“Home idea with IKEA”: a brand new family’s kitchen

Mindaugas and his four children (the fifth and the eldest one returns home only during the holidays) spend a lot of time in the kitchen. This is their place for cooking, playing, and doing homework. Unfortunately, they have to use the kitchen in shifts because it is too small to fit all the family at once. Let's see what IKEA interior designer Dovilė Genytė can do to solve this issue. 

Small space, large furniture
Entering the old family kitchen arouses the feeling that something is wrong. Dropped ceiling makes the room feel even smaller than it is, bulky appliances leave no space for the comfort of cooking, and the heavy corner seating takes up the most of floor space, leaving too little of it for the dining table, which makes it impossible for the family of five to eat together.

But where do you cook?
The countertop on both sides of the stove is wide yet cluttered. The microwave oven, the dish drainer and other kitchen utensils leave no space for convenient chopping, cutting and cooking.

Clutter everywhere you look
There were far too few closed cabinets in the kitchen. As a result, family's dishes, cooking utensils, and food were kept chaotic: on open shelves, on the fridge, on the countertop, and even on the windowsill.

Let it be white
As it was quite dark in the old kitchen, our interior designer immediately came up with the idea: the new one has to be bright and white. Dovilė has planned a bunch of closed cabinets with VEDDINGE kitchen fronts that are as white as the walls. This makes the kitchen look bigger. Besides, getting rid of the dropped ceiling made room for another row of wall cabinets.

“In this kitchen, I aimed the biggest attention to lighting. We have replaced the spotlights in the ceiling, the pendant lamp above the dining table and have installed the additional worktop lighting. The bright kitchen lets enjoy cooking, eating and spending time with children, while drawing or playing board games.”

Finally! Enough space for everyone
The old corner furniture was replaced by a larger dining table and five chairs. Now there is one for each family member. When the family is waiting for guests, they can extend the EKEDALEN table and add some foldable chairs, such as TERJE. One foldable chair here is hidden the gap left between the fridge and the wall. Dovilė has intentionally left the gap uncovered, as in such a small kitchen every centimeter counts!

Home chefs will be happy
Dad is not the only one cooking meals for family. He is assisted by his little daughter who learns how to cook from her grandma. This means they need twice more space on the countertop. As the dish drainer moved over the sink, small items found their space in the cabinets, and the old microwave oven was replaced by the integrated one, now there is plenty of free space on the countertop, and the family can cook together.

Organized cabinets
To keep the kitchen cabinets organized, the interior designer put small items into boxes. The VARIERA shelf inserts make the contents of the cabinet easy to overview and access.

...and drawers
Dovilė claims that order in the drawers starts with organizing. This is why she has separated food from other kitchen utensils and dedicated on deep drawers for dry food products. IKEA 365+ jars and containers with lids keep the food fresh longer and ensure that no grains or spices are spilled, while customizable MAXIMERA dividers for drawers are perfect for keeping them organized.

“Remote controlled roller blind is a great solution if access to the window is hindered by other furniture in the room. It has no strings or wires, therefore is safe for children and pets climbing on windowsills.”