How to Create the Perfect Kitchen for Entertaining

by Samanth Rose

Do you love throwing parties and get-togethers for friends and family? For many of us, there’s nothing more important than quality time spent with others, often done over good food and good drinks. If you want your home to be a hotspot for entertaining, you’re going to need a kitchen that can live up to your dreams.

Whether you prefer to host large neighborhood parties or intimate get-togethers

for just a few close friends, the right kitchen will help empower you to be the ideal host or hostess.

Here are some tips for inspiration to get started on building your dream kitchen with RTA Kitchen Cabinets:

1.Create an Open Floor Plan

There’s nothing worse for parties than a cramped kitchen. Either everyone is uncomfortably squished inside, or whoever is working on the food preparation has to isolate themselves from the rest of the gathering.

Open floor kitchen plans have become an established, here-to-stay trend because they accommodate socializing while encouraging everyone to get involved in the meal.

If you’re currently stuck with a tiny kitchen, consider the ways you might be able to open up into a dining room or living room and create a larger space. Even if you already have an open kitchen design incorporated into your home, there are a few factors to pay attention to in order to make sure you’re making the best use of your space.

For example, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) recommends

that you take into account your traffic flow: you want to make sure any walkways between stations or islands or rooms is at least 36 inches wide. Where you’re doing kitchen prep work, you should have a width of at least 42 inches for one cook and at least 48 inches if you’ll have multiple cooks.

As you’re thinking about kitchen flow, make sure it’s safe an easy to get between your different areas for storage, cooking and cleaning.

 

2. Plan for Seating Around a Center Island

Once your kitchen has an open space plan, you’ll want to make it easy and delightful for people to socialize there.

 

A kitchen island can be a wonderful addition to your plan. Not only can it be used to prepare food or serve as a buffet table, if you incorporate seating around the island, you can get the party involved in the hustle and bustle of the kitchen itself.

You may even want to throw a small party with everyone seated around the island, which can create a cozy, relaxed feeling in a homey setting.

3. Make Sure You Have Plenty of Prep Space & Storage

If you’re planning to host a party, you need to make sure you have space for all the extra things you’ll need in the kitchen. Not only will you need plenty of food to serve everyone, you’ll need plates, cups, utensils, serving trays, and maybe even certain new appliances like blenders or toasters to prepare novelty dishes and/or keep them at the right temperature.

 

Having the right storage is also important so that you can free up your counter space to prepare and serve food. Extra cabinets and shelves will give you designated space for all your kitchen items while keeping your tables and counters clean and clutter-free. 

 

If you’re curious how your kitchen can be transformed into an ideal entertaining space, our team at RTA Wood Cabinets will be glad to help. We know you need a space that’s both stylish and functional, and we can help make your kitchen transformation easy.

 

We’ll even get you started with a FREE Kitchen Design. Just give us a call at 800-788-7575.