Simple Recipes for a stylish kitchen

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A perfect kitchen is one where style meets functionality. Building such a kitchen may not be an easy task, but the results often justify the hassles involved in a project like this. Of all our rooms, kitchen has undergone most thorough transition in the last one hundred years or so. Earlier kitchens, even though much bigger in size, had barely any organisation, almost no decoration and certainly no gadgetry to make the jobs of our ancestors easy. It is true, that the absence of these facilities did not deter anyone from cooking delicious and painstakingly prepared dishes.

Modern homemakers, however, must have a kitchen fitted with all the contemporary facilities which includes a plethora electronic gadgets. Hearty meals may still be possible without all this fuss, but managing a kitchen is only one of the many responsibilities that a person is supposed to handle now. Having a well organised and elegantly decorated kitchen save time, make life easier and cooking a pleasurable activity. Making frequent changes in the kitchen is difficult too. So you should plan carefully and keep in the mind the following aspects of a delightfully stylish and hygienic kitchen.

Ideal size of a kitchen

An ideal kitchen is one where you can work comfortably without running into people or things. Like any other room, a square or slightly rectangular kitchen is most desirable. City homes have considerably smaller kitchen than suburban or rural houses. If you have recently moved to a bigger city you may find it challenging to live and work in a considerably smaller space. With time though you are expected to get habituated with the small inconveniences associated with a tighter kitchen space. 

This is solely not about your comfort either. Make sure all your kitchen equipments comfortably find a home there. Have ample storage space, greater than your current need, because with time your storage requirements are bound to increase. If you have an open plan living room, dining area cum kitchen ensure that each of these get due attention and kitchen is not made to sacrifice for the sake of a bigger lounge.

Kitchen layouts

If we follow tradition then your sink, stove and refrigerator should create an unobstructed kitchen triangle. But, this too is subject to available space and shape of a kitchen. One room or loft apartments generally build one wall or Pullman kitchen. Gallery kitchen is another one of the space savers. Here all the kitchen utilities are arranged on the two opposing walls creating a sort of walkway in between. 

Other layouts include horseshoe and L-shaped kitchen. You may consider any one of these if you kitchen occupies a corner of the building or is oddly shaped. Check this article to find out what according to feng shui is an ideal configuration for kitchen.

To build an island or not

Tillingham’s modish kitchen decorated by Davonport is one of the classic examples of an island that doubles up as a focal point of a kitchen. Islands such as these have become an indispensable item for modern kitchens. These are used for storage, preparation and serving of food. However, despite our hankerings for kitchen islands it is not an irreplaceable item for a kitchen. 

Horseshoe shaped kitchen can function without islands. In fact, if you cannot spare at least 12 ft x 8 ft area it is better for you to go without formal kitchen islands. Having these in a middle of a small kitchen will only create further clutter. Think of replacing these with lightweight tables or bar like counters.

How much storage space to allocate

At least double if not triple of your current need, this is considering that you can allow such flexibility. If this sounds audacious, then let me explain. Your electronic gadgets would require upgradation with time. Your circle of friends may increase requiring you to store for sufficient provisions. People nowadays purchase and store up many ingredients in advance. Despite widespread preaching about recycling we do not always throw away our precious utensils and crockery every time we bring home a new set. 

With time you may have a helping hand in the kitchen. One of your children may show a knack of cooking. He or she made need a place to separately store spices and instruments of her own choice. Family interactions do not always take place in the living room. Kitchen happens to be a place where a family come together. Having enough storage will ensure you can use them in various ways like building a cellar, create a collection of specially handcrafted ceramics and so on.

Choice of kitchen worktops

When it comes to worktop materials you will find a wide range of choices on offer. Let’s discuss some of the merits and demerits of each.

- Stainless steel – a darling for the professionals – is strong, durable, waterproof, easy to clean, heat and acid resistant. But it develops scratch marks easily and may not look so good in a domestic kitchen.

- Laminate is very affordable and easy to clean, but is not so durable and prone to chipping.

- Wood looks elegant in any type of setting and has natural anti-bacterial properties. But you need to apply protective oil and coating on it at intervals.

- Granite looks cool, is very hardy and low maintenance but is also heavy and expensive.

- Quartz is cheaper than granite, is stylish looking and durable. But this too is heavy and quite pricey.

- Glass looks fashionable and is reasonably durable but requires frequent cleaning.

While choosing a worktop also keep in mind the décor of your house or apartment.

Go shiny or matte

This decision largely depends on your choice of materials and tastes. This is not limited to your worktops only, but is dependent on your choices of walls, flooring and cabinets as well. This kitchen uses a combination of materials with rough and shiny surfaces. Exposed brick walls, wooden floor, rustic table and bar stools upholstered with fur contribute to matte finish while storage units, worktop and metallic counter form the shiny side of the kitchen. If at any point of time your choices seem to lead to an ultra glossy kitchen try to offset it by introducing wood, matte lamination etc. This way you will be able to create a more balanced and harmonious space.

Colour of your kitchen

For a kitchen the automatic choice seems to be white or faint grey. It gives a sense of pure, clean and hygienic space which is also devoid of any clutter. It makes a kitchen look more expansive and helps bouncing off natural or artificial light to every corner of the room. However, this also seems to be a very obvious choice. So try some variations like pale yellow, lime green, lavender or any other suitable pastel shade. You can also use accents of rust, olive or tangerine. 

Black is sometimes used to give it a sleek finish, but only a large space can withstand the onslaught of dark colours. A small place will look narrower with dark shades. The wall behind the kitchen worktop can be used to dress is a bold accent colour, mosaic or tiles. If you have a predominance of natural wood tone you need not bother about introducing a variety. Natural wood texture will give your kitchen a stylish look anyway. Your love of preparing delicious meals will only get further boost with an elegantly designed space like this.

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