If you're building or renovating, it's important to consider the needs of the whole family when designing your new spaces. We understand that families are very busy, therefore our aim is always to design spaces that are as functional as possible to help make your lives easier. A way that we can do this is through the cabinetry we design, and by adding cabinetry in places you may not have considered! Below are 5 cabinetry ideas to help you create a functional family home:
1 | Mud Room
A mud room is usually located near your main entrance or at a secondary entrance, like the garage or laundry door. It's a place to store things you usually take off as you walk into the home like shoes, coats, and handbags. They are incredibly practical for families as you always know where everyone has left their things, and everything you need is right there as you're rushing out the door. If your mud room is in a completely separate room, consider creating open 'lockers' for all your family members with a combination of shoe storage, open shelves and hooks. If your mud room joinery is in an entry, I would recommend to put doors over the lockers to hide away the clutter and keep the entry looking neat and tidy.
2 | Study Nook in the Kitchen
If you have enough space in your Kitchen, a study nook can be really practical to keep laptops off the island bench while you're cooking! I also love creating a 'charging station' in the study nook by adding a cupboard with power points inside, so that everyone can charge all their devices in the one place. You can also add family planners/calendars or pinboards for reminders and shopping lists to make it a functional space for everyone. You can have this space as a part of the Kitchen or you can add some pocket doors over the study nook so that you can hide it all away when not in use.
3 | Window Seat
Window seats are a great addition to any room, as it creates a cosy place for reading and relaxing. Large window seats in main living areas are also fantastic for entertaining, as it becomes an additional spot for people to gather. You can also add storage below for blankets, cushions or books through drawers, open shelves or a lift-up lid. Having a nice wall sconce or reading light within the space can also be very practical.
4 | Pet Station
To create a truly functional family home, it can be helpful to incorporate the needs of your furry family members into the design. Consider creating a nook within your kitchen or laundry cabinetry for your pet's food bowls to keep them out of the way. You can also add a small pull out bin near it to easily access and store your pet's food. If you want to take it a step further, you can make the nook large enough to also fit their bed so they have a cosy place to sleep out of the way.
5 | Understairs Storage
If you have a double story home, you can create a lot of storage space by utilising the room under the stairs. Depending on where it is located, you may only have room for a small door, but if you have the ability to gain full access to this space, take it! You can have a standard door into the room and then add shelves and hooks inside to suit your needs - or you can open up the whole space and add custom cabinetry instead. This could be just cupboards and drawers, or you could even have your mud room, study nook, pet station or a seat in there!
We hope these ideas have been helpful! If you are looking to build or renovate and would like some help, you can get in contact with us using the link below:
Have a wonderful week,
Nina xx