Tips for Designing a Family Friendly Kitchen That’s Gorgeous for Entertaining

There’s a truth about parties and entertaining: when you have people over to your home, they will always congregate in the kitchen. That’s why it’s important to design a family friendly kitchen that also works for your entertaining needs.

It’s easy to overemphasize the role of entertaining when remodeling a kitchen. Parties bring your kitchen into focus and you want to put your best foot forward. It’s natural to try to build a kitchen that’s incredible gorgeous and has ample space for warming dishes and extra wine glasses.

The truth is that most people spend their time in the kitchen doing things they do every day. Standing at the counter making a quick breakfast for the family. Helping the kids pack lunches for the day. Preparing family dinner. So while it’s tempting to build a gorgeous kitchen that will be perfect for parties, it’s more practical to build the family friendly kitchen you need for everyday life.

The good news is there’s a happy middle ground. You can design a family friendly kitchen that’s also gorgeous for entertaining. Below are some things to consider when designing a kitchen that will serve all your needs.

Open Layout

The popularity of open floor plans in recent years is for good reason. Opening your kitchen to seamlessly flow into other rooms of your house is a great way to help family members and guests feel close and included, even if they’re a room apart.

The kitchen and living room in particular are great places to include open floor plans. Knocking down a wall may feel like a big undertaking, but it will make a dramatic impact on the overall feel of your space – for your family and your party guests.

Multi-Purpose Elements

Even in the course of a standard week, you probably find that your kitchen table is used for everything from family dinner to science experiments with the kids.

Elements like centre islands can play multiple roles: they give the kids a do homework while you’re cooking dinner, and can also serve as a casual breakfast nook or snack bar. When entertaining, these spaces pull double duty by providing a place to serve small bites or invite guests to mix their own cocktail.

Modular, Hidden Storage

Having a family and having a party are two things that can require a lot of supplies. It can easily get overwhelming as you try to find places to put all the family’s gear, and also a place to put the special-occasion stemware and the cocktail napkins.

Having specific, designated places for kids supplies can be a helpful strategy. Kids are still able to easily find what they need, but it’s out of sight to minimize visual clutter.  The same approach works for party supplies: keep them tucked away until the time is right. Your modular storage will make it easy to grab them when it’s time to celebrate.

Easy to Clean Surfaces

Leveraging the elements above can certainly help you design a stunning kitchen – but there’s one other, more practical element that you’ll certainly want to incorporate (for your peace of mind): surfaces that wipe down quickly and easily.

Surfaces like quartz are easy to wipe down, so they’re great for sticky fingers and minor spills. They’re not absorbent like stone so they’re more forgiving. And, they have a beautiful finish to make your kitchen the gorgeous haven that you need it to be.

Your kitchen is central to your home. It brings family together, it provides a place to share meals and conversations, and it’s the room you invite your closest friends to when you have something to celebrate. It’s a room worth investing in, from a design standpoint and a practical standpoint. After all, your kitchen is where you’ll spend a good amount of time with the most important people in your life!

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