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Entries Tagged as 'kitchen carts and islands'

Choosing a Kitchen Island Cart

If you have a large enough kitchen, one of the best things you can get for it is a kitchen island cart.  With so many appliances competing for valuable counter space these days, kitchen island carts are great for adding extra room to work.  While many smaller kitchens won’t have room for a kitchen island, a larger one should.  They come in a few different sizes, so you can find one that will work.

Types of Kitchen Island Carts

While many people use the terms kitchen carts and islands interchangeably, they are really two different things.  Kitchen islands tend to be larger, have drawers and cabinets, and are usually fully enclosed.  Kitchen carts on the other hand, normally don’t have cabinet doors on them and are open.  In addition, islands will usually have a countertop covering them, and in many cases it is made of the same material as the rest of the counters.  Carts usually come with a top already on it, and it most likely won’t match your countertop.
One of the most popular styles is called a Dolly Madison kitchen island cart.  These units are normally highly mobile due to the wheels under them.  Although models may vary depending on who makes the cart, most of them are fully enclosed and have two drawers on top and side by side cabinets on the bottom.
You can find a kitchen cart and island that is topped with various materials.  Some are made with a stainless steel surface, which is easy to keep clean.  Others have a granite top, which is a very popular countertop surface.  The most common top you will see is wood however.  If you want a customized counter-top placed on your kitchen island, you will need to get one with an unfinished top.  If you don’t mind it not matching the rest of your kitchen, you can just get a stainless steel kitchen island cart or a granite one.  Choosing between the larger kitchen islands and carts will most likely be a decision based upon the size of your kitchen.

Kitchen Carts

In many homes, there just isn’t enough room in the kitchen for everything.  It seems like these days we have so many appliances that we have run out of counter space to put them all.  In addition, filling up the counter with stuff doesn’t leave much room for other important kitchen tasks like preparing food.  If this scenario seems all too familiar to you, then maybe you should consider getting a kitchen cart.
Kitchen carts come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and styles.  Here is a guide to help you choose the right one for your home.

Types of Kitchen Carts

The good thing about having a kitchen cart is that it serves multiple functions.  It provides extra counter space to prepare food or do other things in the kitchen.
A rolling kitchen cart has wheels attached to the bottom.  Many carts come with wheels on them, and the advantage of this is that you can easily push it around the kitchen to whatever location you want.  This comes in very handy when cleaning.  A cart without wheels can be very hard to move, especially if you are trying to do it by yourself.  You can attach wheels to the bottom of your cart yourself if you are handy.  It is easy to find small wheels that easily screw into wood if you want to give this a try.

A second type that is very common is a kitchen island cart.  By definition, an island tends to be larger than other carts.  These carts take up a lot of space, so make sure your kitchen is large enough to accommodate one.  You can either leave it in the center, or push it against a wall.  You can take a look at kitchen carts and islands online at stores like Amazon.com or other websites that sell home furnishings.

A third type available is kitchen utility carts.  Utility carts tend to be a lot smaller than islands.  They generally have a flat surface on top and open shelves underneath.  Many people use these to put a large appliance on, such as a microwave.  Doing this frees up counter space for other things, and the lower portion of the kitchen microwave cart is great for storing other items that you want to keep handy.

Styles of Kitchen Carts

Kitchen islands and carts come in a variety of styles.  Many are made out of wood, but some are made from stainless steel.  Unlike the open style of the utility cart, most kitchen island carts are enclosed.  Most have either one large or two smaller drawers and cabinet space underneath.  When it comes to matching the other objects in your kitchen, such as the cabinets, you have a few choices.
One way is to choose a cart that closely matches the color you want.  Some manufacturers of kitchen carts & islands will let you customize the color of the model you buy.  There is another option available as well if you don’t mind doing simple home improvement jobs yourself.  You can purchase an unfinished wooden cart.  You can purchase a wood stain in the color that you want (there are many, many colors available), and stain the wood yourself.
These days, many people are using more stainless steel in their kitchens.  You can get a stainless steel kitchen cart to match other large appliances and cabinets that are made out of this material.  In terms of colors, they come in the range of the different natural wood colors.  In addition, a white or black kitchen cart is popular as well for people with modern style kitchens.

Kitchen Cart Prices

The price you pay depends on a number of different factors, including the size, materials used, and the reputation of the manufacturer.  Many people are quite surprised at how reasonable prices are for such a large piece of furniture.  You can find nice looking open style kitchen carts starting in the $80 price range.  These tend to be smaller in size.  For full sized kitchen island carts, expect to pay at least $200.  More expensive models will give you plenty of counter space as well as lots of storage room in drawers and cabinets below.