Whether you are a master chef with a couple of Michelin stars under your belt or more of a crisp butty and a Cheesestring kind of guy (or girl), getting your kitchen design right is essential. Whether you spent hours at a time in there finessing your sous-vide precision cooking, or just a few minutes every morning while the kettle boils, you need to love your kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of the home and there are a few handy little interior design tips that I’ve picked up along the way that I thought I’d share with you.
It’s not like kitting out a bedroom. You can’t just pick fabrics, colours and textures based on pure aesthetics. There is a whole plethora of additional factors that you need to consider when it comes to the kitchen and the process can turn into one great big stress-fest if you don’t have a basic idea of what you’re looking for first. Here some crucial kitchen features you need to be factoring in…
Kitchen interior design essentials:
Put some serious thought into your kitchen floor plan – Obviously this isn’t something you can manipulate if you’re renting or just moving in somewhere but if you’re planning a kitchen renovation project or building from scratch, a floor plan is the best way to create the right workflow. Those designing professional kitchens will be able to tell you way more than I can but take these pearls of wisdom from someone who (moronically) has their chopping board and blender at opposite ends of the kitchen. You also don’t want to be positioned too far from your rubbish disposal when cooking because nobody wants to eat from a kitchen that isn’t hygienic, no matter how good the food smells.
While we’re on the topic of ‘the floor‘, it’s always advisable to think carefully about the specific materials and their functions (not just how ‘Pinterest’ they look). I used to work for a carpet tile company and never quite understood the alarming number of people who bought plush, shag pile carpet to lay in their kitchens. Spaghetti bolognese and shag pile carpet? No thanks! Similarly, you don’t want to end smashing your expensive Le Creuset to smithereens on a concrete floor just because it looks trendy. But as I said, leave it to the professionals to advise you on things like the best flooring products, the best finishes, the best doors yada yada yada.
Finding your own sense of style – Once you’ve got the basic plan down, you can then build on top of that with accents of your own tastes and personality. These will form the style of the space and how you want it to look. Whether you like the rustic farmhouse style or a sleek, high-gloss Smeg-style situation, it’s pretty easy to put your personal stamp on your kitchen. When you’re making these decisions, think about maintenance demands too – you don’t want to end up with a high-shine space that requires more TLC than your own physical appearance.
Invest in good quality kitchen appliances – Again, take this from somebody who once scrimped on a cheap food processor from Amazon, only to send it up in smoke on the first use – it’s well worth your time and hard-earned money to invest in quality appliances. It’s not about having the biggest names splashed across the space (unless that’s how you get your kicks of course) but it is about choosing trusted, household brands that you know are going to see you well into the foreseeable. Long gone are the days of bog-standard cooking equipment – these days it’s all Self-cleaning Neff this and Pyrolytic cooker that. Basically, there is plenty more choice and you should be taking advantage of it.
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