Homes along the Woodward Corridor are known for their stately charm, many built over a century ago with quality craftsmanship. While kitchens were once purely functional spaces, today’s luxury homeowners in Bloomfield Hills and surrounding areas seek to make them the heart of the home, with innovative storage solutions at the forefront.
For discerning homeowners from Northern Oakland County to Detroit, maximizing kitchen space and aesthetics is essential. A well-designed kitchen now serves gourmet chefs and large families alike, blending form and function. Partnering with a proven design-build contractor can bring this vision to life, providing storage options like multi-functional islands, built-ins, and smart organization.
The best storage solutions focus on accessibility and elegance, keeping your kitchen both uncluttered and beautiful. Let’s explore how these options can transform your space to suit your family’s needs and elevate your kitchen’s design.
Multi-Functional Kitchen Islands in Bloomfield Hills
For years, the most popular kitchen design has been the ‘open’ layout, maximizing space for Bloomfield Hills families to cook, eat, socialize, entertain guests, and relax in their luxury kitchens. The centerpiece of these modern layouts is the multi-functional kitchen island—the crown jewel of convenience, functionality, and beauty. Adding to their allure are the numerous built-in storage options that maximize every cubic foot of space within these islands, combining utility with stunning design.
Kitchen Island Design
The designs of these multi-functional kitchen islands are as varied as the kitchens within which they’re built and the needs of the families who use them – but fall into a few basic categories, all of which feature ample opportunities for innovative storage. Portable, rolling, fixed, peninsula, single-, and double-kitchen island types often combine food preparation and cleaning workstations, with seating on one or several sides and split-level countertops to accommodate legroom, electrical outlets, and embedded appliances, including cooktops, slide-in ranges, and small appliances.
This Beverly Hills luxury home, for example, was remodeled with two center islands, one dedicated to food prep and cleanup, the other to family snacking, homework, entertaining, and relaxation. Recognizing that beauty was as important as practicality, MainStreet Design Build installed custom “Elemental White” painted cabinetry contrasting with the double island setup’s deep “Battleship Gray” finish. White veined quartz countertops with embedded high-end Thermador appliances and an awesome Ann Saks tile backsplash made it magical.
A full range of innovative storage solutions was installed flush with the stools and below the island top, highlighting the many options that include integrated cabinets, drawers, and shelves to store pots, utensils, appliances, and pull-out trash cans. Similarly functional, embedded storage options feature pull-out tables and cutting boards, spice racks and Lazy Susans, and docking stations for phones and other electronic devices. Innovative creativity and exquisite taste ensure that these easily accessible kitchen storage solutions are practical, adaptable, and attractive.
Built-In Kitchen Storage Options
Beyond the multi-functional center island, numerous opportunities exist for functional and beautiful built-in storage throughout the surrounding space. If you have a large family that brings home two carts of groceries, you’ll need more than just a fridge to store everything.
From floor trim to ceiling shelves and every square foot of usable area in between, any fixture can be integrated with a pull-out cabinet, shelf, drawer, or tray to store everything from beverages to dry goods, utensils to appliances. The goal is to ensure these conveniently placed and highly efficient storage options leave the kitchen neat and free.
Custom Cabinetry
Custom cabinetry provides endless possibilities for innovative storage, with extra-deep to thinly narrow spaces to accommodate diverse items, from large pots and pans to cutting boards and baking sheets. Pull-out cabinet designs are ideal for fruit, condiments, and spices. Swivel cabinets and appliance garages offer more choices to hide everything from dishes and utensils to coffee makers and toasters. Pantry cabinets further maximize storage space with pantry door racks, adjustable shelving, pull-out drawers, and built-in organizers, giving your family the most with every available cubic inch.
Custom Drawer Space
Another eminently useful type of built-in storage is the basic drawer, which can take countless forms and store anything from cutlery and knives to oven mitts and gadgets. Drawer dividers and inserts can help organize various items by size or shape within each or several drawers. These organizers can include hidden utensil trays, sliding shelves for cookbooks, and even a custom wine rack designed to sort bottles by year. Pull-out trash and recycling bins, such as those built into the multi-functional island example, can also be placed at various locations throughout the kitchen for optimal convenience and easy disposal.
