As winter settles in, there are few things more satisfying than slicing into a fresh loaf of home-baked bread and sitting down to a hot homecooked meal. Until it’s time to clean up, anyway. It’s not that baking at home is messy–it just takes time, patience, and counterspace–all of which are short supply when you’re hungry. And when it comes to working with dough, not all countertops are created equal. You need a tough, nonporous workspace that can stand up to years of nonstop abuse from knives, rolling pins, kneading, punching, proofing, and even direct heat to turn out tasty pie crusts, cake batters, brownies, pizzas, cookies, croissants, biscuits, muffins, and fresh noodles–and you need a lot of it. When it comes to designing a kitchen, there are bakers and there’s cooks. Keep reading for our kitchen design tips for bakers.

1. Install the Right Countertop

When you’re working with ingredients like butter, eggs, and cold dough, you need a countertop that can keep its cool without spoiling the whole batch. Baking calls for precise temperatures and measurements, and you need lots of space for dough to stretch. Quartz countertops are popular among bakers because their natural hardness gives them the scratch and stain resistance needed for years of heavy-duty baking, without any extra chemical sealants.

2. You Must be This Tall to Ride

It’s your kitchen. Make the countertops as tall (or short) as you want. Depending upon your physical build and the type of baking you do, you might benefit from custom height countertops.   

3. Turn Everything Sideways

Think about most baked goods for a minute–pizzas, pies, cakes, and so on. They’re flat and wide. So are sheet pans, muffin tins, baker’s racks, and trays. Stacking them one on top of the other eats up too much space and is a pain to sort. Consider including vertical sheet pan storage in your cabinetry plans to keep these tools organized and within arm’s reach. Turning those hard-to-reach cabinets above the refrigerator into baking rack storage is a great way to put this underappreciated space to good use.

4. Keep Ingredients Handy

There are a couple easy ways to keep everyday baking ingredients like flour and sugar within arm’s reach. The simplest solution is to set up a permanent countertop workstation with your cutting board, rolling pins, stand mixer, and ingredients in labeled jars. Or if you want new cabinetry to go with your countertops, open shelving is one of the most popular and functional kitchen design trends, as these designs put everyday ingredients directly at your fingertips.

5. Call Dan’s Wholesale Carpet & Flooring

When it’s time to upgrade your kitchen, Dan’s Wholesale Carpet & Flooring has unbeatable daily wholesale pricing on top-quality building materials from the leading manufacturers. From carpet to quartz, we’ve got everything you need for your home renovation. Visit any of our northeast Ohio locations to browse our inventory or give us a call to schedule your free in-home shopping appointment today.