We’ve all been there. Perhaps on holiday or at a friend’s house. You’ve volunteered to cook a meal and as soon as you enter the kitchen, you spot it. Maybe an appliance is in an odd place, or something about the prep area looks a little strange. As you start to hunt for the frying pan, the horror begins to seep into your brain.
You’re in a badly designed kitchen.
The simplest tasks become a nightmare. As you try to boil a saucepan of water you hit your head on the extractor unit. Trying to chop an onion becomes an exercise in futility as you traipse around the kitchen because the bin, work area, and knife drawer are in three separate corners.
I was on a holiday in France recently and the kitchen in the rental home was awful. It was a genuinely unpleasant experience to try to cook in it. The only silver lining was it meant we explored the local restaurants more than we would have otherwise.
Why good design is so important
For most of us, the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house. It’s a focal point for the family, a scene of good times with friends, a tranquil moment alone with a coffee and newspaper. Why ruin that with bad design (and there are some truly horrific examples)?
Of course, good kitchen design is a complicated process, which is why it’s so easy to get wrong. You have to design sympathetically for both the specific space and the building as a whole. The owners will have design ideas themselves. Lastly, but most assuredly not least, you need to consider functional usage.
When you get all of this right, the kitchen is a pleasure to use and to spend time in. The workflow is seamless, the views outstanding and the aura pleasing. Get it wrong and you’ve just sentenced yourself to cooking experiences filled with expletives.
In our experience we also find that appliance selection is very important. As those who have tried to cook with a badly designed oven or hob will attest, appliances are not all created equal. Really well-designed appliances are both iconic in their looks and intelligent in their design. Wolf & sub Zero is a great example here.
Things that most often go wrong
When we visit clients, they sometimes have old kitchens which they are charging us to replace. I’ve seen some real horrors in my client visits.
Poor use of space is so often a problem. Trying to cram too much in or seeking a minimalist feel, and creating an empty soulless space in the process.
Rarer, but no less terrible, is where space has been rendered useless. The careless placement of a cabinet or appliance effectively nullifies another area which could have been useful space.
Then there’s the dressing. Strange use of poorly chosen colours, odd things on the wall, or unsympathetic appliances or accoutrements.
Lastly is the case of over-customisation. The previous owners liked racing cars? So the designer themed the entire kitchen. Chequered flag worktops, anyone?
In short, it’s a minefield. That’s why Papilio take such much care and attention to understand the owner’s needs, wants and specific situation. Then we ponder the space and consider, very carefully, how to make the best of it.
If you want a beautiful bespoke kitchen, we are Papilio and we can help make it happen.
