For your Dream Home is only as dreamy as your Dream Kitchen. Yeah?
No matter if your house is a luxury home, or has views of the Brisbane River or is nestled among the unique burbscape of “The Big Country town” of South East Queensland, the kitchen is a place you spend a lot of time in. Whether it’s scrounging for food, having casual conversations, or cooking up an extravaganza, custom home designers and makers know that your dream home is only as good as its dream kitchen.
Whether it’s time for a renovation or you’re designing and building your first custom home, getting the kitchen right will be a source of endless pleasure and satisfaction. Here are some of the most important things about what makes a kitchen a place you won’t want to leave.
Kitchen Space
You know how the idiom goes: too many cooks in the kitchen. Well, that may be true if you’re cooking with your mother in law, but it’s more likely to be true because there simply isn’t enough space! The ideal kitchen should have room for at least two “chefs”, and if you really want to raise the game, get some bar stools so it becomes a place not just to cook but to share stories and congregate around.
Cooking can be an amazing time of solidarity and connection for all the family.
One key to making space in the kitchen is to have appropriate or even abundant storage. Storage isn’t just limited to cupboard space, although a good design will have cupboards above and below the work space. Effective storage design involves becoming somewhat creative utilising forgotten areas as solutions such as wine racks, spice drawers, and knife holders for example.
Sometimes the greatest innovation in storage is a simple hook to hang a pot from!
Kitchen Flooring
It can become overwhelming pretty quickly with all the flooring options out here, but it is really about finding a balance between two elements: style and practicality. For example, the current trend of micro-cement is a dominant feature in modern kitchens, and it’s easy to see why. It makes any space look sleek and elegant, is easy to clean and comes in a range of diverse finishes. You may however find you break more plates and glasses than you’d hope to in a year.
Laminated floors are one of the most common choices in kitchen flooring. They are popular because they require practically no maintenance and feel nice under the feet, however, if you scratch them they will not buff out like regular wood.
Here’s some good examples of all the different types of flooring available in the modern era.
Benchtops/Worktops.
The benchtop will probably be the most utilized aspect of any kitchen, and other than the stove and the dishwasher is the defining feature of what makes a kitchen a kitchen. These days, a benchtop isn’t just used for cutting vegetables and eating breakfast but is often used for doing work or just having a cup of tea.
Again, it depends on how you’re going to use it. If it’s the kind of benchtop that is going to be used for almost anything then a wooden surface is the way to go. Wood is an insulating material that is warm in both the cold seasons and the morning and is very durable. There’s also something about wood, being a more natural material, that seems to comfort the human eye and hand.
If your kitchen is going to be a serious place that is almost exclusively for cooking you might want to consider a stainless steel bench. Stainless steel is hygienic and incredibly durable. It also has a professional and sleek look that will go well with your micro-cemented floor if you want to be right up to date!
When it comes to kitchens, like everything, the best type will be what works for you and who you’re living with. At O’Shea & Sons, we treat our kitchens like we treat all our work – with pride, passion, and the utmost care.