The All-In-One Mobile Cart That Transformed My Kitchen
As a recipe developer, I spend plenty of time cooking in my home kitchen. This is the piece I swear by.
When living space is limited, maximizing every square inch of your apartment becomes a creative and strategic endeavor (at least speaking from personal experience). The kitchen can be particularly tricky to navigate: What do you do if you have no kitchen drawers? How do you create more counter space when you have basically none to begin with? Questions like these are challenging for anyone with utensils or aspirations of cooking dinner every now and then, but as someone who develops recipes and bakes for a living, I needed to find a way to make my kitchen more functional and user-friendly. When my roommate suggested we look into getting a mobile kitchen island (also called a kitchen cart), I jumped at the prospect of increasing counter space in any capacity. Anything more than what our tiny kitchen offered felt like a step in the right direction. To my surprise, the StyleWell Glenville White Kitchen Cart with 2 Drawers we chose turned out to be one of the best apartment purchases I’ve ever made. Read on to learn why — and how — I use this all-in-one piece of furniture every day.
Additional Storage Space
This is a no-brainer: with just about any kitchen cart you choose, you’ll gain invaluable storage space. Instead of stashing pans and kitchen accessories in hard-to-reach, easy-to-forget places, a kitchen island provides readily accessible drawers and cabinets within arm’s reach. My mobile island has two drawers and two cabinets with shelves, and is spacious enough to hold my silverware, baking tools, cake pans, cooling racks, pots and pans, mixing bowls and more. I’m still shocked by just how much I can fit into it. Plus, thanks to cabinets that snap shut, everything can be hidden away in its place, resulting in a more clutter-free kitchen space.
Functional, Aesthetic and Versatile
The extra counter space that my kitchen island provides has been a godsend, but the cart has become more of a jack-of-all-trades piece of furniture — the focal point for routine life activities. When I cook or bake, the top of the island functions as a workstation for everything from measuring out ingredients to scooping dough to mixing glazes. Setting a few counter stools around the island transforms it into a makeshift breakfast nook or dining “table,” and it becomes a serving and gathering area when I have guests over. Best of all, the mobile island boasts a clean aesthetic that blends effortlessly into my home, no matter how I’m using it — it’s a statement piece I’m proud to showcase.
Easy to Move
It’s not called a mobile kitchen island for nothing! Pick one with wheels, and it’s a cinch to move around after assembly (ours was simple enough for two people to unbox and assemble without professional assistance). Place the cart against the wall to conserve space, arrange it in the middle of the room to divide up the area visually, or (like me) pull it closer to the TV so you can “multitask” while doing kitchen prep. If you need to move the island to another location altogether, it’s doable, especially if you’re blessed with an elevator you can just roll it into without having to do much heavy lifting.
All in All, A Bang for Your Buck
Given the wide variety of sizes and styles out there, it’s more than possible to find a mobile island that fits your budget and kitchen dimensions. Do a quick search, and you’ll find great options in the $200-300 range on sites like Amazon, Wayfair and Home Depot. For all that you get — the extra cabinet and drawer space, multi-purpose counter top, sleek design and ease of mobility — I’m convinced a kitchen cart is an investment worth making (or at least considering) for anyone seeking to upgrade and maximize their existing space. Although I still dream of having a grand, built-in kitchen island in my home one day, a mobile one is a smart, practical alternative — and a definite winner in my book.
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