How to Design a Kitchen With No Wall Cabinets
A kitchen with no wall cabinets will appear larger and more spacious. By planning alternate storage options, you can still use the kitchen space effectively. This will require using space on the bottom half of the kitchen walls and nearby storage rooms, in most cases. Organizing the kitchen in great detail will help create a good work system for cooking as well. Most families have an overstock of food items or dishes in upper wall cabinets, so trimming back may improve the flow of things. Leaving walls open in upper sections provides opportunities to decorate the kitchen creatively, too. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Sketch the kitchen space. Draw counters, windows and door openings. Measure all space on each wall facade carefully. Go over kitchen design books to review ideas for storage alternatives that include shelving and free-standing cabinets.
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Plan appliances and counter space first. Figure out where the sink, dishwasher, stove and refrigerator will fit. Design a triangle pattern between the sink, stove and refrigerator, so that cooking and cleanup work easily. Add a kitchen island -- either stationary or on rollers so it can be moved. Plan to store heavy pots and pans in the bottom of the island cabinet. Create a counter work space of granite tiles or vinyl laminate for mixing and preparing foods.
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Design unique floor cabinets and storage. Select stainless steel cabinets on rollers to store foods or pans. Buy these cabinets the same height as the counter space, or purchase one large stainless cabinet to fit the corner of a kitchen that reaches from floor to ceiling. Keep in mind that an old antique buffet cabinet from a flea market or mismatched antique cabinets roughly 36 inches high will fit into most kitchens.
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Create open shelving to store cooking items. Group canisters of flour and other commodities on a series of shelves near the stove. Buy a sleek chrome shelving system at a home improvement store to place large baskets or bins full of cooking utensils and canned goods. Feature unique cooking pots on a shelf about 18 inches from ceiling level near a kitchen eating table. Add a kitchen stool to retrieve these pots for cooking on special occasions.
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Utilize space for storage near the kitchen. Use a small hallway closet for storing paper items, cereal boxes and kitchen towels, for example. Find space in a laundry room near the kitchen to install a floor-to-ceiling food pantry cabinet. Locate wasted space under a staircase to store large bags of pet food, paper products and dishes used only on holidays. Place casters on wood storage containers to hold these items, so everything is easy to move around.
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Tips & Warnings
Beautify kitchen walls with prints of outdoor scenes, pictures of unique dishes, or shelves displaying teacups and saucers or other special china. Add a grouping of mirrors to a kitchen wall to make the room look bigger.
Create a special place for glasses and dishes coming out of the dishwasher. One way to do this is to use one floor cabinet near the sink to place cups, mugs and plates. Install a drawer in the the kitchen island space to store flatware.
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