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How To Design A Kitchen For A Foodie
A kitchen is a space to prepare and cook food, and if you think you’re bit of a home chef, then this will most definitely be the main room in your home. So, if you’re planning to remodel and renovate your kitchen, you’ll want to design it in a way that will make cooking up those signatures dishes a breeze. Luckily for you, we’ve got some top tips that’ll help you design a kitchen to get the most out of your culinary skills.
Think about your space
You love cooking, so think about the space you’ll be cooking in. You’re going to want a dedicated prep area with enough space to chop, slice and season those delicious dishes – plan your prep area near your cupboards, so you can access your ingredients easily. You’ll then want your cooking station near your fridge for those last-minute changes to the recipe.
Keep it open
Any good cook will have quite the collection of ingredients and spices; most likely you’ll like to experiment with your dishes, adding in a bit of this and little of that. By keeping your space open with shelves opposed to cupboards, all those different flavours will be within reach, so you won’t have to stop your cooking flow. Plus, dinner guests won’t need to open every cupboard to find the glasses while you’re perfecting dinner.
Be functional
Any kitchen should be functional, and even more so if you take pride in your cooking. You’re going to want a set-up that’ll let you seamlessly work between your cooker, fridge freezer and sink. This is commonly known as the working triangle, and the idea revolves around having your oven & hob, fridge freezer and sink formed in a triangle for the most practical layout.
What about the hood?
A budding chef loves to cook on the hob, it’s hands on and tactile. But, unless you want to cook in a cloud of smoke, make sure you get a hood that is the same size as your hob, if not bigger. This way your kitchen will be smoke free.
A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen
Cooking is messy, especially if your whipping up masterpieces. So ideally, you’ll want as many free and clean surfaces as possible to get creative. With this mind, think about incorporating an ‘appliance garage’. This is where you keep all your small appliances such as toaster, microwaves, blenders etc, and keep them stored and hooked up in the same space.
Plan with appliances in mind
You can’t cook without appliances, it’s a simple as that. So naturally, appliances should be one of the first things on your mind when planning that renovation. If you love Asian cuisine, you’ll want a hob with a Wok burner to intensify all those flavours. But, if you like to whip up a meze of treats, then an induction hob with flexible zones will let you cook as much or as little as you like.
Planning the makeover
Introducing Sandra
Sandra Baker is a corporate lawyer by day, and interiors obsessive in every other spare minute. She runs the lively Instagram account @the_idle_hands, which documents the renovation of her Victorian home. Noted as a key interiors account to follow by the Sunday Times, Sandra is a wallpaper obsessive, and crafts bold, pattern and colour-filled spaces that embody her confidently eclectic style. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Yorkshire.
Doing the work
Things to be aware of...
The kitchen renovation was part of a larger building project which took over most of the house, and there was a lot of structural work to be done. I knew renovations were stressful and was fully prepared for that, so for the first 3-4 months I was quite chipper. However, by the time it got to months 5 and 6 and the winter had set in, I’ve got to admit the novelty had completely worn off and I was exhausted and fed up of the constant decision making, the front door being wide open all day, every day, to accommodate the endless processions of tradesmen, the constant mess and dust and, most of all, washing up in the bath.
However, every day brought a bit more progress and I was (mostly) able to get excited about that and remind myself that it all brought us a little closer to the finishing line.
The reveal
And finally...
I’m not exaggerating when I say that the finished kitchen has changed the way we live. I feel like we’ve finally entered the 21st century! The best parts are the huge space we’ve created and the storage - everything has a place. My favourite appliance is undoubtedly the induction hob, with its integrated extractor. Bearing in mind I had been cooking on a cantankerous old range cooker, which only worked sometimes and had no heat control whatsoever, the sleek induction hob is an absolute dream. It looks beautiful set into the island and is so user-friendly and responsive. It’s reignited the entire family’s interest in cooking.
