In the past, people cooked in the kitchen and ate in the dining room. Today, the kitchen is the heart of many houses or flats and the place where the whole family sits at the table, eats together, talks and laughs. The kitchen has a new meaning. This has also changed the design, colours and materials. We have compiled the most important points to consider when you are building a new home and want to choose your dream kitchen or replace your old kitchen.
Kitchen plan depends on many factors. On the one hand, the area, the floor plan and the connections, on the other hand, your demands, your needs and your budget. First of all, think about what the kitchen is for you: a cosy eat-in kitchen or a functional workspace? This determines, for example, how many and which kitchen appliances or how many cupboards and drawers you need for cutlery, crockery, glasses or kitchen utensils. The more storage space you have, the easier it is to keep an overview of your kitchen. It makes sense to consult a kitchen designer. He knows what is important and how you can create a lot of space even in a small kitchen or how you can design a great kitchen on a small budget in which your family feels comfortable and at home.
The smaller the area or the more special the floor plan (including electricity and water connections), the more important the kitchen planning. The time for professional advice is well invested.
Kitchen fronts are immediately noticeable and determine the style of a kitchen. Colours, materials and handles change the first impression: cosy, industrial, modern or rustic? When choosing materials, however, you should not only pay attention to the design, but also to the functionality and durability. When choosing, make sure that the kitchen fronts are washable, heat- or light-resistant, durable, acid-resistant and shock- and abrasion-resistant.
With handles, you can completely change the character of a kitchen without much effort. If you love minimalist design, you should choose so-called tip-on kitchen fittings that, for example, open a door as soon as it is tapped.
These are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of the most widely used materials for kitchen fronts, sorted alphabetically:
You can replace kitchen fronts if they are broken or exchange them if you no longer like them. All brand manufacturers keep their fronts in their product range for many years.
You have almost the same choice for worktops as for kitchen fronts. Material and quality are even more important because the surface is used daily and subjected to heavy wear. Inexpensive worktops made of laminate are easy to clean, but not very hard-wearing and heat-resistant. Solid wood worktops are more durable, but require more care and need to be treated with oil or sanded down from time to time. Granite worktops are noble and durable. The stone is very hard, heat-resistant and insensitive to scratches. Marble is softer and less durable. In addition, the stone absorbs liquids, which is why stains can form on the surfaces. Other materials for customised worktops are acrylic stone, concrete, ceramic or artificial stone.
The worktop should be large enough and also have space for things you need every day, for example spices, herbs and oils or glasses and cups.
Stainless steel has gained acceptance in catering kitchens because the material is heat-resistant, easy to clean and not very vulnerable to bacteria or viruses. The worktop can be welded to the sink and the fittings, so that no dirt settles on grooves or edges. But steel is not only practical, it is also timelessly beautiful, as Forster kitchens have proven since 1953. Forster specialises in steel kitchens, which have many convincing advantages. These are the 7 most important plus points:
The only downside of steel is its susceptibility to fingerprints, but you can simply wipe them away.
Wall panels should match the kitchen fronts and worktops. However, they should not only be beautiful, but also easy to clean and hard-wearing, because they have to withstand a lot in everyday kitchen life, for example hot splashes of fat or the sharp edges of pot lids. Tiles and tiles are the traditional splashback and are modern again. Back panels made of glass, wood, Plexiglas and increasingly steel are very popular. Metal or steel splashbacks are particularly suitable for everyday use, which is why they are used in professional kitchens. They are only a few millimetres thin, are installed without joints and are easy to clean. Thanks to their timeless design, they fit into most kitchens and can even be printed.
The floor is subjected to a lot of wear and tear in every kitchen. That's why it should be hard-wearing, not vulnerable to stains or water, and easy to clean. This applies to laminate, linoleum, tile and PVC floors, but also to natural cork or sealed parquet. For parquet floors that are subject to particularly heavy wear, such as in the kitchen, a polyurethane sealant makes more sense than oil or wax. Natural stone goes particularly well in a timeless steel kitchen. Natural stone is scratch-resistant, natural, easy to clean, practical and robust. Granite, marble and slate tolerate heat to a certain degree and humidity well, last forever when properly cared for and are easy to keep clean. Read more about this in the article "What You Should Know about Natural Stone in the Bathroom and Kitchen".
The choice of kitchen appliances and kitchen gadgets depends on space, budget and requirements. It is important for kitchen planning to decide on a standard. In Switzerland, the standard width of built-in appliances and furniture is 55 centimetres (Swiss measurement system) or 60 centimetres (European standard). Some manufacturers offer special dimensions, for example 45 centimetres wide, if space is at a premium. Kitchen appliances are a topic in themselves, so we will write a detailed article about them in 2022. Just this much for now: When choosing, be sure to pay attention to the energy efficiency class. Energy-efficient appliances save electricity and therefore money and help the environment.
