How to Choose a Kitchen That Reflects Your Lifestyle
While kitchens may have once been an isolating part of the home, today they’re at the centre of how we live and interact with each other. Spending so much time in the kitchen, you’ll find that planning its design around how you are going to use it can help you get the most out of the space. With this in mind, here are our tips on how to choose a kitchen that complements your lifestyle.
If you have a family
With kids in the household, your kitchen is one of the most important spaces for just about everything. You’ll be prepping meals while helping with homework, catching up with the kids while cooking dinner, or brewing that all-important morning coffee while ensuring the kids get a decent breakfast.
If this sounds like your family, your kitchen needs to have multiple workspaces and access points, so you can be together without having the kids under your feet. An island bench will help centre the space, and creates a secondary dining area perfect for casual meals or homework.
Situate things like the fridge, crockery and cutlery on the perimeters of the kitchen to allow access without turning your kitchen into a constant thoroughfare.
If you’re an aspiring foodie
If you watch cooking shows with pen and paper in hand to jot down recipe ideas, chances are you need a kitchen that allows your inner masterchef to shine.
Appliances and their placement will be a top consideration – consider the ‘golden triangle’ of kitchen design, which places your sink, stove and fridge at three points of an imaginary triangle in your kitchen. This allows for easy access and minimises unnecessary traipsing back and forth when you’ve got your dish cooking.
When it comes to surfaces, look to easy-clean finishes that are low maintenance. When you’ve dished up a delicious meal, the last thing you’ll want to do is spend an hour wiping down the kitchen.
If you’re an entertainer at heart
While cooking during the week may not always be a full-scale operation for you, you love inviting friends and family over on weekends to enjoy good food and great company. You may have a secondary serving space, but while cooking you need to be able to chat to your guests over a glass of wine and a cheese platter.
An open plan kitchen layout helps to blur the lines between cooking and entertaining. With your sink or main preparation area facing out towards the dining table, you can play host without having to step away from what you’re doing. A raised breakfast bar in front of this can also help conceal dishes or clutter from view.
If your design allows for it, letting your kitchen open up to an outdoor space is perfect for dinner parties or barbeques. This will save you from having to cart out your crockery through the house, and make top-ups throughout the night a breeze (and save on the clean-up at the end of the night, too).
Another consideration where budget permits is a butler’s pantry – you can hide away pre-prepped items (and the dishes afterwards) out of guests’ sight, and keep your cooking areas in the kitchen free of clutter.
If your current kitchen isn’t meeting your needs, book an appointment with one of our award-winning designers to discuss how your kitchen can better serve your lifestyle.
