The kitchen is the heart of the home;
properly designed it can be the favourite family living place while, at the
same time, making the necessary utilitarian functions of a kitchen a pleasure
instead of a chore.
Here are five of our top tips in planning
and designing your luxury kitchen.
Size matters: the size and layout of your
kitchen space will depend on your lifestyle.
The current trend for home life is to be more casual in dining and
entertaining with the kitchen often the informal gathering place for family and
friends. If this is your taste in living
you will want to be sure your kitchen is big enough to accommodate a cooking
area, a dining area and a sitting area so that everyone can socialise together. Open plan has been popular for many years,
but families sometimes find that a layout which is suitable for a young family
may not work so well for noisy or studying teenagers. Having the option of partitions may be
something to consider for all stages in a growing family.
Circulation and movement: If you have the
luxury of designing your kitchen from scratch, why not size everything just as
you like it to make movement around your kitchen as easy and efficient as
possible? The kitchen work triangle is a design concept that can help create
efficient use of kitchen work spaces. The idea is that a line drawn to the
refrigerator, sink, and range should create a relatively even-sided triangle
within which the major kitchen activities take place. The triangle layout can
reduce unnecessary movement in the kitchen, making your use of the space more
efficient. You can also look at counter height, counter depth and the clearance
of upper cabinets and shelving to suit your particular needs. Having a kitchen
island can be a great way to make use of extra space in your kitchen, as well
as provide you with an accessible and comfortable place to prepare meals. Many
kitchen islands also double as a place to have a quick bite to eat.
Ventilation system: Cooking produces heat,
smells, grease, smoke and steam. So while you are focusing on the enjoyment of designing the
appearance of your kitchen, remember it is vital to incorporate top quality ventilation
systems so that cooking does not have an undesirable impact on the pleasure of the kitchen as a gathering place for friends and family. A major facet of ventilation is a hood to absorb all
cooking smells and vapours. With so many options on offer you can choose to
minimize the hood’s presence or make it the focal point of the room, whichever
suits your taste and style.
The designated cooking space: Your kitchen
may be the hub of the home but there is no getting away from the fact that its
main purpose is as a working environment to produce meals for the family. Therefore the ease-of-use of the cooking and clearing-up area
of the kitchen and the way it relates to the social areas of dining and family
relaxation requires careful planning.
Your kitchen as a workhorse: You want your
kitchen to keep its lovely new look and yet it takes such a lot of punishment
on a daily basis it is worth thinking through which surfaces will keep their
appearance.
Dont miss our next article, published
on October 15th which will focus on the range of surfaces available for worktops,
cabinets, quality appliances and flooring. Have a look at some of the luxury kitchens on our website which Richmond Homes has created for their clients
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