Kitchen Designs: Personalise your modular kitchen

The popularity of modular kitchens in Bangalore and other cities across India is rising because they are customisable according to design needs. However, there are still elements that can be added to your kitchen for that little personal touch or detailing that can never come as a package deal.

Just as a kitchen cooks up loving nutrition for your family and friends, the kitchen of life cooks up memories, artefacts and memorabilia that comes from a lifetime of cooking that cannot be marketed. Hence here are a few tips on how you can make your customised cooking space truly yours.

·         Mural Painting

The market for modular kitchens in Bangalore and other like places where apartments are becoming the norm is growing. This means that kitchens are usually in full view. Often a hallway that leads to the seating area is next to the kitchen. This could be a great space to bridge the two spaces with a mural painting that means something to and your family and friends and convert the entire space into one and potentially expand the space available for entertaining guests or activities with roommates or family.

·         Colourful Crockery

A collection of personalised or handmade crockery or cutlery is a real way to ensure that you kitchen is personalised and warm. Here we are not just taking about printing a photo on a mug. Ideas like hand making a mug or a pot with personalised quotes ofr artwork can be very endearing. The artwork need not be professional grade, just relevant. They make for not only useful equipment but double as excellent display pieces too. Not too bad considering the prevalence of open-floor designs and open kitchens.

·         Glass Covered Counter-Top

A simple idea like a glass cut out to the size of a side table or the small kitchen island can be great way to slip in family recipes, letters, and notes to your loved ones in the house. Remember any glass in the kitchen in the kitchen can be a hazard hence this has to a heavy sheet and cut to the right size to avoid slippage.

However, when done right it adds a nice warm touch to your kitchen, and the artwork will not be replicated or copied. It will be a unique display piece.

·         Pot of Flowers

This seems obvious, and it is. Small pots of flowers tend to add warmth to any space in the home. In the kitchen it can be personalised to include the flowers that you and your family members like. The fragrance can be your morning welcome, go well with your breakfast & coffee and get the day started on the right note.

Apart from this, if you are in the habit of garnishing or cooking with flowers then having fresh ingredients ready to go in your modular kitchen can be helpful.

Kitchen Interiors: Kolours Make All The Difference

Colours are an essential final layer to any fashionable kitchen designs. Colours are also the only part of a modular that can truly be changed frequently. Many times you cannot change the architecture of the kitchen because you rent your house or because it is too expensive.

Often, fashionable kitchens are thought to be about colours but very often, little thought is given regarding how to use colours. Colours used in different ways add different accents to your modular kitchens. Apart from the fact the units can be customised according to needs they can also be designed according to aesthetic preferences. This is a huge factor for the growing popularity of modular kitchens in Bangalore and other cities throughout India.

So let’s get started on some colour choices that you can make and how you can use them.

1.      Black – Traditionally this is not known to be a popular choice for a modular kitchen. However, black is a great colour to add some weight and showcase metal cutlery. The solid dark tone contrast well with stainless steel or copper or cast iron pots and pans. It makes for a great visual; especially if the cabinets have glass doors or if the kitchen is designed with open shelves.

2.      Blue – A dark navy blue used in contrast to white gives you a classic and timeless palette. The nautical is traditional and hence familiar. It adds a touch of sophistication. The fact that it isn’t an achromatic palette (black, white or grey) makes it seem colourful without being too funky. It is the best of both worlds.

3.      Taupe/Grey – You wouldn’t be wrong to think that this entire blog is about avoiding such ‘boring’ colours for your modular kitchen designs. However, when these colours are used uniformly in a kitchen; contrastingly with cream or white, they add weight to the architecture regardless of the shape of the kitchen. It’s a dignified look that is not too harsh on the eyes like some primary colours.

4.      Matte – You are right. Matte is not a colour. However, many people avoid using bright colours like yellow, pink, red, powder blue or green for the fear that they might be too overwhelming.

Consider using matte shades of the same. A matte lemon yellow or a sage green give your kitchen that much needed lift without taking over powering your senses.

5.      Contrast – When we think of contrasting colours we think of safe options like grey and white or black and white. But, we would not have to discuss that in a separate point, would we? Here are a couple of alternative options:

·         Powder blue with dark grey. Accents of matte orange or lemon can be used minimally to give an edge to your küche colours.

