There is nothing more joyful than cooking in a functional kitchen. A "functional kitchen" is an interior design style that emphasizes ease of use and practical flow compared to purely decorative or traditional kitchen design. Every element of a functional kitchen is shaped to make your cooking experience more enjoyable, and to make the kitchen more welcoming to residents.

Of course, that doesn't mean you have to be completely utilitarian. There are many stylish ways to makeover your functional kitchen so that you gain the joy of both easy cooking and a beautiful space.

Why Is It Important to Have a Functional Kitchen?

When it comes to kitchen remodels for homeowners, a well-designed kitchen should make cooking easy and fun. There are many ways to style a kitchen that don't contribute to its functionality, but no matter how stylish your kitchen, it should always be functional. This is why it's important to design a functional kitchen first, then build style on top of the features that make it a joy to cook in and free-flowing hub of family activity.

Some Trendy Kitchen Design Ideas:

Explore trendy kitchen upgrades that also improve the functionality of your space.

• Statement Backsplash

• Diverse Kitchen Materials

• Hidden, Built-in Pantries

• Vintage Revival

• Drenched In Light

Functional Kitchen Pieces to Mix & Match

Functional kitchens are based on a few essential design features that improve functionality. No matter the size or shape of your kitchen space, you can make it a functional kitchen by adding these features to the design. Mix-and-match the following pieces and your kitchen will naturally become more functional.

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle represents the perfect distance and path between your stove, sink, and refrigerator. You will walk this path thousands of times in just a few years, bouncing between your primary workstations, and the flow can shape your entire kitchen experience. In general, the lines between these points should be unblocked and between 3-9 feet apart.

Kitchen Workstations

Kitchen workstations focus on optimizing the primary places where to stand to do prep and cooking work. Your workstations include the sink, the stove, and your best countertop spaces. Workstation design can accommodate one chef doing multiple tasks or multiple chefs splitting up the work. Each workstation can have additional kitchen cabinets, hooks, drawers, shelves for storage space and surfaces designed to make cooking easier at each stage. These are good places to keep small kitchen appliances.

Island-Centered Design

Larger kitchens become more functional with a central island. If you have a large kitchen that does not yet have a central island, adding even a portable island can significantly contribute to your workflow and potential work surfaces. This is a great place for a butcher block.

Barstool Breakfast Seating

Whether you have an island or peninsula, the barstool breakfast area is a great addition to almost any kitchen. It invites kitchen guests, gives you a place to sit, and creates a multi-purpose space in the kitchen. It makes a casual dining area for eating on the go and makes a space for attractive décor, as well.

Deep Double-Basin Sink

Every home chef who's had a double-basin sink knows it's value. You can keep one side for soaking, use both sides for different stages of cooking, or use one side to clean the other. A farmhouse sink is the perfect focal point for a functional kitchen, with a comfortable front apron to lean against and deep basins for pots, soaking dishes, and all manner of washing up tasks - up to and including bathing pets and babies.

Accessible Cabinet Storage

Make the best possible use of your cabinets. Add pull-out drawer shelves to deep cabinet spaces, vertical storage, and lazy-susan rotating shelves in the corners so that no space goes unused or is hard to reach. This is a great way to hide your modern design inside the kitchen cabinets.

Prep Sink

A small prep sink in the kitchen island or at the far end of a long kitchen is also a great addition to your kitchen's functionality for filling water glasses, prepping vegetables, and many other small tasks that won't interfere with the kitchen sink. 

DIY Kitchen Ideas for Styling a Functional

Functional kitchen décor ideas are a great way to combine style and useful design. If you can make your kitchen functional and beautiful at the same time, every piece of décor can contribute both to a stylish look and how easy your kitchen is to use.

Hang Colorful Pans & Utensils

If you have a small space, hanging pots, pans, and utensils is a great way to increase the functionality of your kitchen while also decorating in a stylish theme. Choose bright copper pans, a mix of your favorite colors, or the beautiful rainbow metal finish on your pans and utensils to make hanging racks look amazing as functional décor.

Modernize Your Backsplash

Updating your backsplash is a hot kitchen trend that can also make your kitchen more effective. Tall subway tile backsplashes create a modern kitchen look while waterfall marble backsplashes are a great combination of elegance and function and a great way to tie in your backsplash to your design color palette.

Open Shelving Shows Off Your Dishware

Open shelving can make a small kitchen feel larger and turn your dishware into décor. If you have a great set of glazed stoneware, colorful glasses, pretty mixing bowls, a cookbook collection or other attractive kitchen supplies, store them on floating shelves within easy reach of each workstation where they will be the most useful. This is a great way to use extra space on your kitchen walls.

New Flooring

Looking to remodel for a functional kitchen design? Consider laminate board flooring, a combination of hardwood and laminate that is both beautiful and durable - and appropriately moisture-resistant. Depending on your remodeling budget, you could use natural wood flooring.

If you like the color scheme of a black and white kitchen, Dark wood floors can be a great contrast with white kitchen cabinets.

Update Your Kitchen Sink

Swap out that old, scratched stainless steel sink and faucet for a more functional upgrade like a farmhouse kitchen sink with deep basins and a comfortable apron to lean against. Give yourself bigger basins, two or more basins, and a beautiful, eye-catching new look in beaten copper or fireclay.

New Cabinetry Styles

Replace the handles or the entire door structure of your cabinetry to completely reinvent your kitchen décor. Give yourself useful glass panels or use this as an opportunity to gain extra storage by replacing shelves with roll-out drawers, trays, and vertical storage. You might remove the doors of the upper cabinets and create new display shelves.

Bright, Beautiful Light Fixtures

Let the light in. If you don’t have access to natural light, creating better lighting is always a bonus in a functional kitchen. This is an opportunity to choose a stylish new light fixture, or update your pendant lights and this is a good way to add a pop of color into your color scheme.

Functional Kitchen Layouts

Functional kitchen design also focuses on flow - which means looking at the best floor plan beyond a galley kitchen, for your new kitchen.

• L-Shaped Kitchens

  • L-shaped kitchens fit into both open and enclosed kitchens and balance perfectly with an island. L-shaped kitchens are also the best for creating your golden triangle.

• U-Shaped Kitchens

  • U-shaped, and similar G-shaped, kitchens wrap around to maximize counter space and can often still support an island in the center.

• One-Wall Kitchens

  • For smaller, minimalist open-plan designs, a one-wall kitchen leaves behind the golden triangle but still offers great flow and accessibility for your kitchen layout.

Style Your Functional Kitchen with Fossil Blu

If you're looking for the perfect nexus between form and function, it can be found in Fossil Blu farmhouse kitchen sinks. Our beautiful beaten copper sinks or elegant fireclay can become the perfect kitchen décor idea to add to your functional kitchen that is also beautiful and on-trend. Contact us today to find the ideal sink for your functional kitchen design.