Kitchen Essential

With cabinets and appliances running in an unbroken line around three counters, the U-shape is generally considered to be the most workable kitchen design.

To create an efficient work triangle in a U-shaped kitchen, awkwardly positioned doorways are more of a problem than the actual size of the room. In the true U-shape, the line of work surfaces is uninterrupted by doors, so that the cook is undisturbed by family members continually tramping through the work area. Continue Reading »

The idea of the kitchen as the heart of the home dates back to the dayswhen kitchens were power houses of service and industry and had a staff to run them! Fitted furniture and neat appliances mean they now have all sorts of other benefits to offer — and are much more fun to decorate.

Practicality should be uppermost in your kitchen planning. Even if you’re not a keen cook, or want a rustic, unfitted look,you will still need unobstructed access to cooker, fridge, sink, work tops and storage. And the kitchen is usually the room that has to accommodate all the general paraphernalia for which there’s no room elsewhere, from cleaning equipment to spare light bulbs and fuses. Colour and decoration will make it a pleasant place to work, but the most important thing is that it suits the way you live. This tells you how to plan a new kitchen — and how to update an old one at a fraction of the cost! Continue Reading »

Simple and contemporary

White or plain wood cupboard fronts — with a few glazed doors too. Try mixing white and wood together: white units with a woodblock work top, or wooden base units with white-painted wall cupboards. Stripwood floor. Plain white roller blinds for the windows.

Sleek and high-tech

Everything discreetly fitted, right up to the ceiling — no open storage except for ultra-functional chrome utensils on hanging rails. Recessed lighting. Granite-effect work tops. Black‑’ and-white tiled floors. Slatted window blinds. Continue Reading »

These examples will show you some different ways in which efficient planning of kitchen zones can be put into practice.

This L-shaped kitchen (left) illustrates the way the work triangle of sink/cooker/refrigerator has been adapted to the needs of the family as well asthe constraints of the room itself. The workflow sequence is not perfect, but it does make sense. Perfection would have demanded costly major structural work not essential to safety and efficiency.

The U-shaped kitchen/living room (below) illustrates the way in which the utility, eating and working kitchen areas have been created. Within the working kitchen are the six zones: food storage, preparation, cooking, serving, dishwashing, crockery storage. In this case, as the fridge is close to both the working kitchen and the eating area, the food store is not in the ideal position. However, the needs of the whole family have to be balanced against the needs of the cook, and this is an acceptable compromise. Continue Reading »

Fitting the units

If it is necessary to adjust the height of the work- tops, the simplest way is to alter the plinths of the base units. Many units come with adjustable legs, concealed on completion by the plinths, which can be raised or lowered a few millimetres.

If you are taller than average, the legs can be raised on blocks to the required height. The plinths may cover the blocks, but you may need to conceal a wider gap and this can be successfully achieved by continuing the vinyl flooring up the face of the plinths. Continue Reading »

Plumbing work

Water by-laws state that any fitting connected to a water supply must not misuse, waste or contaminate the mains supply. If a dishwasher and a washing machine are to be fitted, the hot and cold services may need extending, especially if the existing pipe diameters are too small to carry sufficient water to the draw-off points. It may be necessary to renew services right back to the hot water cylinder or cold water storage tank.

It is essential that access to the stop-cock inside the house is retained wherever it may be — on the wall or in a cupboard. Disguise it if you must, as in photographs (right).

The by-laws also require one tap — normally fitted in the kitchen — to supply drinking water only, i.e.connected to the mains. Continue Reading »

To ensure you have a basic understanding of what is involved in creating a new kitchen — whether you are doing it yourself or handing it over to a team of contractors. You should have an idea whether you are going to extend, knock down walls or make structural alterations of any kind.

First, obtain some graph paper, pencil, rubber and a steel rule. Carefully measure your kitchen area and mark the dimensions to scale on the graph paper. Mark in the heights and positions of doors, windows and any items that cannot be moved, such as pipes or a central-heating boiler.

Divide the room into zones — working kitchen, utility and eating. On a separate sheet draw and then cut out scale outlines of your appliances, or even make models, and move them around the plan to see how it would work. Continue Reading »

Lighting a kitchen is not easy. Most people get it wrong because they don’t really understand what the different types of lighting will do for them and how to use lighting to achieve maximum benefit. Subtle yet effective illumination is a skill that few have mastered, yet its importance cannot be underestimated. Too many and too bright lights can cause tension, just as dim lighting causes accidents around the house.

This is an attempt to simplify the complexities and try to illustrate the best lighting for each area.

