Designing a Stunning Kitchen

If you’re thinking of replacing your kitchen in the near future, it won’t take long to realise that the choice of different units, work surfaces and appliances is daunting. Kitchen design comes and goes out of fashion just like everything else, so what are the current trends to be aware of

 Hideaway Design

One of the big trends currently is for items to be hidden away rather than out on display. Rather than having dishwashers or microwaves on clear view or cluttering up your work top, many new designs have them hidden away behind matching cupboard panels or cleverly slotted under your breakfast bar or central island. This trend is all about creating an impression of more space than there is, and making everything look more sleek and modern.

Islands and Breakfast Bars

The ideal of having a central island has been very popular in recent years and this is one trend which is going to stick around for several years to come. Kitchen design which has all of the units arranged around the walls with a big space in the middle is a thing of the past, and islands provide a multi-use space which can be used with breakfast bar stools (pictured on the right from Lakeland Furniture) for casual dining or socializing as well as providing some valuable extra food preparation space. When designing your central island think about where the best place to locate it would be, and work out how many people you need to seat on breakfast bar stools to determine the overall size.

Big Cookers

We’re more interested in food and cooking than ever, and programmes on television featuring celebrity chefs or enthusiastic amateurs send us running to the kitchen to try to replicate their efforts. Large, range-style cookers are very much the order of the day, with double ovens, at least five burners and all the gadgets and gizmos an enthusiastic cook could ask for. Induction technology is taking over from gas and can be much more energy-efficient than traditional electric hobs. But I personally can’t live with a gas hob as the control it gives me when cooking is just far superior to the annoyance of electric hobs. My dream oven is pretty old school, it’s the classic, country-style Aga – here’s the site: http://www.agaliving.com/

Splash backs

Tiles in the kitchen are firmly out of fashion, and the trendy option is now a glass splash back. Although expensive to install, glass is very durable and easy to maintain. It is also available in a wide range of stunning colours and using a brightly coloured glass splash back along with plain white units or work surfaces can give a very modern appearance to even the smallest of kitchens.