7 Important Tips To Consider When Designing The Kitchen

For the modern home owner, the kitchen is becoming an increasingly important space. While the kitchen was previously mostly limited to the home maker who served up warm dishes for the family, it has now become more inclusive where family members are spending more time together in this part of the home, preparing, cooking and even washing dishes.

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In addition, with residential properties commanding more dollars per square foot in most parts of the world, home owners are purchasing tinier homes with smaller square foot that they can allocate to the kitchen area.

These are 7 tips for home owners to consider when designing their kitchen area for a seamless and convenient experience.

Tip 1: Ensure that there is sufficient countertop space to work on

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The hansgrohe SilicaTec granite sink with a drainer on the left extends the working area in the kitchen.
Space is always a luxury when it comes to planning your kitchen area, and it starts off with planning for enough countertop space for you to place utensils and appliances such as a blender and complete chores, such as cutting vegetables and meat or beating eggs.

With more space accorded to the countertop, it makes working in the kitchen more enjoyable and less stressful because you can easily access required utensils and appliances without having to work through unnecessary clutter.

Home owners can further consider clever space-saving solutions such as the hansgrohe SilicaTec granite sink with drainer, which increases the working space in the kitchen. You can easily cut fruits and vegetables on the drainer while rinsing them easily with the tap at the same time, increasing the efficiency when preparing meals.

Tip 2: Small details matter too

Small details are important too as they can help to further increase the space you have in the kitchen. For instance, you can consider installing hooks in the kitchen to hang items which take up space and may be difficult to stack. These items include bulky pots, pans and even gloves, and by neatly suspending these items on hooks, this can substantially free up storage space in the cabinets or even on the counter top. These hooks should be installed at an accessible height.

Home owners could focus on another often-overlooked small detail – the storage space beneath the kitchen sink. It is a common sight to have this space cluttered with cleaning bottles and aids, and this often inadvertently affects the working of the pull out kitchen faucet.

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Hansgrohe has designed the new sBox which frees up the storage space under the sink. With hansgrohe’s creation, the sBox, the hose of the pull out kitchen faucet is neatly kept in a flat casing, thus freeing up space in the base cabinet. With a very smooth and quiet operation of the hose, the sBox protects it and also allows the hose to have a total length of 76cm, further making it convenient for you to fill up pots and pans at the sink.

Tip 3: All lit up

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A well-lit kitchen space makes for a comfortable kitchen experience. Home owners can consider planning the lighting in the kitchen by considering the three types available, instead of opting for a single light source to light up the room.

These three types are ambient (the main source of light which should be cast as evenly as possible), task (lighting that is focused on properly illuminating darker areas which require more focus for tasks such as safely preparing meals and reading recipes), and accent (lighting which accentuates your favourite elements in the kitchen). With the correct lighting chosen for the kitchen, you can enjoy a more pleasant and comfortable kitchen experience.

Tip 4: Faucet handles are important

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The hansgrohe Metris Select Single lever kitchen faucet offers the convenience of turning on and off the water flow using the Select button at the front of the spout. When purchasing kitchen faucets, home owners could pay attention to the type of handles they offer, such as twist handles. Twist handles may not be as comfortable to use, especially with soapy hands, compared to lever handles as the latter are more ergonomic and convenient too.

On top of having a single lever handle, hansgrohe’s Metris Select kitchen faucet also offers convenience at a simple operation of the button. All it takes is a push of the Select button, equipped at the front of the spout of the kitchen faucet, and the water flow can be easily controlled even with the back of one’s hand. This is very helpful especially when your hands are full. The Select technology is purely mechanical, and requires no electronics at all, and is therefore very safe.

Tip 5: Kitchen sink – top mount or under mount installation?

Interior Design, Home Renovation, Image Source: Hansgrohe

Interior Design, Home Renovation, Image Source: Hansgrohe

Hansgrohe SilicaTec granite kitchen sinks 660 offers the possibilities of top mount or under mount installation. Buying a new kitchen sink is an exciting task – on top of choosing between the popular options of stainless steel or granite sinks, you should also consider the different possible types of installation with the kitchen sink you choose. The common installation options are top mount and under mount and they have different requirements.

An under mount installation offers a more minimalist appearance for your kitchen sink with hidden rims, which can offer a cleaner and streamlined look, in comparison to a top mount installation. However, an under mount installation is more challenging with proper support and sealing required. It is especially important to choose a good quality kitchen sink if you want under mount installation as it is not so easy to replace it.

Made in Germany and designed by renowned design studio Phoenix Design, hansgrohe’s SilicaTec granite kitchen sinks offer you both options of top mount or under mount installation, which you can choose based on your preferences and requirement.

Tip 6: Don’t be afraid to add colours to your kitchen

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A pop of colour will make your kitchen look less dreary and tired.

It can be quite daunting to shift away from the conventional white colour when it comes to decorating to your kitchen, but it can be rewarding to add a pop of colour to your kitchen to bring a personality to this important space.

One way to inject colour would be with the use of lighting fixtures, such as those in the latest trending colours (matte black). You could also consider other kitchen accessories in colours, such as kitchen linen or dinnerware. In addition, kitchen cabinets could also be a focus of colour in your kitchen and you could pick a colour which matches your style.

Tip 7: Keep in mind the height of the spout of the kitchen faucet

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The hansgrohe Metris Select 2-hole single lever kitchen faucet comes in 2 different heights – 220 and 320. An ultra-high spout for the kitchen faucet is often preferred as it can offer plenty of space to fill large pots and containers – however, if home owners have a shelf above the kitchen sink, this would then not be an ideal situation. It is there important to keep in mind the height of the spout when you plan your new kitchen. In general, tall kitchen faucets are great for large sinks, while shorter kitchen faucets are ideal for smaller sinks, and if the kitchen faucets are too high, this can cause splashing of water.

Hansgrohe offers high quality kitchen faucets in different heights (ComfortZone) to suit your requirements in the kitchen – for example, for the hansgrohe Metris Select 2-hole single kitchen faucets, you can choose between ComfortZone 220 and ComfortZone 320 depending on how much space you can allocate to the kitchen sink area.