With the busy lifestyle that accompanies parenthood, there is a tendency for the kitchen space to become merely an area for hectic food preparation and never-ending cleaning. Without question, having children tremendously influences our relationship with our home and how we see and interact with the spaces within it.
However, through using clever design layouts and making appropriate worktop and appliance choices, the kitchen can be transformed from a room that operates solely to meet basic culinary requirements, to a functional social space that can enhance the quality of time spent with the family. Here are some key points for families to consider when designing a new kitchen:
Open plan living to create a sociable family space:
By combining the traditionally separate “living” and “cooking” areas through open plan design, the kitchen has evolved from a purely functional space into a place of socialization and recreation. It gives parents peace of mind through enabling them to simultaneously prepare dinner whilst keeping an eye the little ones. The inclusion of kitchen islands and peninsulas –often utilized in open plan design - creates a relaxed and attractive atmosphere that encourages even teenagers to spend more time socialising downstairs. In addition, open-plan kitchens make it possible for a family to be in one room without it feeling cramped and without isolating whoever is doing the cooking.
Minimalist Cabinet Design and Handleless Fronts:
Opting for a clean minimalist style -particularly in an open plan kitchen - can be a smart option for creating a feeling of aesthetic order amidst the chaos and clutter of toys or schoolbooks. Contemporary German kitchen manufacturers Leicht are experts in creating cabinetry that focuses on clean lines and is devoid of superfluous details such as decorative cornices or barred glazed windows which are often found in more traditional kitchen styles. Leicht’s ranges feature handleless touch-opening fronts which create an effortless ergonomic flow when interacting with the kitchen space, whilst further simplifying the kitchen’s aesthetic.
Whilst always reflective of minimalist German design, Leicht continues to produce cabinet finishes in a wide variety of styles, colours and materials. Here at Contour, we are experienced in assisting the customer in narrowing down the vast amount of options available to enable them to realise their own individual vision for their kitchen.
Choose a durable worktop material:
Particularly when it comes to open plan family kitchens, your island or kitchen worktop is open to attacks from anything from wax crayons to accidental wine spillages once that bedtime routine is finally over. With this in mind, it is wise to choose a worktop that can go the distance. Whilst a real wood worktop might look stunning under the protection of showroom conditions, will it look quite so elegant at home with your child’s spilled juice stained into its surface?
By opting for a Quartz surface, you not only gain an attractive contemporary surface but the reassurance that the worktop can withstand a lot more of whatever your children (quite literally) throw at it. Quartz worktops are renowned for their high stain and scratch-resistant qualities. The smooth surface of Quartz also lends itself to convenient, easy cleaning and – unlike porous wood or granite worktops – does not require any additional sealing or maintenance.
For the ultimate durable kitchen surface, Dekton would be high on Contour’s list of recommendations. Dekton is an ultra-compact man-made quartz surface created by the raw materials compressed together through extreme heat and pressure conditions representative of those inside a volcanic eruption. It is this process that creates a material tough enough to resist against UV rays, knife scratches, bleach, coffee or wine spillages to name a few, and what makes it the perfect kitchen countertop choice for parents. Click here for a demonstration of Dekton’s resistant qualities
Both Silestone Quartz and Dekton worktops are available to view in our showroom. Please contact one of our team for more details.
Choose appliances that create a more enjoyable home dining experience:
For parents of young children, opportunities to eat out can often be limited. Fortunately, the emergence of the “staying in is the new going out” trend has inspired appliance companies into designing cooking products that are more attractive, intuitive, and which ultimately bring an air of professionalism into the domestic kitchen. This all results in a much more enjoyable home cooking and dining experience.
Innovations such as Neff’s CircoTherm™ technology enables the cooking, roasting and baking separate meals simultaneously on up to three levels, without cross-contamination of odours or flavours. Consumers can efficiently create a three-course meal to simulate an at-home restaurant experience without slaving away in the kitchen for an entire afternoon; historically a near-impossible feat with little ones running around.
BORA’s Professional 2.0 Cooktop Extractor is a wonderful example of professional cooking brought into a domestic setting. Alongside a powerful extractor, the system allows customization of the cooktops themselves, allowing the customer to select from a variety of cooking surfaces, from induction and gas to ceramic wok or stainless steel teppanyaki grills, enabling an exciting, personalized at-home cooking experience. At 54cm deep, BORA cooktops are also among the largest on the market; this means there is room to cook with two large pans next to each other, ideal for cooking higher quantities for a large family.
Choose appliances with in-built Easy-Clean and Safety Functions:
For parents, the kitchen can feel impossible to keep clean when time and attention is stretched so thinly looking after children, however by making informed decisions with regards to appliances you can significantly cut the amount of time spent cleaning these items, leaving you with more time to spend with the family (or catch up on much-needed rest!).
Neff’s pyrolytic oven offers a fantastic solution for reducing cleaning times in the kitchen; the self-cleaning function works by heating the oven’s cavity up to 485 degrees, turning any food residue to ash that is then easily wiped away once the cycle has finished. This not only reduces hours spent manually scrubbing the inside of the oven but eliminates the risk of contaminating the air with harsh chemicals used in traditional oven cleaning methods, therefore making it a much safer option for households with children or pets and a cleaning method that is achievable at any time of the day. Parents need not be concerned about the safety of this function either; the oven doors are made with four panes of glass to ensure safe surface temperatures, as well as incorporating automatic locking systems.
Hobs with integrated ventilation is another smart choice for parents wishing to reduce cleaning time. By reducing the need for a cooker hood in addition to your cooktop surface, the cleaning time is effectively halved, and most top brands will provide easily removable grease filters that are dishwasher friendly. When it comes to ease of cleaning, consider induction cooktops over gas for a simple wipeable surface. Most induction hobs also have the benefit of in-built safety features and - whilst the surface will get hot – it will not scald like an open flame on a gas hob. Induction hobs heat up only when in contact with an induction pan, eliminating the risk of burning on other utensils. They heat up and cool down very quickly and use LED technology to indicate to consumers when the surface is still hot.
Here at Contour, our expert designers have experience in helping their clients create their ideal kitchen that’s aesthetically pleasing, functional and long-lasting. To contact one of our team, please click here.