….and how we overcome them!
As the heart of the home, the kitchen is where we cook, eat, entertain, and spend time with our families. However, many homeowners inherit a kitchen when they move into a new home that doesn’t meet their functional needs or style preferences, leading to a number of common complaints that we hear about when getting to know our clients.
It’s important to remember that don’t just design a replacement kitchen with a few obvious improvements – we design a whole new living environment. To do that, it’s vital that we get to know you, understand how you want the whole space to feel and flow, recognise the challenges it may present (and how to overcome them!) and present how we can achieve an aspirational look that works for you and your family.
In this blog post, we’ll explore our client’s most common problems with their current or inherited kitchen and how the Myers Touch team can overcome them.
The Kitchen Feels Too Small and Dark
If your kitchen feels too small and dark, it’s time to consider redesigning the layout and, if possible, adding more light sources. Start by thinking about how you use your kitchen and how you want to feel when you’re in it.
If space is a complaint, clients will often say they want their kitchen to ‘feel bigger’, which, unlike any other room in the house, requires an abundance of different decisions from style, colour and layout, to appliances, worktops and seating. We overcome this if the property allows by suggesting they reconfigure or extend their existing architecture to make a kitchen bigger. If we undertake a design within an existing small kitchen space, we can consider a range of functional and clever cabinetry styles, multi-purpose appliances, maximising worktop space and clever storage systems to make the most of every inch and enhance the feeling of spaciousness.
The Cabinets Are Old-Fashioned and Lacking in Storage
Outdated cabinets can be a significant problem as the colour and finish may not reflect your tastes and often, they don’t provide adequate storage. To overcome this problem, we customise the cabinetry to suit your needs and lifestyle. Our design team can help you choose the right materials, finishes, and internal accessories to match your style and maximize storage space. If you’re planning a utility room or boot room, we can suggest the cabinets best suited to the needs of how you use that space and the appliances it needs to store.
Our clients are often surprised at the choice of options available – from integrated appliances to clever storage solutions, we can design a kitchen that meets your family’s every need.
A lack of Family Connectivity
Families connect in the kitchen, so it’s important to create a space that encourages interaction and connection.
For example, we recently had a client who really wanted a bright, welcoming kitchen that allowed their family to increase connectivity between them. Their previous shaker-style kitchen had grey and black worktops and a small island that didn’t encourage their family to dine, connect and relax together. The space was disconnected from the rest of the open-plan area, and it felt dark and uninviting. We replaced it with a contemporary, light grey laminate kitchen which featured integrated appliances in large floor-to-ceiling cabinets. By matching sleek white quartz worktops and a large central unit with seating, it allowed the family to cook, relax, do homework and entertain whilst overlooking the garden space. Creating a sense of togetherness and the value of belonging are all part and parcel of multi-generational design.
The Cook is constantly interrupted
When cooking, it’s important to have a functional and unobstructed workspace. If your kitchen doesn’t provide this, it can lead to frustration and interruptions and can also be unsafe. By redesigning the layout and repositioning appliances and workspaces, we can create a kitchen that functions smoothly and facilitates cooking.
‘Guarding the Chef’s Space’ is a rule that Helena, our director, is passionate about. You can listen to a short YouTube video on this topic here.
Your Old Appliances Are Holding You Back
Often a client has lived with temperamental, old-fashioned appliances and dreams of a wish-list appliance item they can use when entertaining. Many of our clients switch to induction cooking when replacing their kitchen – this hob type is not only safer, especially with small children, but also more energy efficient. Alternatively, some of our clients select a showpiece appliance to provide the wow factor when entertaining guests such as a more flamboyant hob option with a Teppanyaki grill which is ideal when entertaining a large family or hosting guests at a dinner party.
Appliance technology has moved on significantly in the last decade and new appliances often come with a range of cooking programmes suited to the most enthusiastic of chefs! Our team can talk you through the various brands and models on offer to suit your budget and lifestyle.
By understanding your current frustrations, our design team obtain rich insights into how your future space needs to work. From maximising space and light to incorporating connectivity and storage solutions, we can create a kitchen that meets your every need. At the heart of every great kitchen design is the understanding that we’re creating a living environment that brings light, space and laughter to your family’s life.
Contact us here to arrange an initial conversation or showroom visit to discuss your upcoming project.