Simple, direct and bright illumination is required for food preparation, cooking and washing up. This can be provided by a number of different fittings depending on your kitchen layout. Continue Reading »

Everyone has their own pet ideas on storing items that no standard kitchen unit could accommodate. For example, units don’t provide little hooks for all those rubber bands we can’t bear to throw away! So full marks to those British kitchen unit manufacturers who do look beyond merely what their Continental rivals provide, and actually try to see what the housewife really needs.

Recipes and recipe books are never provided for. Recipe cards or small notes are not easy to handle whilst making a new cake for the first time. A bulldog clip and a cup-hook attached to the underside of the wall unit solves this problem. Attach the recipe to the bulldog clip and simply hang it on the hook! Winchmore Kitchens have produced a recipe book holder which looks, when closed, like part of the pelmet concealing the strip light under the wall cupboard. When it is pulled out it holds the book — just like a mini-lectern. Continue Reading »

This young couple have one child and the possibility of more to come. In this first home, with a limited budget, they wished to spend it as wisely as possible. First priority is the working kitchen, which must be efficient, safe and as timeless as possible. They could not afford it to look old fashioned within a few years.

Sensibly, the washing machine and a sink were plumbed in the garage where the central-heating boiler had already been installed to allow more space in the kitchen. The fridge/freezer, fronted by decor panels to match the units, was placed next to the garden door. Adjoining this is the gas double oven. Base and wall units link up to the double-bowl, round red enamel sinks under the window. Continuing round the kitchen, units link up to the matching red gas hob with an extractor fan above. Base units continue fromthe hob up to the peninsular breakfast bar — also a useful extra work surface. To make use of the end of the wall unit (see picture left) a midway unit, normally wall mounted between worktop and cupboard above, was fitted to hold cruet, jam, sugar and so on in handy reach of those using the breakfast bar. Continue Reading »

Shape solutions

Small, awkward-shaped kitchens can present special problems. These examples show how these virtually unworkable kitchens were transformed into labour saving dreams.

Five walls

A tiny kitchen in an old end-of-terrace house in a garden suburb presented a challenge with three windows and five walls, none of which was of equal length.

The new owner was a busy professional woman who lived with her teenage daughter. Breakfast and evening meals were to be eaten in the kitchen. Maximising on the microwave and the freezer, they entertained friends about once a month. The budget for this kitchen was moderate.

The previous occupants had fitted some units which had suffered from misuse. The double- drainer sink unit was against an inside wall which complicated the plumbing to the drains. A free-standing cooker stood in one corner near the door which led to the tiny utility room and toilet. Continue Reading »

Complete kitchens should never come ‘off the peg’. Every kitchen is different because every household is different — small or large families, a single person, a group of adults and children — almost any combination, in fact, with almost any lifestyle. Added to this, the family or household group will have different needs in, say, ten years’ time, and different budgets available for the work to be done.

Of the hundreds of kitchens that Roma Jay has planned, we have taken eighteen examples to illustrate the variety of family sizes and needs, and the range of budgets available.

The size of the kitchen is not necessarily the crucial factor. A spacious kitchen can be just as inconvenient as a very small kitchen if the layout is bad and if it does not meet the needs of the people who use it. All the case histories described here are actual living, working kitchens, but you should not assume that any of them will perfectly match your unique requirements. The intention is to help you to analyse your own requirements and see the tremendous range of possibilities open to you. Continue Reading »

More ambitious ideas and budgets to match are illustrated by these four kitchens where extensions were constructed and living rooms incorporated.

Family planning

Two adults, two teenagers and two young children made up this family who planned an extension to their home to contain a completely new kitchen. There was a separate utility room for the washing machine, but the existing floor-standing gas central-heating boiler had to stay where it was. They wanted to eat in the kitchen at a breakfast bar to seat up to eight people; they liked a rustic look, and were able to spend a reasonable amount to get the kitchen the way they wanted.

Three meals a day were eaten, plus home baking at least once a week, batch cooking for the freezer once a month; dinner party and other entertaining from time to time. This family had thought deeply about what their real needs were. Continue Reading »

Probably one of the greatest needs when improving kitchens is to create more space by repositioning walls, doors, windows and demolishing cupboards. The objective is to achieve more usable space without going to the expense of building an extension. These examples illustrate ways of achieving this end.

Window into doors

When this young couple wrote to Ideal Home magazine for advice on their kitchen, their first child was expected. The house, built in the 1920s, had a very large kitchen with windows overlooking the garden; a large walk-in larder and a big utility room. In fact the house was featured in the magazine during the 1930s.

