Each designer we spoke to has agreed that sure, in some methods, the kitchen ought to match the remainder of your open plan area. Creating an inside that brings every of the separate zones collectively is vital to the success of the area, and, in accordance with Ash McCullough, Lead Designer at Blakes London, there are a couple of insider tips to keep in mind.
‘The primary is to try to make the kitchen as unobtrusive as attainable. We like to cover as many home equipment away as we are able to: combine your fridge freezers, and ideally have a hidden pantry or larder cabinet the place you home all of your small home equipment and different day-to-day objects,’ she shares. ‘Cautious planning of kitchen storage ensures that your surfaces stay clear and uncluttered. This downplays the performance of your kitchen so it could possibly sit extra harmoniously alongside the dwelling area.’
Ash additionally recommends that, for a contemporary kitchen space, it’s worthwhile to zoning the totally different areas. ‘An island does an exquisite job of providing a visible divide between the kitchen and the dwelling space.’ Different concepts may embody refined partitions, like a low-level sideboard, or introducing totally different ranges to raise and demarcate a selected space.
‘Your colour or materials palette can be key in each defining and uniting the separate zones,’ Ash continues. ‘It might be that the colour of the couch is the same tone to that of the kitchen models in order that the areas converse to 1 one other, or maybe a shade of timber can repeat once more within the joinery or flooring in one other a part of the room.’
Lastly, Ash outlines the significance of lighting in an open-plan area. ‘You may want job lights within the kitchen for getting ready meals, and ambient lighting for when the dwelling space is in use. Subsequently, it is useful to have your lighting on separate loops so that you could set the temper throughout the entire room, relying on the exercise happening.’
Easy methods to make your kitchen match your lounge
Eager to listen to extra concepts for a cohesive kitchen and lounge? Learn on for our round-up of high ideas from the consultants.
1. STICK TO NATURAL MATERIALS
(Picture credit score: Kristofer Johnsson / Nordiska Kök)
Studio He and Swedish kitchen model Nordiska Kök teamed as much as create this bespoke strong oak kitchen for a house within the Stockholm Archipelago. Timber flooring and ceilings create a fluid really feel on this serene area, the place the picket kitchen cupboards and eating space circulation effortlessly by to the lounge.
‘White-pigmented shaker doorways in strong oak match the remainder of the house’s inside completely,’ says Nordiska Kök’s inventive director Johan Lundkvist of the kitchen’s design, which additionally creates a hyperlink to the dense forest outdoors. Within the trendy farmhouse lounge, a espresso desk comprised of birch logs from the backyard provides to the inside’s rustic attraction.
2. CREATE A VISUAL LINK
(Picture credit score: Malcom Menzies / Pluck)
We love the usage of cheery pastel pink on this inviting kitchen, which was designed by Pluck. ‘The couch is a sign that it is a room to sit back and chat in, in addition to to cook dinner and bake, and do all the opposite conventional kitchen actions,’ says Leila Touwen, Pluck’s co-founder. ‘
Shade is used to hyperlink the totally different makes use of of the area, with the pale pink uniting the cosy couch space with the sensible cabinetry. It additionally visually hyperlinks them, suggesting the wall of cabinetry is a part of the dwelling zone, so you may actually get pleasure from a way of connection right here,’ she provides.
3. SOFTEN THE TRANSITION
(Picture credit score: Derek Swalwell / Simone Haag)
Richly stained timber envelops this kitchen, which types the centerpiece of an Australian seaside home designed by Jost Architects and furnished by inside decorator Simone Haag.
The cladding extends out to satisfy the adjoining lounge, which is accessed by a delicate arch that marks a refined transition between the 2 areas. ‘The structure and palette was assured, and we needed to match that,’ says Simone of the inside alternatives. ‘We selected a settee the echoed the constructing’s curves, in addition to accents of amber and olive.’
4. CONNECT SEPARATE SPACES WITH DIFFERENT SHADES OF THE SAME COLOR
(Picture credit score: Wolfgang Stahr / Gisbert Pöppler)
‘We developed this colour idea to boost the notion of area and depth,’ says Remo V. Lotano of German interiors and structure studio, Gisbert Pöppler. When overhauling this household residence in Berlin, the studio switched up the format, transferring the kitchen subsequent to the lounge.
‘We selected to color the lounge in a hearty salmon colour, which we really feel offers the area a form of environment appropriate for lounging, and the kitchen in a lightweight however decisive pink’ explains Remo. ‘Whereas the colours are comparable, their distinction in depth accentuates the connection between the rooms and their objective within the residence.’
