How to make your kitchen comfortable: 10 tips from a chef

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Together with Flatplan, we continue a series of articles on how to correctly equip an apartment so that it is pleasant to live in it.

Flatplan is a service for creating interior design projects. While working on a project, Flatplan designers consult with specialists: they know how to make an apartment comfortable for playing sports, and an experienced one - how to arrange a study. In a joint project, we seek advice from experts from various fields.

This time, we asked restaurateur William Lamberti to talk about how to make the kitchen comfortable for cooking and relaxation.

1. Let more light into the kitchen

Cooking in a dark room is exhausting. Your eyes will get tired quickly if you cut fish or sort through rice in the dark.

It is good if the kitchen has large panoramic windows or an exit to the balcony. Do not close the windows with blackout curtains and do not put shelves for jars of jam on the balcony: the more light, the more spacious the kitchen seems.

If the kitchen has a lot of sunlight, its size doesn't really matter. It is good to cook in it, even if it is tiny.

To visually enlarge the kitchen with artificial lighting, hang spotlights above the working area on the ceiling. The area for washing and cutting products can be additionally illuminated using LED strip or separate lamps under the cabinets.

2. Separate the cooking area from the dining area

The most important thing is to arrange the washing, storage and cooking areas so that everything is at hand. Together, these zones form a working triangle.

An ideal working triangle should be isosceles, with sides of at least one and a half meters. In life, this rarely happens, because modern apartments have very different kitchens.

• In small or narrow long kitchens, a linear arrangement of furniture is recommended. There must be at least one empty countertop between the triangle zones.
• In L- and L-shaped kitchens, it is better to place the sink in the corner, and the stove and refrigerator on opposite sides of it.

Even if you fail to fit the canonical working triangle into your kitchen, you need to separate the cooking area from the dining area. The cook should have their own territory, which does not need to be shared with family members who decide to eat.

3. Make the kitchen comfortable for socializing

All the most important conversations take place in the kitchen. When you have a large family or frequent guests, you most likely communicate while cooking. It is inconvenient to maintain a dialogue with your back to the interlocutor.

If space allows, place an island or a bar counter in front of the kitchen set with the letter G. In a small kitchen, place the dining group not opposite the kitchen furniture, but slightly diagonally from it.

Advice from Flatplan

Now the concept of "open kitchen" is in trend. Make the kitchen as viewable as possible so you can chat and cook at the same time.

The dining table should be such that it is comfortable for everyone to come together at it. It is important that everyone can see and hear each other. For this, a round or oval table is better suited. If oblong, then without sharp corners. The dining area is best placed by the window.

4. Get rid of the cobweb of wires

There are a lot of appliances in the modern kitchen. Refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, extractor hood, blender, coffee maker - all this is connected to the network.

Sharp objects are constantly used in the kitchen and water is poured. Therefore, uncleaned wires, adapters and carriers are not only ugly, but also unsafe: you can stumble or get an electric shock.

It is better to think over where the switches will be and where you will put the kitchen appliances even at the planning stage. It is always better to calculate the number of outlets with a margin and make them at different points of the workspace.

Advice from Flatplan

When outlets are conveniently located, wires will not intertwine or get in the way. Here is a diagram that will tell you exactly where to place the sockets in the kitchen.

If the number of extension cords is off scale, but there is no way to chisel the walls and make new sockets, collect the wires in special boxes or hide them in the baseboard and cable channels on the wall.

Advice from Flatplan

5. Avoid sharp corners

Imagine carrying a heavy hot saucepan to the sink, stumbling over a sharp corner of a cabinet or countertop. If this angle is sharp, serious injury could result. Therefore, it is better if all the corners in the kitchen are rounded. Especially for hanging cabinets and shelves.

6. Consider a storage system

The smaller the kitchen, the more efficiently you need to use its area. All elements should not only be in harmony with each other, but also be useful. At the design concept stage, think over the most convenient storage: where the dishes will lie, and where will the spices and food.

The problem with the clutter of the kitchen is solved by a well-thought-out storage system.

You can make a kitchen apron functional by hanging magnetic knife guides or rails on it to keep spices and small kitchen utensils close at hand and unload cabinets.

Advice from Flatplan

Covers from pots and pans, which take up a lot of space in cabinets, can be stored on the doors or the inner walls of the cabinets. At the same time, they will all be in sight - it is easier to find the one you need.

If you have a corner kitchen, then consider the so-called magic corner - a structure that will help increase the usable area of the cabinet. Instead of ordinary doors, it is better to choose roll-out mechanisms.

7. Hang a clock in the kitchen

We are used to looking at the time on a smartphone, and wall clocks in many homes are becoming an element of decor. But not in the kitchen: when your hands and everything around you are in flour, it is better to put your smartphone away. And in order not to overexpose the meringue in the oven and not to miss the boiling soup, hang a large clock with a second hand in a conspicuous place. So it will be convenient for you to time the time you need according to the recipe and keep track of how much time is left before the guests arrive.

8. Create a kitchen that looks like you

If you love making pies, and flowered curtains and carved cabinets bring tears of emotion to you, you will hardly be comfortable in a high-tech kitchen. Most likely, your option is country or provence.

The interior is part of the cooking process. Choose what you feel most comfortable around.

Regardless of the style, try to avoid overloaded facades and excessive eclecticism. Otherwise, even a clean kitchen will look cramped and cluttered.

Don't use many colors. It is better to choose three shades (two close to each other and one contrasting) and play with the whole interior with them.

Before starting the repair, everyone looks at magazines and Internet portals with examples of interiors. Sometimes it helps in choosing, but it can confuse someone. We offer our customers a walk through which reveals preferences in style and colors.

Advice from Flatplan

9. When equipping the kitchen, keep in mind the general style of the apartment

To make the kitchen comfortable, its style should be in harmony with the appearance of the entire apartment as a whole. This does not mean that all rooms need to be finished with the same materials. It is enough to find some unifying decorative element.

10. If you find it uncomfortable to cook in your kitchen - do not suffer, but remake it

You can have the most ordinary cups and spoons, and instead of a tablecloth - a bright oilcloth. The food will not be less delicious from this. But for cooking to be a pleasant experience, the interior must be thoughtful. Even a small kitchen can be convenient.

The main thing in the kitchen is comfort. Everything should be done in such a way that cooking is not a hassle, and at dinner you can rest and relax. Flatplan will help you arrange your kitchen so that it is comfortable to cook, eat and receive guests in it. The price does not depend on the complexity of the project and the size of the apartment: for 29,900 rubles, you can get a ready-made flat plan of the entire room with drawings, estimates and tips for builders.

To get started, you need to pass a short test and choose the interior you like from the proposed selection. Flatplan adapts it to your wishes and apartment features. Then a designer will come, measure everything, and in a week you will have a detailed design project in your hands.