Tag kitchen

Many people would have heard the saying that the kitchen is the heart of the home. But why is this? There are many reasons why the kitchen is considered the central or core area of the house. In whatever sized property, including a large country house or a small apartment flat, the kitchen is probably the main area of the house and one of the most used and practical areas of the property.
Here are four reasons why we think that the kitchen is and always will be the heart of the home:
1. This is where the food is. Human beings generally flock where there is food. The kitchen is the area of the home which contains all of the food, in ready-made containers or in separate ingredients ready to cook into a wonderful meal. Cooking or preparing food is something which will take place every single day and perhaps several times a day, especially if there is a family in the home. Having people working in the kitchen makes it an important and much-needed area of the home.
2. Many people have kitchen/dining areas combined. This allows a larger space where family and people can gather in a social capacity. Having this social space means that the kitchen is always going to be the centre of the home. Having a dining and kitchen area means that the larger space gives way for families to come together whilst food is being prepared and then eat it all together around a table, which many people believe is a dying tradition in the UK but really is just as popular as ever when the dining and kitchen area can be combined.
3. Modern gadgets make a kitchen a fun place to be. There are many modern gadgets which can make a kitchen feel far more exciting adds a personal touch to the home. There are traditional gadgets such as microwaves, can openers and toasters, but we are talking eccentric gadgets. This includes kitchen tools which have been designed for sheer practicality and fun. Many people have iPads or other notebooks in a kitchen which allows them to follow recipes in real-time in their kitchen whilst they cook.
4. The kitchen allows multipurpose use in innovative and contemporary design. There are many things you can do in the kitchen, not just cooking but also cleaning, making drinks and even talking on the phone. Kitchen installers can create beautiful spaces you to work in. Kitchen installer can use your style and budget to develop a space which you really enjoy spending time in. Sometimes the kitchen is also attached to a garden, allowing for a very practical space indeed.…

The kitchen is a dirty place. Food and water spills on the floor can make it a death trap for many. Once food reaches the floor, bacteria can grow in between the tiles or the small spaces that the flooring does not quite meet up with the cabinets. Dirt from vendors and employees coming in and out of the kitchen can also cause slips and falls making the kitchen flooring one of the most important items in your kitchen, even more so than the mixers, sinks and ovens. When it comes to choosing your commercial kitchen flooring, few things are more important than your flooring being slip resistant. Here are some considerations when looking into purchasing commercial kitchen flooring for your restaurant.
1. Design
It is not necessary to have a beautiful floor in the kitchen; it really should be reserved for the dining area of the restaurant. Safety should be the first priority, and a dirty kitchen is a health hazard for everyone. Tiles in a kitchen can be easily broken from the heavy materials sitting on them and constantly being moved around. This is breeding grounds for bacteria and fungus to grow, which can make everyone sick. It is very important to choose flooring that has minimal cracks or seams that food particles and other nasty germs can live.
2. Slip Resistance-
In a full service kitchen, the hustle and bustle of things can cause a myriad of dangerous situations, grease spills, water sloshing onto the floor from the sink, food or mats sliding around on the flooring and many other hazardous events. With slip resistant floors, or floors covered in epoxy, vinyl floors or Silikal Resurfacing Concrete Floors you can have commercial kitchen floors installed that don’t have to be hideous but are more sanitary and safe than other flooring available like slippery tiles and linoleum floors.
3. Easily Manageable-
The last thing that anyone wants to do at the end of a long day is have to stay longer to clean the kitchen floors. Easily manageable floors such as these epoxy covered floors or floors covered with a slip resistant material are easier to manage. There is no such need to be on your hands and knees picking food pieces out of the cracks of tiles or peeling chips of things off the floor to ensure that mopping does not slide things around. The simpler the floors are to manage, the better they will be taken care of.
4. Durability-
Nobody wants to have a kitchen floor installed so that it can be repaired or replaced a few years later. When you are looking at installing a commercial kitchen floor, you want something that is going to withstand the weight of your heavy cooking equipment. Having to replace the flooring slows the production in the kitchen, possibly stopping production all together if the flooring has to be replaced. The longer the commercial grade kitchen floor lasts, the more money can be put into upgrading or purchasing …