·         Brick Orange with Turquoise. Granted this is an adventurous choice and it isn’t for everyone. However, it stands as good example of thinking a little outside the box when it comes to understanding what and how much colours can add to the character of your overall kitchen designs.

Apart from thinking about which colours to use, another important aspect of using colours is where to use them.

Modular kitchens in Bangalore and other metropolises across the country, is a rapidly growing market. However, the point to keep in mind is that kitchen units do not nullify the need for overall kitchen design. Don’t get me wrong- it doesn’t take much but colour choices, tiles, and textures have to thought about.

Here are some indications to areas of kitchen that are often ignored.

·         Common walls – With open kitchen designs becoming popular in Bangalore where apartment buildings are all the rage along with villas chances are that your kitchen wall extends into another room or space. This should be considered when finalising the colour scheme of the kitchen.

·         Ceiling – Yes, the ceiling. Often the ceiling is neglected in kitchens. However, painting the ceiling well can not only add aesthetic value to your kitchen design but protect it from wearing or accumulating grime from fumes.

Also, the colour of the ceiling can alter the perception of the height of the ceiling; making your cooking space seem cosier or more spacious.

·         Light and Environment – Light affects what effect a colour has in the room and on the people in the room. Think about light in your kitchen at different times of the day and through different seasons.

·         See through – Having glass cut outs for cabinet doors allows you to use colours in a unique manner. You can line the shelves or paint the insides of your cabinets in adventurous colours. While maintaining a more traditional exterior.

It is these & many more options, that modern kitchen units give that has popularised modular kitchens in Bangalore. Find ideas that inspire your palette and use situations to have customised experience that you can cherish.

Kitchen Design: Remodelling The Kitchen Is About Getting Back To Basics

Most people find redesigning or remodelling the kitchen interiors of their homes to be daunting task. As with every task that might seem complicated there are few simple steps potential investors in modular kitchens can keep in mind. Listing the fundamental objectives and using that list as a guideline for all decision making is a good a start. The list will in turn act as a compass ensuring that each step of the process leads towards the final goal.

Commute

Firstly, getting a sense of the space is important. Dimensions are one thing and working with a designer makes it simple enough to understand the available options. However, operating in space would mean ensuring that movement is not restricted or cumbersome. Chances are that designs made keeping this point in mind adhere to the Kitchen Work Triangle Principle or at make efficient cooking areas.

Corners

Space optimisation is key for an efficient kitchen space. The market for modular kitchens in Bangalore and other urban areas of India is growing. The trend of modern lifestyle kitchens seem expanding to areas outside the metropolis too.

However, most of these kitchen designs are for apartments and smaller areas as space is at a premium. Solving storage issues right from the design stage is not only a big win but a necessity.

Pull out shelves, and other such custom kitchen cabinets in Bangalore offer needs based solutions that may maximise corners. This helps provide a more uncluttered and modern feel to a kitchen design.

Ventilation

As with storage, ventilation is another key factor in kitchen design. There are two factors to consider – windows and chimneys.

As mentioned, most modern kitchens in Bangalore and other metropolitan markets are being designed in smaller spaces. This means that one of the two aspects of ventilation may not be enough on its own. Having windows aloe may be not enough as they may bee too small of or not be ideally located. However, some ventilation is always better that having noe.

In these cases investing in a good chimney (or hood) goes a long way in keeping your kitchen space efficient as well as safe. The amount of fumes produced in any cooking space due to all the alchemy that takes place cannot be under estimated. This contributes to much of the indoor pollution. This is bigger concern for kitchens in Bangalore where the spaces are small and in urban areas people tend to spend more time indoors.

Budgeting

Kitchen designs can easily get out of hand in terms of finances if it is not tracked properly. Adhering to a set budget would require some research. Finding out about materials, colours, fittings, labour cost and how they all work together allows for different permutations

Aesthetics & Taste

Lastly, the kitchen has to reflect the spirit of the people who will use that space. This where aesthetic and design guidelines from experts may be ignored slightly to ensure that the world-class kitchen invested in is also a happy cooking space. Following the first four steps would solidify the functional aspect of the kitchen design, the last step is to add a slant of personality.

Of course this is the beginning a truly efficient process will break this list into smaller steps and the more organised the process the more streamlined it becomes. The end result is world-class kitchen with a personalised touch.