Kitchen

The kitchen of today is a great deal more than work space, it's a living room, a playroom, a office, a refuge, a dining room, and a hub of communications. In order to provide a reassuring and pleasurable backdrop to the ebb and flow of life, a kitchen needs to function well on all these levels.

More than any other room in the house, a kitchen requires forethought and preparation, whether you are designing a brand-new kitchen from scratch, remodeling an existing one, or just sprucing up parts of the kitchen. Thorough planning will enable you to create an attractive, high-performance kitchen that reflects your priorities and personality. Achieving a successful balance between comfort, efficiency, and good looks is the secret of the perfect kitchen. Create the kitchen that works well for your lifestyle.

The most obvious way to pick a design for your kitchen is to let the type of home you live in be a major factor, but you must consider the life you lead. Busy people need small, efficient kitchens; dedicated cooks, on the other hand, will want space to enjoy their art.

Tips

• The starting point when planning your kitchen layout should be the sink since, with its attendant plumbing, it is the single most expensive and impractical item to move. The sink should be close to the cook top, with generous work space on either side. Neither the sink nor the cook top should be relegated to a corner, they need to be a good two feet from the side wall so that you don't bang your elbows, and so that you have a landing space on either side of these key areas. Avoid interrupting the work surface with housing for a built-in oven or a refrigerator. It's better to group these together at the end of the countertop.
• For general food preparation, the countertop should be about two to four inches below the level of your elbow. Countertop heights for base cabinets are generally three feet. The cooking zone should be about six inches lower than surfaces for preparation work so you can see into the pans
• Good ventilation is essential, even in a kitchen with plenty of windows. Windows let fresh air in, but you need a vent hood to filter grease, so it's fine to display them near the stove.
• Planning for safety because forty percent of all home accidents happen in the kitchen, which makes it by far the most dangerous room in the house. Most at risk are young children and the elderly, but carelessness can make statistics of us all. The cook top is the most hazardous area of the kitchen. Do not install it beneath a wall cabinet, near curtains or drying dish towels. Fire is an ever-present hazard, so place a small foam fire extinguisher or fire blanket where you can easily find it. If you have children, store sharp knives and caustic cleaners in locked cupboards or drawers. Never let steam discharge onto an electric socket. Install all switches and outlets well away from water.
• Good lighting is vital in a kitchen, which is essentially a working environment. Task lighting and background lighting are both needed in the kitchen. Counters, the sink, and the cook top need to be evenly lit from above. Avoid positioning the light behind you, or you'll be working in your own shadow. Spotlight, under-cabinet strip lights, or well-positioned pendants can be used for this. For ambient lighting, down lights, track lighting, or wall-mounted up lights all work well, positioned so they wash pale walls or ceiling with light. The color of light depends on the type of lighting you choose. Fluorescent light can have a harsh, flattening effect, and it distorts color a little. Halogen bulbs give a crisp, sparkly, white light; the low-voltage types are small, while saving on electricity, but halogen does get very hot.