5. ENSURE YOUR ISLAND IS A GATHERING POINT
(Picture credit score: Our Meals Tales / deVOL)
When Norma and Lorna of Our Meals Tales set about reworking this Swedish cottage, they turned to deVOL for a kitchen that may match the house’s ample allure and character. They selected for the Haberdasher’s design for its classic really feel, putting a free-standing island unit on the finish of a row of fitted cupboards to partially enclose the kitchen.
Crucially, the format nonetheless permits for straightforward motion between the kitchen and adjoining dwelling area, and supplies a gathering level for friends, holding the smaller central island free for cooking prep. ‘Islands, if designed nicely, can actually make a room,’ says Helen Parker, deVOL Kitchens’ inventive director. ‘I really like the concept of making a spot that everybody gravitates to.’
6. UNITE SEPARATE ZONES WITH A BOLD WALL COLOR
(Picture credit score: @ferncottagemull / John Lewis of Hungerford)
Set near the seashore on the Isle of Mull, the kitchen of this idyllic bolthole includes a vibrant palette that wraps the room in colour and immediately attracts the totally different sections of this lengthy and slender area collectively.
‘Shade and texture play a serious position in holding the aesthetic on this Scottish kitchen, eating and dwelling area wanting seamless’, says Rebecca Nokes, Head of Design & Model Artistic at John Lewis of Hungerford. ‘Utilizing the identical colour and wooden cladding on the partitions all through creates a cohesive look, whereas the complementary shade on the island, which additionally options the cladding used on the partitions, cleverly zones the kitchen space’.
7. USE SUBTLE PARTITIONING TRICKS TO DEFINE DIFFERENT AREAS
(Picture credit score: Blakes London)
‘Incorporating totally different ranges inside an open-plan room provides a sensible and visually interesting resolution to zoning totally different practical areas,’ says Ash McCullough, Lead Designer at Blakes London.
‘By utilising low-level cabinetry, equivalent to this placing blue unit, you may create a visible barrier that successfully divides the room with out obstructing the general circulation and sense of area.’
Ash favors this trick because it marks out separate zones for actions equivalent to cooking and dwelling, whereas sustaining a connection between the areas. ‘Maintaining the supplies constant, for instance mirroring the timber kitchen joinery with the lounge flooring, creates a lovely sense of unity inside the room.’
8. TRY A TONAL PALETTE
(Picture credit score: Herringbone Kitchens)
‘Choosing the precise tone and shade in your area is very essential in the case of an open-plan kitchen and dwelling area,’ says William Durrant, proprietor of Herringbone Kitchens, the corporate behind this calm and cohesive inside.
‘Carrying a colour thread by from the kitchen to the dwelling space creates an intimate area that feels cozy but additionally appears related,’ explains William, referencing the charcoal island and the mid-grey shade used to color the insides of the built-in shelving. ‘Particulars like this may improve a way of concord in an open-plan area.’
9. CREATE INTIMACY WITH A CENTRAL FIREPLACE
(Picture credit score: Oliver Jaist / Holzrausch)
Nothing creates a focus quote like roaring fireplace: a very efficient software in case you’re making an attempt to up the coziness of a big room that serves a number of functions. On this smooth German abode, Munich studio Holzrausch drew the 2 ends of this sizable, split-level kitchen, eating and dwelling area collectively by putting in a placing fireside within the center.
‘The fireside, whose black metal flue appears like a sculpture hanging from the ceiling, types the visible middle of the dwelling area and emphasizes the maisonette-like character of the room,’ say its designers.
10. EXTEND YOUR KITCHEN CABINETRY INTO THE LIVING SPACE
(Picture credit score: Studio Ulanowski)
‘We needed this area to be versatile and versatile: capable of accommodate an intimate meal, a cocktail party of 12, or a household night time on the couch,’ says architect Eryk Ulanowski of this residence in London’s Covent Backyard, which was reworked by his observe, Studio Ulanowski.
‘The earlier area was very inflexible in its format, so we designed the kitchen as a bit of bespoke oak joinery that wrapped across the total room to interrupt down these boundaries.’ Eryk launched the fluted timber and terrazzo worktops so as to add tactility and distinction, and selected the intense blue hue to focus the attention and tie all of it collectively. ‘The furnishings across the room will be simply configured in numerous methods, relying on how the purchasers wish to use the area,’ he provides.
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