It’s not a secret and rarely is it disputed that the kitchen is the hub of the home nowadays. There are studies that have shown that on average we spend around 12% of our lives in the kitchen, that makes an average of 2.8 hours a day! Unless you are hoping to make an appearance on the next series of The Great British Bake Off or Masterchef that may sound a hell of a long time.
But if you take into account the trend for open plan living, which sees us using the kitchen as a place not to just prepare food, that amount of time doesn’t seem so long. And we all end up in the kitchen at a party don’t we, that’s probably because we know that’s where the wine is! 🙂
This brings us onto why, nowadays, people want much more from their kitchen. Kitchens need to be versatile and to cater for different people, doing different things at different times.
Open Plan
As already mentioned, open plan living is on the rise and a recent survey suggested that 54% of consumers taking on a new kitchen project will opt for an open-plan design with 63% of those looking to include an island unit as part of the layout. Something which we have seen an increase over the recent years with the kitchens we have fitted around Derby.
Breakfast Bars
The convenience and clever usage of worktop space means breakfast bars are also a keen favourite with customers. Done well it gives the extra bit of seating area which is relaxed, informal and social. Great for busy mornings when the kids are eating breakfast whilst you are getting the packed lunches ready.
Islands
As mentioned earlier, kitchen islands are now very popular and these are available with open and closed shelves, storage units, wine racks, breakfast zones and extendable sections to give you even more worktop space. These can be very versatile indeed.
Smart Kitchens
More and more people now want to be connected in the kitchen too, this might be via phones, televisions, sound system or other smart devices such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home.
Televisions can be mounted or recessed in the wall, or fitted into units to look like they are part of the kitchen appliances. Wifi enabled speakers can be discreetly placed, USB phone and tablet charging points can be installed for convenience too.
Office by Day, Kitchen by Night
We’ve even seen kitchens being used as offices during the day with clever usage of the work surfaces, extendable worktop sections, well placed power sockets and well designed layouts for leg room when seated.
So you see the kitchen is much more than a kitchen nowadays and why not when we spend so much time in them.
To get your new kitchen project underway please give us a call in the shop on 01283 701 001 or call Troy directly on 07810 186 573.
You can also email us at info@kitchens-complete.com or via our Contact page.
If you would like some inspiration please click here for a brochure.
