Kitchen forms the hub of the house. It is the heart and the soul in a home where a woman likes to seal the eyes of the beholder with its design. Today where the kitchen is no longer an isolated place meant for messy cooking in age-old chulhas, it deserves all the attention. Modern home, which mostly has an open kitchen, reflects your personality and your taste for design.

Traditional Indian kitchens hardly had any open shelves above the counter or under it, all with just different sized shelves inside them. Some houses didn’t even have functional cabinet doors to cover the shelves.

But in this modern India, where it’s taking cues mostly from Western countries is in no mood to settle for less than perfection. If you’re planning to remodel your kitchen or starting from scratch in your brand new kitchen, modularizing is one good option. But designing and getting it done can be challenging due to the availability of a wide range of options and lack of expertise.

But here are 5 things that can come in handy when you plan to design your modular kitchen:

1. Who cooks in your home?

It’s the world of egalitarian couples in some homes. Gone are the days when kitchen was meant only for the lady of the house. Men these days are taking over the job like never before. Be it in the name of helping the working spouse or a bachelor or a chef in the making, men are all gearing up to serve the dish.

But do they really like minty green or baby pink and the chic friendly kittens for a décor on the counter? If you want the kitchen to meet the needs of the genders, then make it neutral. Think of designs and colours that are alluring to both of you. Whites, greys, pale yellow, wooden finish, blacks or hints of reds could be something you may want to go for. Also minimalistic design would be ideal giving you both a sense of satisfaction when on the job. This doesn’t mean you need to settle down with plain and boring designs. You can be creative and opt for multicolor designs, play with textures and decorate with subtle yet elegant pieces.

2. Shape of the kitchen:

The shape of the kitchen is one of the preliminary things to consider. Is your kitchen corridor style, L-shaped or U-shaped? Depending upon the shape and the area available, you can also go for zone design, which breaks different areas of the kitchen. This can be done with ease with an island or a breakfast table. Once you determine the shape of your kitchen select a modular style which best suits your cabinet needs and style. Don’t forget to include more cabinets under the island counter for extra storage and space utilization.

3. Choosing the cabinets:

When it comes to choosing kitchen cabinets, durability and design matters.

Durability of the cabinets depends on both the material used and the thickness of the material. The cabinets are available in different types of materials. Some of the choices are natural hardwood, plywood, particleboard, MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard), etc. The factors that affect your choice of material are many. One of the biggest factors that matter is your budget. The size of the kitchen and the total number of cabinets that are required also plays a major role in optimizing costs and hence affects the choice of material. When it comes to the upper cabinets, you also have to consider the load that each of the cabinets will bear. In case of heavy load bearing cabinets you need higher density material of reasonable thickness for long life and durability.

Coming to the design aspect of the cabinets, there are several things you need to consider. Your colour choices rule the design and material of the cabinets. Suppose if you want red colour cabinet then hard wood might not be one of the best choices. But if you want a wood finishing for the cabinets, it makes sense to go for hardwood so that you can retain the natural wood finish. You can also opt for different finishes such as glossy, melamine, veneer, etc. You have a wide range of choices for designs of cabinet doors- plain surface, designer look with applied mouldings, shaker, glass laid doors, etc. The type of build of the doors over the cabinets vastly depends on your budget. Frameless cabinets are much cheaper and give the cabinets more contemporary look. Whereas the other types of cabinets such as the ones with frames, overlay cabinets and inset cabinets will cost you much higher.

4. Picking the right cabinet baskets and accessories:

When it comes to organizers and cabinet accessories in the kitchen, you get a wide variety of options to choose from. You can go for lazy Susan, drawer dividers, fittings for blind corners, cabinet shelves and door organizers, cabinet pullouts and baskets for pots, pans, lids, plates, etc. One thing is for sure; you just can’t have it all. You need to take into consideration the type of current utensils you own, your lifestyle and requirements before you decide on the organizers. This also depends on the size of the kitchen and available storage area. Apart from utensils you also need to consider your storage requirements for appliances such as mixer grinder, blender, coffee maker, electric kettle, etc. if you want your countertop to be clutter free. Also consider what type and size of organizing shelves you would like to have in your upper cabinets required to store cooking essentials for daily use and other dishes, glassware, etc.

5. Plan ahead for extra storage-

It’s dream for most of us to have a walk-in pantry. But if you can’t really have one, then don’t lose heart. Plan ahead before you start looking for readymade modular kitchen or getting it customized. Think vertically and create a functional pantry with single sized cabinets in one of the parts of kitchen ideally next to the fridge. Instead of wasting space with a variety of different sized upper and lower cabinets, one vertical pantry style cabinet will do the trick and meet your storage needs. Make the corners work hard for you with carrousel-style rack, which can be used with a spin and allows easy access to stuff at the back. Don’t forget to put your cabinet under the sink to use. Create storage space for all your dishwashing sponges and liquids along with other essential supplies.

Hottest kitchen trends can be tempting, but your needs and your budget have to be kept in mind before going in for a modularized kitchen. The layout and the area of the kitchen are two important aspects that need to be thought through to come up with an elegant yet functional kitchen. Also bear in mind the overall interiors of your house so that you don’t over-do or underdo your kitchen making it a stand alone corner of your house.

[Image Credits: pixabay.com]