Useful techniques to beautify your kitchen

Have you ever thought about housewives who toil in kitchen for their lifetime and do every task as a daily routine? They are so busy with their house chord activities, that they even forget themselves. If we give a refreshing touch to kitchen, their attitude can be changed a lot, which reflects in their mental status as well.

Old kitchen cabinets and taps, old containers toiled with masala powders and dirt, same curry pans and utensils, same chimney and smoke, same hob and same faded walls. Stained walls and floors and same routine job from 6 am to 11 pm; no doubt kitchen is the best place in a house for boredom. But even simple alterations can bring great changes too. Kitchen interior can be considered as guest room or visitors’ room, where so much importance is given to its beauty. When you alter the old look of kitchen, it changes the mental status of house wives, and its vibrations are well exhibited in the prepared dishes.

Kitchens are of different types

If home is small, a single room will be given to kitchen without store house or work area, and throughout the day a housewife spends her whole time in a narrow kitchen. In the case of apartments and expensive flats, when large spaces are reserved for bedrooms and visiting rooms, kitchens shrink further, no doubt. Though it’s small, it can be kept beautiful and impressive. You can experiment with different colour paints for walls. Use bright and contrast colours for walls and counter tops.

If it is a two-line kitchen counter tops and cabinets will be arranged in the opposite walls. There will be a corridor like space in between. You can keep one side traditional and the other side modern, to give a change to your kitchen’s look. Ceramic and clay pots can be placed in such a way that they face each other. It gives a new look and feel to kitchen.

L-shape kitchen has a corner in common, where two sides meet. Kitchen cabinet is also placed here. So corner space can be used in this design. Remove unnecessary things from this space and set a foldable table here, where you can place laptop, a radio or books. It can also be used as a study space for children.

L-shape and U-shape kitchens can change the whole look of the interior. If the kitchen is spacious you can arrange an island at the centre, where you can set as cook top. You can also set working unit here, by setting a small table or use it as dining table, children’s study table or working space.

Neatness is the other name of beauty

Countertop catches the eye of an outsider first. So keep this space neat and tidy always. When you place so much things on countertop, your kitchen appears small and untidy. After use arrange things in cabinets, so that they are not easily visible for outsiders.

1. You can place curios in kitchen. Instead of crockery set you can try with fresh flower pots, money plant in glass pot, candle stands, planter box etc.

2. When you place hob, oven, mixer and other equipment in inbuilt structures, kitchen becomes neat and looks spacious. Inbuilt hobs, hood that can be placed in fold ceiling, water purifiers etc can be hidden in walls using modern designs.

3. Use floor material resistant to water, to avoid slips. Choose those tiles resistive to stains as well. They should be easy to clean. Semi-mat finish could be the right option for kitchen floors. Granite and high quality wood give elegant look to kitchen.

4. Give task lighting to kitchen. The area where you prepare dishes should be given bright lights, and less-used portions can be given low voltage ones. Use LED lights in those work spaces used frequently. Lighting can be done in different trending styles and designs.

5. You can hang family photos and children’s drawings in kitchen. It definitely gives some positive feel.

A few notes on countertop

1. Concrete countertops have paved way to tiles and now to new improved and processed materials with multi colours. Now you can create wonders in kitchen with countertops.

2. Korean stone countertop which falls in the category solid surface is almost stain free and can be tried as kitchen countertops. They are free of starches and can be set in such a way that joints are not visible.

3. Metallic shades and contrast colours for countertops now rule market. Yellow, lime green, orange and shades closer to white or black can be chosen. Stainless steel, copper and zinc countertops are now favourites of housewives. Pattern countertops also come in the list of demands.

4. Among natural stones for countertop, finished granite is most popular. They won’t catch stain or loss its colour shades. They are scratch-free and easy to clean.

5. Artificial stones such as nano white, quartz slab etc are suitable for kitchen, and you can choose colours of your choice.

6. Some people go with glass countertop, as it gives an elegant look to kitchen. It’s best for show kitchen, which is not frequently used for cooking. Glass is easily breakable and can get scratches easily – negative points.

Tips to make your kitchen tasks easy

1. Divide your kitchen into three areas – cook space, work space and storage space. Arrange them in such a way that they form three corners of a triangle. 13 – 26 feet is the ideal distance between two corners. Objects should also be arranged matching those work corners.

2. Kitchen area is not at all related to the interior space of the home or total house members. It’s more important, how many people are handling kitchen at the same time, and reserve space according to it. Keep in mind the number of house members and maid to be accommodated in kitchen.

3. Choose kitchen equipment as per need, and while purchasing them keep in mind the space needed to reserve for it. If your kitchen is small, minimise kitchen devices and avoid decorations as much as possible.

Do you need a work area?

Most housewives choose work area for cleaning dishes, cutting vegetables, grinding batter for breakfast etc. Less used kitchen accessories which need a lot of space are also placed here. It’s the best place to clean meat and fish, because of its strong smell. But in flats and new designs for small homes, work area and store area are given less significance.  

1. Old glass hob, smokeless hearth, grinder etc can be placed in work area. You can also construct a countertop with sink. If you are working woman, you can wash your dishes here when you get enough time. At the same time you can keep your regular kitchen neat and tidy, by dumping unwashed dishes and cookware here. If you have a surprise guest, it won’t annoy you.

2. You can construct a small window (square opening) on the wall connecting kitchen and work area, so that you can take a look at kitchen while you are busy in work area. You can also easily place washed meat, cut vegetables in kitchen countertop through this window. It saves a lot of time.

3. You can arrange storage space and utility area in work area itself, by providing shelves. Big utensils, excess gas container, mop, broom etc can be placed here. You can also set your washing machine in work area.

4. The height of countertop should be proportional to the height of housewife. Then only she can work comfortably in work area.

5. Work area should get good sunlight and air circulation. Otherwise it may give bad odour. It’s one of the work spaces most commonly used. So provide big grilled windows made of metal. Meshes have been replaced in new trends, yet big windows are still popular.

6. You can plant curry leaves, coriander leaves and mint leaves in work area. If so you need not go to courtyard to pick them, when you are busy in cooking.

Image source: Pixabay  

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