The demographic
The first thing an outstanding designer does when putting pen to paper on a home design is find out exactly who is going to live in that home–the exact demographic of the inhabitant. This is specially true about the kitchen which is often the most lived-in space in the house and around which many more activities occur any more nowadays than just cooking. Luckily, today’s demographic in the kitchen ‘mass market’ is easy to define–it is mostly ‘baby boomers’ aged 55-65, followed by ‘leading edge GenX’ers’ aged 45-55 years old. These two demographics between them make up the bulk of the folks looking to design a kitchen as opposed to simply taking what comes with a new house. People older than 65, the ‘seniors’, are no longer the dominant home owning demographic and don’t spend as much time in the kitchen while those younger than 45 are considered entry-level homeowners and are also not as numerous as the first two.
Activities in and around the kitchen
A baby boomer’s kitchen is very likely to have a large flat screen TV as part of it that is easily visible from several activity areas surrounding it. The kitchen is no longer a ‘room’ but a space around which a lot of family activity revolves. This activity could be video games, watching the news, searching for data and even doing homework with access to outdoor grilling and a deck just a step or two away. The common factor is that it all revolves around the kitchen. This often manifests in a ‘living room’ or ‘family room’ area complete with sitting or lounging furniture joined to the kitchen with an informal ‘dining’ area, both divided and united by a cabinetwork peninsula, perhaps with a sink and cooktop on one side and an open area on the other with tall stools for the kids to do their homework on or simply help make dinner.
Baby boomers are no longer willing to risk a back injury by bending down to open an oven door and will likely have wall ovens installed at a carefully measured height. Similarly, the efficiency-demanding boomer will insist on having the pantry close at hand at most 3 or 4 steps away, not in another room and certainly not behind another door. This can manifest as another ‘area’ adjacent to the cooking areas, perhaps with a dividing wall of overhead cabinets and counter spaces open to both areas.
The GenX’er is even more tech savvy and may have several appliances hooked up to the internet with sensors and alarms to remind and warn of upcoming events, like a “cake is ready” message flashing on TV screens all over the house. She may switch on the oven with her phone on her way back from work and set the temperature for baked fish when she is 10 minutes away. Her priority is “get it done quick” and therefore all appliances will likely be electric with a few being dual fuel, all …

The kitchen is the heart of your home, and a room you should take pride in and keep up to date, not only so you can cook, eat and socialise in a special area but also to increase the price the property should you choose to move one day. The kitchen is the first room potential buyers will look at, and if it’s up-to-date and looks good, buyers won’t have to worry about splashing out on any renovations.
If your kitchen is fairly up-to-date with appliances and furniture but you want to spruce it up, there are plenty of ways you can modernise your kitchen without a full renovation. Take a look below at some of our lighting tips to help give your kitchen a new lease of life.
Change the lighting
The lighting can really change the overall look of a room so why not speak to a lighting specialist to give you guidance on the best type of lighting for your kitchen? You’d be surprised how lighting can give the illusion of more space in your kitchen and create just the right ambiance for different tasks in the kitchen.
The first step is to make sure your kitchen is getting as much natural light as possible – natural light makes a room appear larger and gives it a light and airy feel. Keep your windows uncluttered so you’re letting in as much natural daylight as possible.
You should then think about practical lighting – for example, over the cooker and over food preparation areas so you have enough light to perform all of your usual tasks with ease. You should also consider feature lighting (if you have the budget for it) – feature lighting is aesthetically pleasing rather than practical, although it can create different tones to the kitchen, which can give the illusion of more space. It would be worth speaking to a lighting specialist if you want to implement feature lighting. You could add feature lighting to your cabinets or a focal area of your kitchen to give it more emphasis – for example, add feature lighting to a breakfast bar to make it stand out and show it off. Pedant lighting always gives a grand impression, think hanging lighting over the dining table to make your kitchen look luxurious.
Lighting is a brilliant way of transforming a room without fully renovating it – and it doesn’t have to cost the world. Some lighting fixtures can be pricey but you can also find cheaper, low budget budget, which still looks fantastic – it all depends on the budget you have.
You should consider using low energy light bulbs for your kitchen as you will be conserving energy to help the environment and also saving yourself money on energy bills, which as you probably know have gone through the roof recently.
It’s easy to give your kitchen a bit of sparkle without fully renovating but if you do choose to renovate or remodel, make sure you plan …