This Once-Popular Kitchen Trend Is Actually a Huge Pain—Here’s One Designer’s Solution

This kitchen in Santa Clara, California, was proof that some design trends do not stand the test of time. According to designer Rosanna Bassford of Memmo Interiors, it featured a common design pain point—the kitchen peninsula. “Huge in the ‘80s and ‘90s, this outdated amenity creates a culinary dead end by blocking both visual and functional flow,” she explains.

Before: Courtesy of Rosanna Bassford; After: Laura Flippen

In addition to that layout-wrecking design feature, the kitchen was also seriously outdated. “The kitchen looked original to the house with classic ‘70s design elements: honey oak cabinets, linoleum flooring, and white square tile with thick black grout for countertops,” Rosanna says. “The layout had a peninsula that jutted out and cut off the kitchen from a small area for a dining nook, effectively cutting the room in half. The cooktop was wedged into a tight space surrounded by most of the appliances, little counter space, and was completely opposite the sink, all of which made food prep and cooking less efficient and less comfortable. There was no pantry so functional food-storage space was limited.”

Rosanna’s clients—a couple with a young child—wanted to give the space a complete overhaul. They wanted a more spacious-feeling kitchen and dining area with functional storage and a more current design style.

Before: Courtesy of Rosanna Bassford; After: Laura Flippen

The key changes in the kitchen were swapping the peninsula for an island, moving the cooktop, and adding a full wall of pantry/food storage, which included a built-in refrigerator. “Replacing the peninsula with an island opened up the kitchen to the dining area and enabled us to extend the kitchen countertops as well as create a cozy built-in breakfast nook,” Rosanna says. “Moving the cooktop to an adjacent wall closer to the sink gave us more functional counter space on both sides of the cooktop and allowed us to do a full wall of cabinets with pull-out pantry, built-in refrigerator, double ovens, and a warming drawer, while keeping it sleek-looking and clutter-free.”

And when it came to designing the kitchen and its storage, Rosanna made sure to ask her clients what their needs were, which included getting a general inventory of what they had in their pantry and kitchen so she could take that all into account. “For example, if they are big on baking, they may have a stand mixer that takes up quite a bit of space or several baking sheets that need to be easily accessible,” she says. “Everyone wants a clutter-free kitchen, but most people require a very personalized design to keep counters clean with a place for everything.”

Before: Courtesy of Rosanna Bassford; After: Laura Flippen

Updating the layout wasn’t just about eliminating the peninsula and relocating the cooktop; the windows also needed to be changed and moved. “With a renovation you don’t always know what structure is in place until you begin the process, and we had to have shorter windows than we wanted due to the house’s original structure and what the beams inside the walls would allow,” Rosanna explains. “That said, we were able to get a wider window in front of the sink which really gave us a better and more spacious view out to the lovely backyard.”

Now, Rosanna says, her clients love the kitchen and dining nook. It’s a functional, central space in the home where they spend a lot of their time.