From Heart of the Home to Homeworking Hub: Kitchen Design for Flexible Work-Life Routines

A generation ago, a kitchen was just a kitchen; a place to cook, store food and - for those with enough space - to eat informal meals without the bother of setting the table in the dining room. 

Times changed, and we’ve move towards open plan layouts. Kitchen design has become the beating heart of the home; a living space where we socialise and come together, as well as cooking, eating and entertaining. 

This year, times have changed again, quite dramatically. Suddenly, the sanctuary of home is also a space for work and the kitchen has become the office for many. It was an unexpected and seismic change that caught most people off guard and challenged us to adapt quickly to the ‘new normal’; transitioning from work to home within a single space on a daily basis, often alongside family members who also needed to convert worktops into desks.

We cannot predict how long the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic will last but one thing is certain – the working from home genie is well and truly out of the bottle and many are reluctant to persuade it back in. Working from home may not be a permanent five-day-a-week change for most, but it is likely to be a much more common choice for a large percentage of the population. During 2020, both employers and employees have learned that home working is not only possible; in many cases it is also more productive than the treadmill of daily commutes and watercooler gossip. The question now is how kitchen manufacturers can incorporate this new lifestyle and workplace choice into kitchen design.

Building Flexibility into Kitchen Design

The experience of working from home during the pandemic does not mean that people will all want to work from home forever; it simply means that traditionally office-based jobs are likely to allow more flexibility to work from home some of the time. In just the same way, it would be a mistake for developers or kitchen manufacturers to assume that there needs to be a fixed and permanent home workstation in most properties. The key to good kitchen design for those working from home will be flexibility.

We are already used to seeing flexibility embedded into kitchen design. At Commodore Design, we provide a bespoke-as-standard approach to creating kitchens aligned to lifestyles and buyer profiles so kitchens are designed around much more than cooking and eating; we are a kitchen supplier that takes a deep dive into how people will live in the space as an integral part of the process.

What the working from home phenomenon does is to add another layer to this kitchen design methodology. Now, we’re not only thinking about how people will love their kitchen, but also how they will work there, which means focusing the kitchen design on what they will need to work comfortably and productively and how easily it will be for them to transition from kitchen to workstation and back again.

Of course, the kitchen is not the only space within a home where people might choose to work. Some have the luxury of a spare bedroom to use as a home office, others may choose to use their own bedroom or their living room. Indeed, thanks to the portability of laptops and other devices used for work, there may also be people who work from various locations within the home, depending on factors such as who else is there, which locations are quietest or offer the best light at specific times, or simply what they feel like on the day. Again, Commodore Design is already ahead of the curve here, with the ability to provide furniture for bedrooms and living areas that complements the kitchen design, offering a cohesive, stylish look for the entire home with functionality to meet the homeowner’s requirements for working from home.

Considerations for Work from Home Kitchen Design

So how can we ensure kitchen design and home furnishing innovation deliver the flexible environment needed to serve both leisure and work activities?

The worktop is a key consideration, both in terms of design and material. There needs to be sufficient unencumbered space to position a laptop or even a monitor arm without having to negotiate wall-mounted cupboards. The worktop material also needs to be robust enough to withstand the scratches and scrapes from work equipment being used on the surface.

Connectivity is always important in both kitchens and offices, so kitchen suppliers should also consider the need for those working from home to plug in their devices and connect to the internet. This calls for kitchen design that incorporates counter-top sockets, charger points and Wi-Fi extenders, all conveniently positioned in a single location for ease of set-up. Combining these in a retractable pop-up unit that can be neatly tucked away in the worktop provides an ideal solution for transforming the space back to home use at the end of the working day.

Storage is another essential element of kitchen design that is also central to creating a space that will double as a workstation. Those working from home without a dedicated home office will need to be able to set-up quickly and easily in the morning and pack away neatly at the end of the working day. Consequently, storage solutions will need to be tailored to accommodate laptops and portable devices, notebooks and stationery without risk of damage from steam and humidity.

Finally, attention will need to be paid to lighting, as the light required for cooking and entertaining is not the same as light needed for working at a screen. Lighting can make or break a successful kitchen design so building a lighting scheme into the kitchen design, which works for both home and work life, will be an important way for kitchen suppliers to help developers attract buyers.

Exceeding Buyers’ Expectations

The world of kitchen design is always evolving, with lifestyles, fashion influences and trends contributing to a dynamic sector full of fresh ideas. At Commodore Design, our future trends analysis expertise means we’re able to look ahead and incorporate new elements into our kitchens, allowing us to keep offering developers kitchen design that matches buyers’ needs and expectations.