Small homes, smaller kitchens
House hunting is the kind of pressure I wish no one has to deal with. But then to have your own home or a new home in a new town that’s your way is something you are always proud of. Sadly, looking at the sizes of apartments that can fit in our budgets, there is nothing more depressing than smaller kitchens in smaller apartments. But with small apartments becoming the norm of the day rather than the exception, there is no getting away from these kitchenettes.
Read more: Have you just moved into a smaller space?
Human ingenuity, however, has found a way of getting around this complex and knotty problem. Kitchens in contemporary homes are now being seamlessly connected to the living rooms, creating not just a more spacious environment but also a more pleasant one. These areas in modern homes are slowly but surely getting transformed into little havens, with their cozy and comfortable ambience. I felt we could do a little something too to help each other with some ideas as to ‘how’.
Blending your living rooms and kitchens together
There are several ways of achieving such a pleasurable living room and kitchen combination in your home. Simple and affordable, these ideas take little more than ingenuous thinking to make an impact.
Woodblocks that double up as food shelves is one innovative measure to connect the kitchen with the living room. Functional and modern, these shelves can be put up along the entire length of the kitchen as well as the living room, with decorative items or books lining up the living room section and food items etc. in the kitchen part of it. The unifying effect of these shelves is quite appealing in its sheer simplicity. Functional and aesthetic at the same time, they lend elegance and sophistication to both the units and the resultant décor has a contemporary charm to it.
You can, in fact, go all the way and extend this multi-functional concept to other things too. So your cabinet can be used as a worktop, while the base wall units can be adapted to different kinds of functions – some suited for the kitchen and others for the living room. A breakfast table can function as a TV corner with total ease through such a multi-faceted approach.
The best part of this design concept is that it ensures that neither the kitchen nor the living room looks cluttered. The clean and minimalistic look resulting from such dual functional systems is also healthy for you and your family. With no filth around, you can finally breathe in peace.
Read more: Minimalism and Art, a blend of beauty
The modular kitchen concepts widely used in modern homes are ideally suited to this approach. With the large variety of designs and color options available in modular furnishings, you can go in for all kinds of combinations to create a special ambience for the combined living room and kitchen area of your house.
The challenge lies in evolving the right blend of materials for your kitchens brought together in a perfect composition that brings about a harmonious balance. The choice is wide and varied – you could go in for an exciting mix of wood and metal, or plastic and wood. Black is the right choice for a neutral background, while bronze handles would go well with dark shades. What you need to do is bring about a strong and harmonious synergy through the entire area – along the walls, the floor, the ceiling and the furnishings. Anything to bright or too many prints going on might look gaudy and eventually defy the purpose of going minimalist.
So, when it comes to your kitchens or any room in the house: Less is more.
Want to know about anything specific about home decor or kitchens or small spaces? Write your queries in the comments section and I will help you with a solution. Like it, share it now!
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