Designing your kitchen
A tailored guide from Cheshire Granite Line
The kitchen is at the heart of every home. But this means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
So, what does it mean to you? Is it a place to eat and drink with family and friends? Maybe it’s where you post up with coffee and a newspaper on Sunday mornings.
In this short guide, you’ll find lots of help and advice to design a kitchen which works for you.
Much of the advice will centre on choosing the right kitchen worktop because we think the kitchen counter makes up a large part of your kitchens overall look and feel. We’ll also cover how to pick the right layout for the space, as well as the finishing touches.
Layout
Good kitchen design begins with getting the layout right. The layout has to suit your tastes in a practical way. Make sure your selected layout matches the shape of your room, makes the most out of natural light sources and does not obstruct the ‘flow’ of your kitchen.
You also need to ensure that your sink, oven and fridge are laid out in a triangle arrangement to make cooking a breeze.
L-Shape
L-Shaped kitchens maximise floor space and can make small to medium-sized kitchens feel light and breezy. They also work great for kitchen-diners.
U-Shape
Got lots of hungry mouths to feed? Need lots of food preparation and storage space? A U-shaped kitchen might be perfect for your needs.
Island
Kitchen islands are very diverse pieces. They can be used as breakfast bars, preparation stations, storage space or just about anything else.
Galley
Galley kitchens make creative use out of long, thin spaces. Practically, they take some careful planning, but when done right they can look great.
Modern kitchen design
The modern kitchen is typified by clean lines, shiny surfaces and slick shapes, rounded off with bold colour contrasts and subtle design twists.
The laws governing modern kitchen design remain largely undefined, so don’t be afraid to experiment a little. But ensure you keep your creative spirit in check.
The key to good design is achieving balance. Don’t try to follow one particular scheme to an austere degree, instead try to create harmony in colours, layout and material choice.
Find your balance
We’ve seen synthetic elements like concrete, enamel and stainless steel used to good effect. But it’s important to offset these bold choices with some more natural selections like wood, granite and marble, as well as treated ‘natural-look’ stones like quartz.
Using granite in a modern kitchen often means choosing a monochromatic coloured slab or one with a very minimal imprint. These stones look great and almost guarantee a sharp colour scheme throughout your design.
Modern kitchens are often planned with informality in mind. Whether it’s a comfortable sofa in one corner or a pop-up power socket where you want the kids to sit and do their homework, modern kitchens should be built around the demands of family life.
Styling Tips
- Source some striking visual elements, but take care not to clutter up surfaces.
- Including iconic furniture, like a Barcelona chair is an easy way to make a ‘modernist’ statement.
- Use spotlights to draw attention to areas of interest in a kitchen.
- Introduce more friendly colours and textures with upholstered furniture. Draping a comfortable blanket can make a chair look even more inviting.
- Fresh flowers look great in every modern kitchen.
- If your design includes an abundance of glossy textures, balance it against a backdrop of coarse stone and wood.
- Use downlights to highlight the grain of your worktop in darkness, or install LED lights under cabinets so they appear to float in mid-air.
- If you are creating an open-plan kitchen, include distinct zones for cooking, eating and lounging. Using subtle boundaries like breakfast bars can help achieve this goal.
