Five Steps to Specifying a Killer Kitchen
Any estate agent will tell you that it’s kitchens that sell houses, which is just as true of new build apartments as it is for traditional family homes.
Indeed, the kitchen is even more of a make or break decider than ever before when buyers are looking for a property, whether they’re selecting a new home for themselves or they’re on the look of for an investment. Why? Because it sets the tone for quality and design for the whole property, whether it’s the hub of the home, the social centre of a city living des res or the status symbol of a high end apartment that has luxury living written all over it.
So, how do we go about creating the perfect recipe for that killer kitchen?
First on the menu is the golden rule of property design: there is no such thing as a typical buyer. While it’s important to understand the demographics of the local and target markets, designing a kitchen exclusively to appeal to the ‘typical’ buyer is a mistake. It’s easy to assume that a busy, affluent professional might mostly eat out or re-heat, and that may well be true for many. However, it’s not necessarily true for all. And certainly not all the time. Consequently, even for apartments where research suggests the kitchen is all about style, status and socialising, it’s important to remember that the most dedicated fashionistas may want to make a Sunday roast or bake a cake every now and again, so workflow and workspace are always important.
In real life, homes get cluttered and only the most disciplined of minimalists manage to keep their surfaces clear all the time. But in the world of the show home, clutter is synonymous with too little space and not enough storage so kitchens should always be presented as the uncluttered ideal of a perfectly ordered space. Maximising clean lines with a neutral palette, handleless drawers and cupboards and integrated appliances helps to create the place-for-everything-and-everything-in-its-place illusion that buyers are looking for.
A kitchen is for cooking, eating, catching up on the latest gossip over a cup of a tea or a glass of something cold…It is not the location for doing the laundry. Developers should always bring the kitchen specialist into the design process early in the project to ensure that a discrete utility cupboard is factored into the design, allowing a more hygienic and spacious kitchen area.
Whether they want maximum worktop space for their culinary creations or a neat and tidy social space, buyers prefer a kitchen where everything’s tucked away. A hot water tap is a simple way to eliminate the need for a kettle while adding a touch of luxury and induction hobs offer a cooking appliance that can be installed completely flush with the worktop to blend into the background when not in use.
When a home is occupied, the kitchen may be a place to prepare food, an extension to the living room, a social space, a dining area or even a workspace, so it needs to be an area of the home where the mood can be changed easily. There’s no better way to do that than with clever lighting, including feature lighting, mood lighting and task lighting.
