When you’re making decisions about kitchen and bathroom design for a new home build or during a renovation, choosing cabinets with in-demand features will add value. When a prospective buyer sees that a kitchen and bathroom is already decked out with the latest cabinet design, that’s one less thing to worry about—and strong incentive to pay top price.
One popular kitchen design is galley style according to Dawn Tiesman, a Cabinet Designer at the DeWitt, Iowa, Spahn & Rose. Other currently popular kitchen features include clean, functional workspaces that double as areas to place food for entertaining while appliances are hidden in cabinets.
In addition to those trends, Tiesman shares five new cabinet products in high demand:
- Pull-out Garbage Can
This feature is now practically mandatory for any new kitchen or renovation, for several reasons: Keeping trash hidden in a cabinet is convenient for people with pets. A pull-out garbage can will help reduce kitchen odors. Mounted on sliders, these receptacles can be configured to include recycling or composting compartments in addition to standard kitchen waste. Finally, if your pull-out bin is located beneath a kitchen work counter, you can slide it open and sweep debris directly from the counter into the can.
- Skinny Cookie Sheet/Cutting Board Storage
Cookie sheets and cutting boards seem like they’d be easy to store, but unless you have a built-in cabinet specifically for them, they can be cumbersome and not remotely handy when it’s time to slice and dice or bake cookies. Fortunately, these skinny cabinets can easily be added to existing cabinet designs, keeping those long, flat kitchen tools out of the way yet easily accessible at a moment’s notice.
Electronics Docking Drawer
Phones and tablets have become a huge part of our everyday lives, and electronics docking drawers provide a safe, tidy way to charge them—with no cables or plugs strewn all over your kitchen and no risk of a phone being knocked off a counter. Docking drawers have built-in outlets that enable you to plug in your devices and keep them out of the way while you’re cooking. Like cutting-board cabinets, too, docking drawers can be easily added to existing kitchens.
- Cutlery Dividers
In addition to providing a cleaner look, drawers with cutlery dividers make your kitchen more hygienic: With cutlery in separate compartments, you don’t need to touch multiple knives or other utensils each time you reach into the drawer. Dividers can also help keep you from accidentally cutting yourself when reaching for a knife. For foodies with expensive cutlery sets, these dividers can be designed to accommodate a range of knives and keep them sharp.
- Vanity Outlet Drawer
Similar to an electronics docking drawer, a vanity outlet drawer will help organize bathroom appliances such as hair dryers and curling irons. The back of the drawer has outlets that allow these devices to be plugged in all the time. In addition, vanity outlet drawers have lined storage areas so hot items, such as a curling iron, can be safely stored immediately after use.