At Gridley Company, we believe a well-designed kitchen starts with the homeowner, not a checklist of features. The goal isn’t necessarily to have the most storage, the biggest island, or the latest gadget. It’s to create a space that makes everyday life a little easier, more efficient, and a little tidier for you.
That’s exactly how our talented in-house designer, Vivienne, approaches kitchen design. She looks for the details that can save you a few steps, keep the counters clear, make it easier to find what you need, or simply make cooking feel less complicated. Rather than adding features for the sake of having them, she considers how you’ll actually use the space and what will make it work better for your life.
We sat down with Vivienne to learn more about five of her favorite kitchen features from a recent Gridley kitchen remodel, and why these small details can make such a big difference.
Storage That’s Easy to Get To
More storage is always nice. But storage only helps if you can actually use it. In this kitchen, Vivienne pointed out how the pull-out pantry cabinet makes the most use of a narrow space and intentionally has access from both sides. Instead of reaching deep into a traditional pantry or moving things around to get to what’s hiding in the back, homeowners can access the pantry from whichever side of the kitchen they’re working on. 
It’s especially useful when more than one person is cooking or moving through the kitchen. And because the shelves pull out, it’s easier to see what’s there and keep everything organized.
Designer Tip: These are especially helpful when a kitchen doesn’t have room for a traditional walk-in pantry.
One Less Thing to Touch While You’re Cooking
Here’s one of those features that can make you wonder why every kitchen doesn’t have it: a foot pedal for the faucet.
When you’re cooking with messy hands, you can turn the water on with your foot instead of reaching for the faucet handle. That means less touching, less mess on the faucet, less wasted paper towels, and one less interruption when you’re in the middle of preparing a meal.
Vivienne noted, “It’s a small, discrete feature, but those are often the ones our homeowners appreciate most once they start using them.”
Making Room for the Appliances You Actually Use
Countertop appliances have a way of multiplying. The coffee maker. The toaster. The stand mixer. Oh my! Before long, the kitchen can start to feel like the countertops are doing double duty as storage.
This kitchen uses an appliance garage to keep those frequently used appliances accessible but out of sight when they’re not needed. They can even include electrical outlets!
Designer Tip: The best appliance garage is designed around the way you actually live, not just where there’s an empty cabinet.
Designated Tray, Sheet Pan & Cutting Board Storage
Give your hardest-working kitchen tools a home of their own. Instead of stacking baking sheets and cutting boards in a cabinet, create a dedicated vertical storage zone.
Once again, it’s another kitchen feature that makes accessing all the tools in your kitchen easier: This means no more leaning towers, and our homeowners often find it protects their pieces from sliding and scratching.
And because the appliance garage is positioned above tray storage, the two areas make good use of the available vertical space. Appliances are stored up top. Larger, flat items are stored below.
Designer Tip: This is a great example of using cabinetry to solve a specific problem rather than simply adding more cabinets.
Inner Drawer Within a Drawer
This lower cabinet feature has two layers of storage in one beautiful, streamlined cabinet. Inner drawers give you the convenience of drawer storage while keeping the exterior clean and uncluttered. 
We love using the drawer-within-a-drawer feature for three reasons:
- The hidden organization keeps smaller items neatly tucked away inside a larger drawer.
- They’re a better use of space because you can separate utensils, tools, spices, or cooking essentials without adding more cabinetry.
- They provide a cleaner look. The exterior stays simple while the inside does the organizing. Win-win!
Designer Tip: Think of them as the kitchen equivalent of a perfectly organized junk drawer where everything actually has a place!
Good Kitchen Design Is About More Than How It Looks
None of these features are particularly complicated.
“That’s the point,” says Vivienne. “With good kitchen design, we’re not always adding something flashy or following the latest trend. We’re paying attention to how you’ll move through the space, what you reach for every day, and what frustrations can be eliminated.”
For some homeowners, that might mean a pantry that’s easier to access. For someone else, it could be a better place for the microwave, a dedicated charging drawer, or storage designed around a collection of baking sheets.
The best solutions are the ones that make sense for you and your family.
At Gridley, that kind of thinking is part of the remodeling process. Vivienne and our design team take the time to understand how you use your home and then work through the details with you as your guide, from design and permitting through construction and warranty.
When a remodel is done well, you shouldn’t have to think about why the kitchen works. It just does.