Kitchen inspiration - The perfect design

When you get to the stage of designing your kitchen you have a lot to think about. Who is going to be using it? Is it going to be the heart of the home? What is your style? etc etc. I don't want to keep talking about Covid19 but we have to reflect in the aftermath. What has it left us with? I recently wrote about how the home has changed for us and how we need more from the same build. Essentially our homes have to become more versatile as our needs have changed and the kitchen is no different.  What do you want from your kitchen? Long-gone are the days where kitchens were just used for make dinners, now they now need to be able to do so much more. Perhaps you would like to include a snug? Maybe you have a young family and want a play area so that you can keep an eye on the children while making food? We all know how much kids eat and how many times a day they ask for a snack! Maybe you even find it hard to actually venture out of the kitchen so it needs to be the room where everything can happen. Perhaps you want bi-fold doors so that you can bring the outside-in and utilise the space and expand it as much as you can?  You really need to think of what you want from your space. This applies to any room in the house and needs to be considered at the design stage. Take a look at Pinterest or Instagram and get some images in your head, make a collage even...get all your ideas down on paper. There are plenty of people who will be able to help with your design. A lot of people tend to go and get advice from a kitchen designer. This is an excellent starting point. Use peoples' knowledge and advice where you can and utilise their experience.  Check out here https://www.pinterest.com/TMUStone/dream-kitchen-inspo/ for some ideas. Think about your colour scheme, storage and use of space. The latter is the main thing that you need to consider. Bespoke kitchens are becoming more popular for this very reason. You can essentially design your kitchen around your needs. These are by far the most popular types of kitchens.   People are no longer going out to eat as before (for obvious reasons) and this for the timebeing has now become the new normal. So we now need our kitchens to be adapted to suit the social gatherings that are/will take place. Larger quantities of food are being consumed and need to be stored. There are walk in food cupboards to maintain supplies and keep organisation and large fridge freezes and big double ovens. Utility rooms are also expanding, essentially becoming the laundry room, with washers, dryers and room for all of the extra necessities such as vacuum cleaners.  The kitchen has always been an integral part of the home, but it is now so much more than that. We need and expect a lot from our kitchens and on top of that we even need them to be equipped to actually cook in. Their role has evolved and never so much as now. We want them to be an office, a play area, somewhere to relax, somewhere to entertain and somewhere to cook and store food.  Think about what you need and want and don't be ashamed to go after your dream. There are many solutions out there, many ways in which your room can be adapted to your needs. This is going to be the heart of the home, that's what kitchens are about. Think of your family and what they need from it too. You might need to splash out here, but it will be worth it in the long-run. If you do this right, it will be for keeps.