Contemporary Kitchens: A Charm of Modern Households
The kitchen, in the Indian context, has always been a place replete with charm and pleasure. The fragrance of gastronomic delights being dished out lovingly by the women of the house make up memories that one holds close to the heart for a lifetime. The aroma of freshly ground spices being rustled up into a resplendent curry, filled with the richness of herbs and condiments, has christened this room as the veritable favourite in Indian homes.
In the last few years however, the kitchen space has evolved with the changing trends in interior decoration. As homes become more contemporary in aesthetic, the most cherished space in a house has also undergone concomitant changes in design and appeal. It has become an epitome of fashionable charm in modern Indian homes. The kitchen has negotiated a delicate balance between maintaining its status as an area of warmth, love and comfort along with being a space that reflects the design excellence of the rest of the home. It has become an extension of the person who works in the kitchen: The modern home maker who is nurturing, stylish and independent!
Recently, there has been a renewed emphasis on cooking and eating at home. As the perception of the culinary art is evolving and it is being seen as more of a hobby than a mundane compulsion, couples and friends are taking it up as a way to spend quality time together. Kitchens are, consequently, becoming larger and in some cases have become a family room of sorts. In many households, daily meals are consumed in the kitchen itself where the whole family comes together, relaxes, chats and unwinds. In many modern Indian abodes, one finds that the kitchens look so spectacular and are so impressively well-stocked with food and wine that this is where friends are entertained or casual evenings are spent over nibbles, drinks and good conversation.
Sophisticated kitchens in modern homes are splendid to look at as well as functional. Fittings, faucets and accessories are all exquisite in appearance and highly convenient to use, making the culinary experience all the more enjoyable. Space-saving and easy-to-install fittings are being embraced with alacrity in Indian homes. Intuitive kitchen faucets are also becoming increasingly popular as they assist the homemaker in managing her many roles with efficiency.
These faucets minimise the need of physical touch, ensuring that they stay cleaner and thereby reduce the burden of rubbing off stains from them later on. The touch-sensitive faucets can be operated with a gentle tap or by placing one’s hand under the spout for a ready flow of water. This ensures hygiene is not compromised in the kitchen. The state-of-the-art inventive fittings combine style with swiftness, an imperative in the modern day home where everyone is pressed for time. They are being adroitly complemented by sensors and tactile switches for lighting, making the entire experience of entering the kitchen a delightful one.
Keeping up with the developments of the day, contemporary kitchens are being built in a way that is environmentally-conscious. There is a vigorous emphasis on fittings that save the precious resource of water while delivering an optimal flow. The levers deliver a perfect stream that is pre-adjusted as is the temperature, resulting in saving energy, money and the natural resource without compromising on the quick supply needed for chopping, cutting, cleaning etc. We see a multitude of designer kitchen solutions offering impressive faucets that come with an extendible spray or stylishly-shaped spouts with extendible mousseurs. They enhance convenience and go well with the kind of indulgent luxury that the rest of the house embodies.
Even in terms of cabinets and kitchen furniture, there are several solutions in the market which are an ideal fit for Indian homes in terms of size, height, storage capacity, etc. They are customised to store Indian kitchenware, a variety of ingredients, spices and containers that most Indian kitchens rely on. Besides this, since Indian cuisine involves a lot of high-heat cooking, deep frying, pressure cooking etc, premium kitchen accessories manufacturers are also making it a point to introduce technology that reduces effects of spillage and facilitates removal of oil and water stains.
Contemporary kitchen cabinets come with folding doors that look both neat and stylish. Furniture elements with recessed handles whose doors open with a gentle touch are also trending in the market. A lot of investment is being made in the overall appearance of the kitchen. Equipment with stainless steel finish are much in vogue as are sleek lines and lots of infusion of the colour white to give an airy and happy feel to the environs. Minimalist styles have been in for a while now for working surfaces. Marble and natural stone finishes are preferred for countertops while attractive wall panels and open shelves make the contemporary design more interesting.
There are plenty of options in the market today that can help you build a personalised space that represents high comfort, splendour in style and facility in usage. By embracing them, you can build a kitchen that beautifully plays the perfect counterpart to the aesthetic scheme of the rest of your modern paradise. Kitchens have always been an area of interest in the home, but now they are also a sphere of investment in both thought and effort.
Ms. Renu Misra, MD, Grohe India
The views expressed in this article are author´s own
