When our clients are looking for full home renovations and they appoint us to design and deliver their project, they often have also the clear intention to buy a new kitchen.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, there are many things to consider before choosing your new kitchen, first thing being your existing one.
Is it too small and cluttered?
Is it too big and some cabinets have only random dusting cloths?
Do you find yourself comfortable when having guests, do they participate in cooking or do you prefer to keep it private?
When you look at your kitchen and ask yourself these questions, you will start to understand if it is the case to change size or layout for the new kitchen.
Even if you will prepare the food in another area of the house, the new kitchen could have a similar layout to the previous one, if that really works for you and makes you efficient!
On the other hand, many like a new kitchen to be an entirely new experience. Often kitchens are extended or relocated to enjoy a better position in the house and garden views.
What is important in a new kitchen?
The style and the general aestethics of your new kitchen are secondary, compared to the king of kitchen requirements: Practicality.
The kitchen is a home laboratory of food preparation, where practicality must be second to nothing. Practicality means ease of access, ease of movement, ease of storage. But also ease of cleaning.
What makes a kitchen practical?
When designing a kitchen there is a principle called “the kitchen working triangle“, according to which the three hot spots in a kitchen -sink, hob, fridge- form the vertexes of a triangle where the cook moves within, possibly in a circular flow.
Think about it:
Take any food, un-pack it or wash it, cut it or mash it, cook it, serve it.
The process is fridge -> sink -> hob.
But there are actually many triangles, depending on your cooking style. Fresh food can be from the fridge, you can use dry or preserved food from the larder. Some stuff is marinated and kept aside while other goods are peeled and washed…
Being a lab, it’s ultimately up to your chemistry style but Practicality will keep you going without loosing your mind if the day has been a bit more difficult than the usual.
Also, after your meal there will always be stains to clean and some could be aggressive, like vinegar or lemon juice, or greasy and peristent like oil or melted fat.
So it is very important that your new kitchen has the right storage, the right layout, and it is made with good materials and finishes for easy cleaning on doors and tops, but also in the most unreachable corners (of course that’s where dirth sticks the most).
