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What’s Your Kitchen Personality?

19th December 2016
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In the same way as our clothes can mark us out as a certain type of person, so how we design and dress our interiors can say a huge amount about the kind of cook we might be. Our experienced kitchen designers are on hand to help you find out what your ‘kitchen tribe’ is at the beginning of your project. They’re packed full of good ideas to give you insight into the design and layout that will best suit your way of life, including those appliances that will be great investments and those destined to be dust collectors, hiding at the back of the cupboard. So, read on to find out what kind of kitchen personality you might be and what design style is your perfect culinary partner.

The Master Chef

Do you love creating spectacular culinary creations for friends and family? Are you an early adopter of the latest professional-style appliances that are migrating from restaurant kitchens into domestic settings? Then you’re probably a Master Chef. You love creating lavish meals and wholeheartedly believe several hours in the kitchen preparing Gordon Ramsay recipes from scratch is time well spent. Your dream kitchen design will probably have the latest professional kit at its heart, including hi-spec built-in ovens with functions such as bread making and steam programmes as standard. A hot-water tap is a must, not just for brewing a cup of tea to keep you going while you’re prepping for a dinner party but also cheffy tricks like blanching tomatoes for easy peeling. Combined with an induction hob with a boost function you’ll be able to cook fresh pasta in a flash, too. Sous vide cooking – really a modern day version of boil-in-the-bag – is relatively new but a quick scan of TV programmes such as Masterchef the Professionals and The Great British Menu reveal just how versatile these machines are, cooking meat and vegetables to a tee in a temperature controlled water bath. A large fridge freezer for all those fresh ingredients is also a must, as is a wine cabinet to keep your favourite tipple at optimum drinking temperature. All those perfect pieces of kit need to be the stars of the show, so gorgeously refined, flat-fronted, easy to clean cabinetry, such as our Linear range, is the order of the day. Top it with stainless steel for a real professional kitchen ‘pass’ feel or cool stone worktops for great pastry-making.

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The Family Baker

If your kitchen is a place where everyone gathers, then it has to be family-friendly. Likely to take a bit of a battering, it requires a durable, easy-to-clean outside, and a capacious inside to cope with day-to-day stresses and strains of family life. At the centre of all good family kitchens is the table or, for a more modern slant, a peninsula or island. If you’re likely to have little ones running in and out then worktops and cabinets with gentle curves will not only be kinder on little heads but also adult hips. Pack your cabinets with interior solutions, making sure there’s a place for everything and everything in its place and think about push-to-open cupboards and drawers for those moments when you have your hands full. If you have the space for a breakfast bar, then pop it to one side, close to the water dispensing fridge freezer if you have one, so kids can get themselves drinks when they’re having breakfast or tea, without coming into the body of the kitchen and getting under your feet. Pick durable, non-slip flooring that’s easy to wipe if everyone including the dog troops in after a muddy winter afternoon in the garden and a matt finish that won’t show fingermarks so easily. Our ready-to-paint Original cabinetry is perfect for this traditional family space, with delicate beading in the door fronts and ornate cornicing that gives it a classic, easy-to-live with appearance. A range cooker is a good choice, giving you plenty of oven space, however many people might drop by for tea and cake. Sit it in an alcove, with simple granite splashback and a decorative mantel on which you can display a few favourite pieces.

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Finally, a larder, where baking goods can all be kept in one place and plenty of internal plugs so you can leave your mixers and blenders ready to go but still out of sight, is a great investment for a home baker.

The No-Fuss Cook

Not being a committed or proficient cook certainly shouldn’t preclude you from having a beautiful kitchen. Many of us don’t want to spend all evening whipping up a three course meal, so if you’re after a kitchen that looks fabulous but allows you to create a quick but delicious dinner, then our hand-painted in-frame Shaker kitchen design, packed with time-saving devices is a stylish, stress-free choice. Combining cabinetry materials will allow the design to really shine – think timber for softness and painted cabinetry in one of the modern neutrals for a stand-out island. Then finish off with cool white worksurfaces and accessories and lighting in sleek steel finishes. Great appliance choices for the reluctant cook include multi-functional combination ovens with pre-set recipes, or a modern range topped with five powerful gas burners that will make quick work of stir-fries. The latest American style coolers have deep shelves, perfect for holding large pizzas and plenty of drawer space for as many bung-in-the oven meals as you can grab from the supermarket in one go. Efficiency is key for the no-fuss cook, so a space designed with the most ergonomic use of working space is really important. Make everything easy to access with pull-out storage and ensure items such as pans sit below your hob, while drawers holding china-ware isn’t far from your dishwasher.

Ready to start designing your new kitchen space? Call 0800 389 6938 now to speak with a designer in your local Harvey Jones showroom.