Storage below the Sink
Built-in below-the-sink storage options are terrific for pull-out shelves and trays containing soaps, household cleaning products, plumbing supplies, and other larger, unwieldy, and toxic items. Above-cabinet shelves, racks, and wall units are ideal for rarely used, cumbersome items that are accessible with a hidden ladder or step stool, which can also be integrated into these creative storage spaces, out of the way and out of view. If designed and built well, everything a large multigenerational family needs can remain invisible and still be readily accessible.
Vertical Kitchen Storage Innovations in Bloomfield Hills
Taking a few steps back, vertical kitchen storage innovations maximize every square foot of wall space with creative flair and practical expediency. This approach is great for kitchens of all types and sizes, especially smaller ones with less elbow room. The trick is to combine built-in, bolt-on, overhead, and under-cabinet techniques to place pot racks, pull-out drawers, floating shelves, magnetic strips, pegboards, ladder and step-stool shelves, and other storage ideas and tools that prioritize accessibility and convenience and minimize visibility and hassle.
Floor-to-ceiling cabinetry, racks, and shelving units look stunning and make the most use of available surface area. Birmingham homeowners have made their neighbors jealous with built-in wine racks, tall and stately pantry cabinets, sliding open shelving showing fine china, appliance hutches and home entertainment nooks, and corner cabinets and extensions with rotating displays. Note that some of these storage areas can be quite high with limited access, so be mindful of space, weight, and size limits for what you place on and inside them.
This Lakewood Heights luxury home took full advantage of innovative and gorgeous vertical storage solutions with the help of MainStreet Design Build. Starting with a tight, claustrophobic kitchen layout, the design experts knew they had to open the kitchen up to create ample space for the young couple with their four elementary-aged children to feel comfortable when eating, snacking, studying, and playing. By removing all the original cabinetry from the rear wall and designing an oversized multi-functional central island, the kitchen could finally breathe.
Utilizing each square foot, two Asko dishwashers were seamlessly embedded within the central island to accommodate the extra thick-mitered Italian porcelain countertop, giving the four kids plenty of elbow room and knee space when seated. The renovation experts also installed a foot-wide, remote-controlled pull-out pantry closet, quaint buffet area, and glass backlit cabinetry unit doubling as a lovely display area. A painted maple and onyx quarter-sawn oak custom cabinet contrasted beautifully with brushed gold light fixtures for a luxurious touch. Make it your own!
Smart & Hidden Kitchen Storage Solutions in Bloomfield Hills
As we’ve seen, innovative kitchen storage ideas blend form and function in creative and practical ways to make the most of every available square and cubic foot. Particularly smart solutions transform an otherwise dead or unutilized area into a viable storage space, such as corner cabinets. An embedded Lazy Susan or LeMans pull-out looks cool and is super practical, while inexpensive half-moon swinging shelves and more elaborate custom-made blind corner drawers make an otherwise blind spot in your luxury kitchen shine brightly with storage space.
Another aspect of smart storage solutioning is “disguising” robust storage areas throughout your luxury kitchen with hidden storage possibilities. One great example is the so-called pull-out pantry, which transforms any area from a narrow wall space or blank cabinet face into a dynamic and highly functional full-service pantry loaded with sliding shelves and custom drawers to a food prep or coffee station. This is especially beneficial during cooking, as it keeps food storage within easy reach of the prep area—or even for your morning coffee routine. On a smaller scale, recessed shelves, secret compartments, false drawers, slide-out racks, and toe-kick drawers below add zing.
A charming senior couple in Bloomfield Hills decided to remodel their kitchen, which had been untouched for a quarter century. They were perfectly content to age-in-place but needed their kitchen to mature with them and do so by accommodating their relatively short stature and reduced mobility. Further complicating the remodel was matching the new design style and materials with their existing home, suggesting the choice of a more neutral, cement-style porcelain floor tiling and textured gray oak horizontal grain cabinets to better blend with an eclectic interior.