An interior designer herself, the owner only needed a kitchen planning expert to provide the key to spark off her own creative ideas to revamp the kitchen. In this case, the key was to convert an existing window overlooking the garden into French doors, in order to give easy and safe access into the garden for the future family. Continue Reading »

When this family of four moved into their new house in a fashionable part of London, they had no idea of how difficult it would be to fit the kitchen.

The room had a window, a deep recess and five doors which left no walls for fixing base and wall units. One of the doors led to a pantry, broom store, box room and WC. It was decided that the only way they could have an efficient kitchen and informal dining area was to demolish this cluster of small rooms, revealing a long narrow area — ideal for an efficient workflow. The family consisted of parents, two children, an au pair and a dog. The cellar housed their laundry equipment and boiler.

Space is put to far better use when the run of units is unbroken by doors and windows. Efficiency and a good workflow are easier to achieve: this new kitchen is a perfect example of a U-shaped arrangement . Continue Reading »

Waste disposal units

Critics of waste disposal units say they are noisy; that cutlery can be mangled; and that extra food particles in sewers could lead to an increase in the number of rats breeding. If they are badly fitted or supplied with a weak motor they can be more trouble than they are worth. Unclogging blocked drains and untangling string caught around the blades is a major chore. But they are ideal to get rid of scraps of food and smelly waste bins both hygienically and quickly, necessary in many households, especially in flats.

There are two types of disposers. With batch feed disposers, a batch of rubbish is put into the chamber and the plug and cold tap switched on. The grinding chamber is totally enclosed during the grinding operation. Continuous feed disposers allow waste to be processed continuously with cold, flowing water, without switching it off to reload. To ensure the food is safely pushed down into the grinding chamber, a wooden spoon may be used. The grinders and impellers at the base of the chamber pulverise the food waste into a fine slurry which is then washed away into the drainage system. Continue Reading »

We conducted a qualitative survey amongst two hundred people, many of whom had installed new kitchens. The objective was to establish views about the design of equipment, and its suitability for use in the home.

This article summarises our main recommendations on worktops, sinks and taps, waste disposal units, kitchen units, ovens and hobs, fridges and freezers, dishwashers and washing machines. We also highlight some new, untested products which may meet specific user needs.

Worktops

There are no hard and fast rules for worktop heights, wall units and tall storage cupboards — simply because people come in different sizes — so don’t assume that you must have standard height work surfaces if that is not what you need. There are minimum storage facilities set down for local authority housing.

Continue Reading »

The typical, labour-saving American dream kitchen that brightened the austere lives of well- to-do families after the second world war, has hardly changed in concept since the 1950s when it was introduced into Britain. At that time it was a quantum leap forward from the 1930s style of labour intensive kitchens, when servants were more plentiful and cheap.

However, since the 1950s people’s lives in sophisticated societies have altered dramatically. Bulk buying is more prevalent — freezers, virtually unheard of 30 years ago, are now commonplace — microwave ovens are helping to revolutionise cooking habits, microchips are incorporated into dishwashers and washing machines. Leisure time is expanding and dictating how and when people eat both in and out of the home. These influences indicate the type of food we cook, what we use to cook with, the gadgets and small appliances for speed or economy, and the crockery we need to withstand the rigours of the dishwasher and/or the microwave. Continue Reading »

SEASIDE CHIC

Natural textures with pale wood Shaker-styled units bring a fresh breeze into this seaside holiday home. The eclectic ’shabby chic’ look continues to be a popular choice in casual, formal or contemporary settings.

Accessories

Muted pastels, slightly wilted roses, chipped paint and pure whites blend modern practicality with wistful, old-fashioned aesthetic appeal. Tall glazed wall units, generously wide pot drawers and wooden counter tops are a feature of the U-shaped kitchen, where the work triangle is displayed to its best advantage. The plain white scheme complements the white-washed wooden beams and chunky wooden counter tops that add warmth to the kitchen. The plate racks on the walls add character, and open shelves display colorful crockery and glass jars. The glass-fronted units give the room a lighter look compared to the solid doors on the units housing cookware and china. Stools pulled up to the counter top for casual dining have faded floral cushions for comfort. Continue Reading »

In any decorative scheme, colours brighten, set a mood,or provide depth and texture to a room.

The kitchen isno exception, and there’s now a vast selection of flooring, work surface and cupboard finishes. Choose practical shades, and bear in mind that colour in the kitchen influences your sense of sight, smell and taste. White and neutral backgrounds promote cleanliness, freshness and efficiency.

Adding color changes the look and feel of a room. If your kitchen is to be cool, light, airy and open, then stay natural and avoid dark woods and lots of pattern. But if it needs sprucing up, a colourful counter top may be a practical and decorative option. Continue Reading »