Indian homes have used those traditional cumbersome kitchens for pretty long now. These kitchens are often unventilated, small, without proper lighting and have no planning. This converts the joyous art of cooking into an arduous task. After COVID-19 especially, people understood the need for a well-designed kitchen.
Over the past year, there has been an upsurge in the demand for the renovation of old kitchens as well as the installation of new modular kitchens. Often, we visit our friends and see their modular kitchens and get inspired. We create a picture in our mind that this is what we want. But what we forget about is that every kitchen has different layouts and purposes. A kitchen should be designed keeping a lot of this in mind. We have tried to cover these basics in our blogs ‘Kitchen Designs for Indian Homes’ and ‘Modular Kitchen 101’
Still, there are many things that people realize when they have already renovated their kitchens and started using them. Now, interiors are something that you can’t change every day. Once the fixtures are made or the cabinets are installed, it is not easy to make a modification. Plus, it is your hard-earned money that you are spending and our professionally qualified interior designers at Elevation Interior, the best interior designers, in Thane, respect that.
Our experts know the nitty gritty of this business and can spot a mistake by looking at it. We work to enhance your convenience only. So, our interior designers at Elevation Interior, Thane prepared a list of the most common mistakes made while designing a modular kitchen:
Appliances
The first and most common mistake is wrong appliances or wrong placement of appliances. For example, a hob. In-built hobs add a great sense of aesthetics to a modular kitchen. But to decide whether you need a 3 burner or 4 burner is a thing of concern. This should depend on the size of the family, how much you cook and the space availability. All said and done, you choose the hob, now what should be the distance between the back burners and the wall behind it? In case there is no sufficient space, your last burner is going to go to waste and will never be used for larger utensils.
Placement of Plug Points
Gone are the days when our nani’s and dadi’s used to crush masalas on a ‘Sil batta’. We are pretty sure the millennials today won’t even know what sil batta is. Modular kitchens are equipped with appliances and for that, you need plug points. You need plug points for your refrigerator, coffee machine, microwaves, mixer-grinder, ovens and whatnot. Don’t shy away from putting some extra plug points in your kitchen. But make sure that they are not just haphazardly thrown around the kitchen. The placement of the plug points shall be so that it is easily accessible. For example, putting a plug point behind a refrigerator doesn’t make sense. You can’t move the refrigerator every time you want to switch it on or off. Similarly, putting plug points just above or close to the hob is quite risky.
Choice of Sink/Washbasin
Have a tour of the market yourself, let us assure you, you are going to come home overwhelmed. You say it in your head, ‘ It’s a sink, how hard can it be?’. Well, it is harder than it looks and quite difficult to decide. There are so many designs, shapes and qualities available in the market, that we would have to do a separate blog for the same. But to give you a little insight about the point we are trying to make here, for home usage go for a plush edge sink rather than a raised sink. This way the water will not accumulate around the edges but go directly into the sink. In case these terms are new to you, give us a call at +91- 9892343410 and our expert designers will be more than happy to assist you.
Food Basket
The infamous ‘alu-pyaz tokari’ in every Indian home has finally found a home for itself. Now, you don’t have to tiptoe around it, in fear that you are gonna knock it over and then spend 30 mins putting everything back again. Yes! We know what goes inside your home. And you know why because we went through the same debacle. Modular kitchens now come with a fixed and covered food basket. The most popular ones nowadays are the pull-out wicker baskets. They are lightweight, maintain air circulation and look chic. But they do accumulate a lot of dust and over the time they lose their shine also. May we suggest that you go for perforated baskets instead of wicker baskets?
The Ratio of Tandem Drawers to Cabinets
Your kitchen needs both of them. Tandem drawers are good for storing utensils while cabinets are required to store our innumerous ‘dabbas’ of pulses, rice or tea and sugar. The clever thing is not to go overboard with one. Have a mix of both in your kitchen. Also, make sure that they are of different sizes, so as to maximize storage. Before deciding upon the size of the racks for the tandem drawers, measure the size of the plates and biggest utensils that you use in your home.
Pantry
If the space permits, don’t forget to have a tall unit or pantry in the kitchen. It provides sufficient storage and keeps things organized. But don’t be fooled by the variety of designs available in the market. Before settling for a tall unit, keep in mind what is your requirement. Do you need shelves for a bigger storage container or fancy wire pull-out shelves are more of your thing?
source:Pinterest
Lighting
Kitchen area lighting requirements are different from the living room lighting requirements. We will be discussing it in detail in our lighting blog and will surely link it to this blog. But for now, please keep in mind, the color temperature for lighting in the kitchen should be somewhere between 3000k to 4000k. Also, please don’t rely on a single source of lighting. Make sure there is ample daylight in the kitchen too otherwise the kitchen may look dull and gloomy. To know more contact us at Elevation Interior, Thane and let our team of experts guide you.
Backsplash
Another important thing that often gets ignored is the backsplash. Indian households use a lot of oil in cooking and frying and backsplash is bound to happen. A lot of grease and rind sticks to the back of the burner and other places. And it takes a lot of time and effort to clean these stubborn stains. It is advisable to use quartz or tiles at such places. Also, rather than going for designer tiles, go for simpler tiles as they are easy to clean. Further, let there be only chimney and no storage cabinets right above the hob. Make sure that you measure the backsplash area correctly.
These mistakes may not sound very big at this time, but when you start using your kitchen, you will realize the importance of these small things in life. You should have no regrets afterward. Transform your space with stunning modular kitchen designs by Elevation Interior. Experience the best modular kitchen in Thane! Our very patient team at Elevation Interior, listens to all your requirements and then gives you their expert advice on how to improve your dream kitchen. We believe in converting your dreams into reality. To book a consultation with us, simply send an email to info@elevationinterior.com.