The accessibility and storage challenges were handled brilliantly by starting with a new open layout, featuring a multi-functional kitchen island with an extra thick quartz top that enabled embedded ovens, lowered inside for safety and ease of use. In addition to a bevy of built-in storage solutions, including sliding drawers and roll-out shelving, a pull-out stool was incorporated into the toe kick drawer to provide the couple instant, effortless access to everything they needed. A recessed appliance garage is the couples’ favorite amenity.
Tech-Integrated Kitchen Storage
So-called “smart appliances” have taken over the Home Depots and Costcos of the world, as they should, thanks to their added convenience, efficiency, and aesthetics. Today’s kitchens feature dynamic and personalized electronics ranging from connected to touchless and voice-controlled devices, high-tech activated surfaces, automated and integrated cooking gadgets, and self-regulating appliances. The even better news for kitchen remodeling solutions is how every expression of this new and evolving consumer electronics technology optimizes storage, too.
Consider automated and touchless cabinetry, featuring drawers and shelves that open with a wave of the hand, soft prod, or voice command, and even have motorized assistance useful for elderly family members and otherwise hard-to-access lower cabinets and garbage or recycling receptacles. But the amazement doesn’t stop there when also considering pantries equipped with weight sensors or RFID tags to dynamically count inventory, and even send family members alerts to replace spent items through a connected app! Brave new world indeed.
Custom kitchen storage lighting solutions
Modern kitchens also flourish with custom lighting, which helps create a distinct and personalized experience. As far as their integration into storage solutions go, these enhancements are everywhere, from LED-lit shelves and transparent labeled bins in smart pantries to mood lighting on walls, within specialized racks, inside temperature-controlled drawers and beverage stations, and motorized shelving units. Partner with your design-build experts to set up precise and expansive controls for your kitchen lighting through your very own iPad or smartphone!
Hidden Storage Charging Stations
Photo compliments of cabinetstogo.com
Arguably the most important tech storage innovation is the transformation of cabinets, drawers, shelves, and surfaces into bona fide charging stations and home automation hubs. Built-in USB and power outlets, with extensions to service every type of device, from phones to tablets to laptops, keep things organized, neat, and nicely hidden. Gone are the days of hunting for plugs and struggling through spaghetti bowls of knotted cords. Bastions of tech integration bring all the power and control your family will ever need into an efficient, hidden area.
Partner with Bloomfield Hill’s Most Innovative Kitchen Remodeling Contractor
Innovative kitchen storage is all about finding that perfect balance between form and function. The best storage designs place the items you need within immediate and easy but hidden access and do so in ways that make your luxury kitchen uncluttered, convenient, and beautiful. Demanding proven expertise from design through construction, make sure you partner with an integrated design build contractor who can bring your dream kitchen to life with the best storage.
Whether you and your family choose multi-functional kitchen islands, built-in and vertical storage designs, cutting-edge smart organization, tech integration storage solutions, or likely a combination of all these options, optimal kitchen storage is essential for a great kitchen experience. Only a design build firm can ensure that a single point of contact will manage your renovation team, and transparently communicate with you every step of the way.
MainStreet Design Build is a full-service, design-build remodeling firm headquartered in Birmingham, MI. The local leader, MainStreet, is committed to delivering a luxurious end-to-end experience marked by personal care, accountability, timeless design, and exacting attention to detail. Since 1991, our team has made the renovation process comfortable, enjoyable, and safe, ensuring your home and basement transformation exceeds your expectations at every turn.
With a deep bench of architects, interior designers, and craftspeople, MainStreet Design Build is favored by discerning homeowners throughout Southeast Oakland County who value a high level of comfort and trust in knowing that their remodeling project will be done RIGHT. Browse our gallery of award-winning kitchen renovations, and schedule a virtual design consultation. Let’s partner today to make your dream kitchen a reality and do it on time and on budget.
