Suchita Talwar is director of business development at Nolte Home Studio, where her role is to develop franchisee partners and form strategic alliances with architects and builders around the country. But even before she started working for Nolte, the brand synonymous with German modular kitchens and coordinated bedrooms, Suchita says living in Europe for nine years taught her much about customer needs and feasibility of modular kitchens in Indian homes. The years abroad helped Suchita develop a significant understanding of European culture and a “Euro-Indian” perspective on home décor and interiors.
Here, Suchita shares practical ways to customise your kitchen to your lifestyle
1. First, your kitchen should be easy to use. Functionality is one of the hallmarks of a great kitchen, which makes tackling day-to-day cooking easier and less stressful.
2. There is a saying in interior design that ‘Form Follows Function’. But, functionality has to backed by aesthetics. So, kitchen essentials should be useful, but also aesthetically appealing.
3. An ‘ideal’ kitchen has to be one which can be easily maintained and whose upkeep should not be a chore. For example, if a wrong countertop or dado is selected, then maintenance can be difficult and time consuming.
4. Ergonomics have to kept in mind while designing a kitchen. For example, if the person using the kitchen is left handed then the design has to take this into account and provide for accordingly. Similarly, if the user is short or extremely tall, the counter height should be designed accordingly.
5. Equally importantly, appliances have to be planned well. At the time of developing the plan of the kitchen, make sure the appliances are appropriately placed and beautifully presented so as to bring out the best of both functionality and form in the kitchen.
6. In the case of an open kitchen, it has to be coordinated with the theme of the rest of the house. This will give a synchronised look and feel and provide a sense of harmony and wellbeing to the living space.
7. In contrast to the point made above, you could choose to design the kitchen in complete contrast to the rest of the house. This will not only give the kitchen its own ‘personality’ but also showcase varying tastes of the owners.
8. Today, the kitchen is a very important part of the house, it brings the family together. Bearing this in mind, it is very important that the overall layout of work surfaces, breakfast counters, seating arrangements and other utilitarian aspects are in keeping with how it will be used by the family.