Are You an Entertainer or a Microwaver?
How do you use your kitchen?
The way you use your kitchen shapes how it’s designed.
Are you someone who hosts every holiday gathering? Do you cook every night? Are multiple people moving around the kitchen together? Or are you more of a microwaver than a recipe maker?
The answers to those questions matter more than trends ever will.
Growing up in a family that cooked constantly taught me that the best kitchens are designed for movement, conversation, and gathering, not just appearances. Dinner wasn’t something we rushed through in front of the TV. It was intentional. It was conversation. It was connection.
That upbringing completely shaped how I design kitchens today.
The Kitchen as a Gathering Space
Kitchens have become the heart of the home for a reason. They naturally pull people in. Someone always ends up leaning against the island, helping chop vegetables, pouring a drink, or simply talking while dinner is being made.
The best kitchens aren’t always the biggest or the trendiest. They’re the ones where people gather naturally. The ones full of noise, movement, conversation, and of course, good food.
That’s why functionality matters just as much as aesthetics.
Before designing your kitchen, ask yourself:
Do you cook daily?
Do you entertain often?
Are multiple people cooking together?
Is your kitchen mainly functional or mainly aesthetic?
Are you a reheater or a recipe maker?
Your answers should shape every design decision that follows.
Functional Details That Actually Matter
Some people want a kitchen that functions like a kitchen. Others want one that simply looks like one.
For 23 years, our family had a tiny kitchen. When my parents remodeled, we still joked about constantly being in each other’s way. “Ope, can I just grab something from this drawer,” became a regular phrase. My dad’s signature move is hip-checking people out of the way while cooking.
That experience made me appreciate how important kitchen flow really is.
Typically, the clearance between countertops and an island is around 3’-6”, but when there’s a sink in the island and a range directly across from it, I prefer closer to 4’. Extra space completely changes how a kitchen functions when multiple people are using it at once.
Our kitchen now has what we jokingly call a dance floor. The work triangle: the relationship between the sink, refrigerator, and stovetop is HUGE, and it makes cooking together dramatically easier.
Pantry Design Matters More Than Ever
Pantries have evolved into entire secondary workspaces.
My parents’ pantry is bigger than my childhood bedroom, but it functions as far more than food storage. It holds crockpots, mixers, blenders, serving dishes, and all the things you don’t necessarily want cluttering your countertops.
If you love hosting, a pantry can become an extension of your kitchen:
extra prep space
cookbook storage
beverage refrigerators
pin-up boards for recipes or entertaining inspiration
even secondary appliances like a microwave, sink, or oven
Some modern pantries function almost like backup kitchens.
And honestly? Moving the old “garage beverage fridge” into a beautifully designed pantry with a glass-front refrigerator is a major upgrade.
Microwave Placement
One of my biggest kitchen opinions: microwaves over the range feels incredibly outdated.
A microwave integrated into cabinetry or paired with wall ovens creates a much cleaner and more intentional look.
I once designed a kitchen for a woman who wanted her kitchen to look beautiful but barely function as one. She openly admitted she was a microwaver. And honestly, that’s okay too because the kitchen was designed around how she actually lived.
That’s the entire point.
Sinks as Workstations
Your sink also becomes another workstation, especially when multiple people are cooking together.
There are three primary sink installations:
top-mount
undermount (my preferred look)
flush-mount
And then comes the real debate: single bowl or double bowl.
I personally prefer a double-bowl sink. One side can be used for washing, while the other is used for drying or food prep. It also keeps dishes from visually piling up in one giant basin, and built-in drying racks help preserve valuable counter space.
Small details like that make a kitchen feel easier to live in every single day.
Lighting
A kitchen can be beautifully designed and still feel cold if the lighting is wrong.
Lighting should feel layered and intentional. Ambient lighting sets the mood, while task lighting makes the kitchen functional.
Under-cabinet lighting is one of the most practical additions to a kitchen because it illuminates countertops directly and eliminates shadows created by overhead lighting. It’s a small detail that makes a huge difference in how a kitchen functions day to day.
And warm lighting matters more than people realize. Cooler lighting can make a kitchen feel sterile or clinical, while warmer lighting creates a softer, more inviting atmosphere that naturally encourages people to gather.
Pendant lighting over an island also deserves careful consideration. I always think about proportion and balance first. In larger kitchens, the “rule of three” often works beautifully with pendant lights, while smaller islands may only need two fixtures to feel balanced.
The Kitchen Island
The kitchen island has become the gathering space within the gathering space.
Oversized islands naturally turn into social hubs. People gather around them while meals are being prepared, homework gets done there, guests set down drinks there, and somehow everyone ends up leaning against the island by the end of the night.
In my family, we joke about “graduating to the other side of the island.” You’re either helping in the kitchen or sitting on the other side watching it all happen.
But bigger is not always better. Islands still need proper circulation space around them, so the kitchen functions comfortably. And while I sometimes love incorporating a sink into an island, other times it’s nice to preserve one large uninterrupted workspace for prepping food, serving meals, or hosting.
Because islands today aren’t just prep stations anymore. They’re where life happens.
Kitchens Reflect Lifestyle
Open-concept living changed kitchens forever. Casual dining culture changed them too.
Kitchens are no longer hidden workspaces tucked away from guests. They’ve become spaces where people cook, host, work, snack, celebrate, and connect.
That’s why intentional kitchen design matters so much to me.
When selecting materials, I always think about durability and longevity just as much as appearance. Sometimes trendy finishes simply don’t wear well in busy homes.
I like to use “girl math” when it comes to investing in your home. If you use something every single day, it’s worth prioritizing quality. The same logic people use to justify a purse they’ll wear constantly can apply to kitchens, too.
Girl math: “If I buy this $100 purse, it will pay itself off after ten wears at $10/outfit.”
For example, if you know you won’t realistically use a cutting board for every little thing, quartz countertops are going to hold up far better long-term than laminate. Solid wood cabinetry will also outlast many lower-quality painted alternatives.
Because at the end of the day, the best kitchens aren’t necessarily the biggest or the trendiest, they are the ones people naturally want to be in. The ones where someone says, “Can I help you with anything?”
xoxo
Lilianna
