Is the Kitchen the Most Important Room in the Home?

Whenever we are planning to buy a new house or renovating our existing house, we first look for its kitchen. Our kitchen the most important and used room inside our house. It is considered as the heart of the home and our day starts with the kitchen with some refreshing coffee. We spend most of our day in the kitchen preparing delicious foods. You have seen smaller and separated kitchen in older houses.

Where the kitchen is located far and isolated from the rest of the house. In those kitchens, you will find big brick chimney for eliminating fumes from the kitchen. In the older kitchen, we usually use traditional fuels like charcoal, coal, woods to burn fire. These fuels release more fumes and smoke in the kitchen.

These smokes are very harmful to health so it needs proper ventilation. But nowadays we are not using traditional fuels so the kitchens no need to isolated from home. Modern kitchens are attached to the living rooms. Our modern kitchens are equipped with the latest home and kitchen appliances like refrigerators, ovens, food processors. Sometime you will find kitchens are looking more modern than bedrooms. 

The kitchen is our new living room

Our kitchens are still evolving and nowadays you will find open kitchens. These kitchens are opened in the living room where you can watch your television while cooking foods. 20 years ago, our kitchens are located far from the home due to the use of traditional fuels. But when people stopped using fossil fuels the kitchen is aligned with the living rooms.

The newer kitchens are larger and equipped with modern appliances. They have enough space to allocate islands and tables for eating. The idea of the kitchen as a living space was becoming more and more popular and those with smaller kitchens in older homes started to take notice. The kitchens are open to the living rooms where you have direct access to home entertainment like music systems, televisions.

You can place your refrigerators in living rooms and access those easily from the kitchen. The open kitchen has a facility of separate dining along with sitting areas. It is very useful where you can eat foods while watching televisions and also talking with people working in the kitchen. Modern kitchens are like our family hub where you can discuss new ideas with your friends and family.

I older kitchen it is very difficult to sit and eat because they are full of smokes which are harmful to health. But in a modern kitchen, there is no way of any smoke. Also, modern kitchens are equipped with kitchen chimneys which will help to eliminate harmful gases and fumes. 

In most cases children were encouraged to join and learn the art of cooking, the joy of preparing a family or holiday meal together, thus creating true memories of a lifetime. Kitchens are not sedate and quiet rooms. They are rooms filled with energy, aroma and texture. They were created with a purpose, one purpose in mind. 

Does the kitchen size really matter?

The kitchen is one of the main rooms in our house and is considered as the heart of the home. It is always important to have a good-sized kitchen. Your kitchen should have proper ventilation. If ventilation is not possible then you must install any kitchen chimney and exhaust fans inside your kitchen. There should be proper arrangement for natural sunlight.

Sunlight helps to kill bacteria and removes bad odour from the kitchen. The house resale value also greatly depends on its kitchen. For a good-sized kitchen, people are ready to pay more. Kitchen is like an eyeopener and most of people like to spend more when they found their kitchen to be big enough. 

Nowadays most of our appliances accommodate inside the kitchen. Some of the appliances like refrigerator, water cooler, microwave ovens are placed in the kitchen. But now people like to install their washing machine, dishwasher, geysers also inside the kitchen. People like to wash their utensils with hot water for that they are installing a water geyser inside the kitchen.

Also, the front load washing machines and dishwashers are located inside the kitchen slabs. These will give easy access and also gives a premium look to your kitchen. Much attention needs to paid while designing the kitchen’s layout, design and functionality. You must arrange all the electrical outlets in advance for all the appliances. It is better to have assigned dedicated places for all the appliances. People are hiring professional to design their kitchen so that they can organise them very well and accommodate more appliances and storage inside the kitchen.

Kitchen Design Considerations

Whenever we are designing our kitchen there are some ideal design considerations you should follow. These will help you to accommodate most of your appliances as well give you enough space for your food preparation. 

• Layout – Whenever planning the layout of the new kitchen you should follow the triangle rule. The work triangle is a set distance between your sink, refrigerator, and stove. Keep in mind that you want to have those distances relatively short. We don’t have to walk a mile to your sink to fill the water. These are the most used items in your kitchen. If your refrigerator is placed far from the stove then you need to put extra efforts and time to access it while cooking. The garbage bin should be placed at equal distance from the sink, fridge and stove 
• Cabinet Height – The height of cabinets is much important it is decided with the height of members in your house. For a taller person, a shorter cabinet height is not useful while for shorter person taller cabinets are useless. The ideal cabinet size is 36″ standard height but you can modify the height as per your need. Wall cabinets also come in various heights, so make sure that you can reach the shelves. 
• Appliances – We already know there are many standard home and kitchen appliances which can be accommodated in the kitchen. Some of them are your refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave oven. There are also warming drawers, steamers, and a variety of speciality products that you can choose from. Just make sure you get what you need and want. You can also install a front load washing machine, kitchen chimney, geysers, food processors inside the kitchen. 
• Storage – While designing the kitchen you should plan how much storage you need. What all electrical appliances like blenders, inductions etc you want to place on the slab. After placing all the things there must be enough space so that you can easily move them.  There should be enough storage for storing all your kitchen and pantry items. 
• Style – You probably have an idea of what you want your new kitchen to look like, but not everyone does. The style of your cabinets can make a big impact. There are many themes of kitchen available in the market. Based on the theme you should decide on the colour, cabinets, appliances design and more. Darker colours can feel more modern but don’t give enough light inside the kitchen. While a white kitchen can be brighter but need more care. 
• There should be a proper outlet for your induction, blenders, dishwashers, ovens and all other appliances. It is always painful to make a new electrical outlet so you should properly plan it. 
• Integration with Other Areas – Today’s open-plan designs include breakfast areas and great rooms integrated into the kitchen plan. It provides easy access to the kitchen and creates a healthy environment inside your house. 
• Utilise modern Technologies – Nowadays I have seen a kitchen with inbuilt Bluetooth speakers, smart appliances, warming drawers, steam ovens. Most of us love to cook by watching recipe on YouTube. You can also provide a dedicated space for your tablet and Alexa for helping in your kitchen.