing a kitchen that suits the entire family’s needs can be a very difficult task,” Landau says. “The kitchen design must fit into the lifestyle of the family it serves.”
Redesigning your kitchen? Check out Landau’s tips on how you can design a space the whole family can enjoy:
• Organization is key. Think about the activities that take place in the space. Design and arrange things that will fit the demands to fulfill those activities. For example, if the kitchen serves as a work space for the kids to do homework, you want to make sure there’s seating and lighting that accommodates that activity.
• Shared work space. Speaking of homework… These days, you’ll find more students turning on a computer to complete their assignments instead of using a pen and paper. More and more modern kitchen designs are including a computer desk (and hey, now you can look up those recipes on Pinterest a little easier).
• Choose kid-friendly cabinets. If you have young children, you may want to considerable lockable cabinet drawers to keep small hands away from cleaning supplies and sharp knives. Another feature to consider is the self-closing drawers that cannot be slammed shut.
• Add comfortable seating. Bringing couches, armchairs or other living room furniture into the kitchen encourages families to sit together somewhere other than in front of the TV. If you have a bay window, try installing a window bench where the kids can lounge while you’re cooking dinner (they may even offer to help!).
• Install a custom chalkboard. Chalkboard paint allows you to transform any cabinet surface into a chalkboard. You can turn the side of a cabinet into a menu board, a place for the grocery list, or an accent wall.
Jason Landau, owner of Amazing Spaces LL and award-winning designer, is available for expert advice, recommendations and consultations. He brings two decades worth of experience in space planning, kitchen design, and working with the world’s finest cabinetry firms to your project. Call him at 914-239-3725 or visit amazingspacesllc.com.
Photographs and kitchen designs by Amazing Spaces, LLC
