With the new age of ‘working and schooling from home’, the kitchen is no longer just relegated to serving up meals on the run like breakfast while we recoil at the thought of morning rush hour, or juggling kids’ tennis lessons and dinner at 6pm. Its grown into itself, realized its own potential, and all born of a global pandemic.
The Kitchen Island Bench - An un-likely hero
Gone are the days of the island bench being just a facilitator of dirty dishes, or an impromptu coffee catchup with your neighbour. It’s had to become the ultimate multi-tasker - meal server, office space and classroom. We’ve seen an influx of clients wanting to re-imagine their kitchen since the beginning of this new ‘from home’ era, and the new responsibilities given to the humble island bench, has been the main instigator of this change.
The great ‘cleanse and refresh’ has seen clients wanting to declutter and re-organise kitchen spaces to keep the bench nimble. Greater emphasis has been on larger wall cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling as under bench storage has a new gig - kids stationery, school books, and snacks that they can prepare easily themselves throughout the day (and not forgetting storing all my office and ‘teacher’ paraphernalia).
Clients are also wanting to take pressure off the island bench by turning pantries into butler’s pantries to accommodate the re-allocation of a sink and dishwasher. Extending or widening island benches to accommodate this now ‘all day’ traffic has also been a popular request along with power points and usb ports placed on bench sides, replacing the barstools with more comfy bar chairs (so you can sit longer than half an hour before your feet start to tingle), and importantly, improved lighting (adjustable pendant styled lights being a customer favourite).
Appliance Upgrades
Now that we’re at home a lot more, eating out less and more attention being paid to the necessity of more wholesome eating, has meant we are cooking a whole lot more (did I say ALOT MORE?). Demand for larger, plumbed fridges with increased capacities for both ‘fresh chill’ draws and freezers to store all this extra food, together with 900mm wide stoves and ovens, has increased dramatically. Again, this impacts storage allocation as larger cavities, at the behest of cupboard space, are needed to house these larger appliances.
Colours - Soothes the savage beast?
Talk to any parent of school aged children having to work and school from home, they’ll tell you..well..you know..it hasn’t been all beer and skittles. ‘Staying at home’ and the renaissance of ‘Boho’ trends over the last few years, has seen clients wanting neutral tones in their kitchens accented with ochre palettes and natural textures to create a warm yet, soothing environment – especially important in times like these. We’ve created kitchen herb gardens and installed larger windows to increase natural light flow as homes now have more plants to help enhance and complement our kitchen’s ‘zen’, and to also nurture our instinct to connect with the natural environment.
The one thing that the last two years has taught us, is that home is truly where the heart is...and now more than ever, the heart of every happy home, is a happy kitchen.
Health and Peace,
Sarah