Designing a no-frills, modern kitchen

Sokoloff52 · Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 1

The kitchen, they say, is the heart of a house. That is why a major share of the investment on a house goes towards designing and creating the kitchen. In the traditional style of architecture, the kitchen was a place for cooking and nothing else. The design centred around a massive hearth using firewood as fuel. Those were the days when the women of the house would emerge from the smoke-filled kitchen, bleary-eyed and coughing, after every round of cooking.

The advent of LPG as an alternative fuel was the first major revolution to hit the kitchen. The clean fuel altogether changed the perception of the kitchen as a smoky, grimy room and triggered the first round of design changes. Over the years, a series of modern cooking and cleaning equipment came to dominate the kitchen accessories market. Each new product brought with it a host of design possibilities that were incorporated into the kitchen at various stages in its evolution.

Today, what was once a cooking room is now a major centre of activity in the house where one can cook, dine, listen to music or watch TV, help children with their homework and even entertain guests. In most modern houses and apartments, the kitchen also doubles up as the store and utility room. The advent of the modular kitchen concept brought about an evolutionary change in the design of the house. The cooking area slowly assumed the role of a showpiece with glazed tiles, slick granite counters, gleaming hobs, electric chimneys and neatly laid out cabinets and shelves. But designing or renovating a kitchen without burning a deep hole in one's pocket requires a tremendous amount of careful planning.

Designing a compact kitchen to optimise efficiency is a challenge for the architect of Cochin apartments, with immense scope for innovation in layout and materials. Over the years, a number of wood workshops switched over to the role of design houses to capitalise on the booming demand for modern kitchens. Burma teak which has a lesser oil content, is a cheaper alternative without compromising on the looks. Another economical method is to use teakwood for the outer surfaces and plywood for the interiors. One of the advantages of using cheaper varieties of wood is that it can be replaced after 10 years or so to suit changing tastes.