Cooking: Knowing the pitfalls and how to avoid them is essential before you start.
Setting up a kitchen to make it a place of sharing and conviviality, where it is good to spend time preparing meals, discussing, interacting, can seem complex. However, sometimes it is enough to ignore preconceived ideas to get the piece of your dreams! Here we give you the pitfalls to avoid in order to design the most functional kitchen possible and that looks like its owners.
1. Close with insulation
The drawbacks of open kitchens, mainly noise and odors, often lead to opting for a separate room. We then risk depriving ourselves of the advantages of open kitchens, which are the conviviality and the feeling of space. The installation of glass partitions keeps the gaze moving, the light and the impression of volume. Depending on your needs, you can opt for fixed or opening parts, any height or for windows. You will also have the choice between a workshop spirit with black metal uprights or a Scandinavian-inspired decoration with light wood frames.
Best of Scandinavia Ltd.
2. Do not embed the appliance
If fitting in household appliances represents an additional cost compared to a traditional installation, it also implies a real aesthetic and practical added value. In open kitchens, such arrangements make it possible to hide the appliances and harmonize the facades, which provides a much more homogeneous and decorative result. For small kitchens, built-in oven, fridge and dishwasher save valuable space, with a completely optimized installation.
Sola Kitchens
3. Not providing enough storage
When designing your kitchen, it is essential to provide enough practical and functional storage. In addition to the traditional high and low cupboards, the volume of which will be determined according to the size of the kitchen, do not hesitate to opt for other solutions that will make everyday life easier. In addition to being decorative, small additional shelves make it possible, for example, to place everyday utensils, which are then easily accessible. If you opt for a kitchen island, consider incorporating open and closed storage and don’t hesitate to invest the ceiling by hanging shelves for glasses or plates, as in restaurants.
Brown + Brown Architects
4. Believing that white is cold
We tend too quickly to ban the total look our interiors white under the pretext that this would give a cold and sanitized look. From floor to ceiling through the cupboards and the splashback, it is however quite possible to bet only on white with a soothing, luminous and original effect. For the design to be successful, do not hesitate to mix materials, such as painted parquet, stone, lightly veined marble or ceramic, and play with the finishes by mixing matt and gloss.
E / L STUDIO
5. Do not dare the color
On the contrary , if you like color, the kitchen is the ideal room to please you. While the living room or the bedroom are more conducive to neutral and soft tones, the kitchen allows all fantasies. Red, yellow and orange would even whet your appetite! Whether on walls or for furniture, keep in mind that it is better not to paint everything the same shade and to counterbalance, especially bright colors, with white or neutral tones.
Inglis Hall
6. Avoid parquet
Parquet is often banned from kitchens on the pretext that it is too fragile, in favor of stone or tiling. But its aesthetics and warmth may suit this room very well. It is better to opt for a hardwood like oak, which will withstand intensive use and trampling well, and offer it a suitable surface treatment as well as regular maintenance. With these few precautions, your parquet will fear neither stains nor water and you will be able to fully enjoy it in your kitchen.
Veronica Rodriguez Interior Photography
7. Don’t make it a living space
All studies indicate that the kitchen is the place where we spend the most time with the family. By preparing a meal we are effectively more available to talk and exchange. In order for the whole family to find their way around, it is necessary to provide an adequate kitchen layout. If open kitchens lend themselves well to this conviviality, don’t forget to place high stools around a large counter or an island. As for the independent kitchen, make sure that there is sufficient circulation so as not to create a feeling of being confined to several people. Also plan a table and chairs, even if you have a dining area.
Architecture for London
8. Only bet on furniture for the kitchen
If you want to give a different impulse to the kitchen and the traditional arrangements do not tempt you, you can opt for furniture diverted from its original function. Thus, a low sideboard can act as a central island or wall shelves to accommodate condiments and everyday utensils. Do not hesitate to browse the flea markets to find professional furniture, which you will type up and adapt to your needs.
Plain English
JLB Property Developments
9. Ignore the lighting
Even if the kitchen has a natural light source, consider taking care of the artificial lighting. Indeed, to cook, a good general light and strong points of light are necessary. So multiply the luminaires by providing suspensions or spots in the false ceiling, which will provide diffused mood light, and more precise lighting above the worktop to see what you are doing, such as LED strips integrated under the wall units.
0benoit alazard photographer
Do you want to revamp an interior and the current location of the kitchen would be perfect for the little one’s room? Kitchen designers and kitchen manufacturers as well as interior architects redouble their ingenuity to create functional and modular furniture specially designed for small spaces. In a hallway, a hallway, or even an entrance, you can always find a place to install it. On the feasibility side, see with a plumber how to get through the water systems and drains.