If you’ve got the chance to upgrade and update your kitchen, it’s well worth thinking not just about how it’s going to look, but how you can make it more practical as well. The more practical a kitchen is, the more you’ll enjoy using it, and, when you come to sell the house (if you decide to, of course), you can use your wonderful and highly practical new kitchen to boost the value, so what’s not to love? With that in mind, here are some things you can put in place to make your kitchen more practical for you and anyone else who might want to use it. Keep reading to find out more.

Add More Storage

There’s no such thing as too much storage, so when you’re updating your kitchen and having a redesign, adding in as much storage as you can (and still ensuring it looks good) makes a lot of sense. You’ll need wall cabinets and under-counter options, as well as any other storage you can include, which might mean speaking to experts about custom storage options.

Custom storage means an expert will come and assess your space and then design clever storage options around what you’ve got so that there’s not even the tiniest area that’s wasted. In this way, although it is a more expensive option, you’ll maximize storage and minimize waste.

Have Granite Countertops

If you’re going to change your countertops, opting for granite is a great idea if you want to make your kitchen more practical. Granite countertops have a lot of positives going for them  in terms of practicality, and the biggest of them all is that granite is a hugely durable material, so once it’s installed, it’s highly unlikely you’ll need to replace it because it becomes damaged or starts to look old due to wear and tear – it will last for as long as you need it to.

Another benefit of granite is that its heat resistant, so if you put a hot pan down on it, you won’t find a nasty burn mark when you lift it up again, and for some, this actually gives them a new prep surface to work with. Plus, maintaining a granite countertop is very easy, so it’s not going to give you too much work to do when it comes to cleaning up your kitchen.

Improve The Lighting

The last thing you’re going to want when you have a new kitchen is poor lighting because you’re not going to be able to see anything, so no matter how great it might look during the day, when it comes to actually using the space, it will be useless – it might even be dangerous.

That’s why, when you’re updating your kitchen and you want to make it more practical, lighting has to be on your list to improve. Rather than a single fixture in the middle of the room, you’ll need to have task lighting in the areas that it’s going to be most used, and install under-cabinet lighting to ensure your counters are lit up. Before you start adding lights, take an objective look at your kitchen and work out what’s needed and which areas need to be lighter so you can get it right.