How to Design Modern Kitchens
The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home, and it’s not hard to see why: no longer the place for a cook to slave away in in solitude, the kitchen is now a room for you and your family to gather, eat and socialise in.
In many homes, kitchens have evolved to become an all-purpose space that includes dining areas, entertainment areas, workspace and even fireplaces. The kitchen is now designed to be a practical, welcoming and fun place, and often the rest of a home revolves around its innovative and modern design aspects.
The perfect modern kitchen has had plenty of thought put in to it: owners should consider what activities will take place in the room, from cooking and cleaning to snacking and socialising. Above all, though, a contemporary kitchen must be both comfortable and pleasant to inhabit.
Style & Layout
The style and layout of your kitchen is very much dictated by your own personal tastes, as well as limitations in the size and shape of your home. A kitchen should reflect your own design flair, whether that tends toward minimal beauty or retro touches to remind you of times gone by. A modern kitchen, however, should never feel overly cluttered. The retention of clean lines is an absolute must.
Layout is key in a modern kitchen. Where space allows, there should an overriding sense of ‘openness’, whilst a kitchen island will add the perfect preparation space that doubles as a social and entertaining area.
Consider appliance location carefully, and where possible consider cabinet frontals to hide built-in appliances such as fridges and freezers. Other appliances, such as modern cookers and hobs, should be chosen to complement the kitchen’s theme. Most new ‘white’ goods are available in a range of finishes, including stainless steel, glossy black and many more.
Glass
Bring extra light into your kitchen by installing extra windows or even doors that can open up your kitchen straight on to a garden or patio area. Prioritise blinds rather than heavy curtains, to let as much natural brightness as possible filter through.
Light can do wonders for a small kitchen. However, if you can’t make drastic changes to the windows or other apertures in your kitchen, then consider using glass to reflect light around the room.
Glazed wood kitchen doors and glass kitchen splashbacks will create some reflective brightness and are also firmly in-keeping with a modern kitchen design aesthetic.
Frosted glass can also provide an unobtrusive divider between the kitchen and an adjoining lounge or dining area, without obstructing light and totally dividing the two spaces.
Metal
Chrome appliances and swathes of metal are often found in modern kitchens, but be careful not to over-do it. Too much metal can make a kitchen feel cold and industrial, rather than welcoming and homely.
The right hints of metal, however, will cement an up-to-date theme. Stainless steel splashbacks for kitchens look fantastic alongside wooden worktops without being domineering; furthermore, appliances with a metallic finish break up solid oak kitchens whilst complementing natural materials.
As well as stainless steel splashbacks, we also offer stainless steel plinths, which can create a fantastic two-tone effect alongside beautiful solid wood cabinets.
Wood
You might associate wood with a more traditional kitchen aesthetic; but in reality some of the most beautiful modern kitchens feature wooden worktops, solid wood cabinetry and plenty of other natural touches.
Choosing the right type of timber to suit your other design decision is crucial when creating a modern yet natural scheme. Contemporary kitchens are complemented by both light and bright woods such as oak worktops, ash or maple; but it is perhaps bamboo that is the ideal choice for this kind of kitchen. Our bamboo worktops are an eco-friendly combination of unique beauty and sustainability (a characteristic that is much sought-after in modern design).
Equally, dark worktops such as our black American walnut and iroko worktops look fantastic in earthier or industrial themes, and stand out as a true centre-piece for high-contrast contemporary kitchens.
Other finishing touches
- If you’ve got the space (and money), then wine coolers, cooling drawers, steamers, deep fat fryers and many more appliances can be built straight in to the surfaces and kitchen cabinetry without looking unsightly.
- A modern kitchen deserves beautiful flooring, and dictates that it be comfortable underfoot, watertight, hard-wearing and easy to clean. Consider solid wood, stone, ceramic tiles or even polished concrete.
- There’s little point investing money in beautiful worktops and fancy appliances if you don’t have the lighting to work safely in your kitchen. Lighting is also key for setting the mood, so take time to consider which type of lighting will suit your layout perfectly. Pendant lamps have become very popular, as has LED-strip lighting underneath wall-mounted cabinets.
If you’re looking for further inspiration for a modern kitchen, then why not take a trip to our Gloucester showroom? We’ve got a variety of kitchen themes on show complete with modern appliances and fixtures. The showroom opens between 9am and 5pm during the week, and 10am until 2pm on Saturday.
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