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Contemporary kitchen design

Posted by Bath Bespoke on 16 November 2020

A reflection of the way many of us are choosing to live these days, our kitchens have become multi-functional spaces requiring intelligent design and careful attention to detail to work as the heart of the modern-day home.

The kitchen has evolved so far beyond the dictionary definition of “a room where food is kept, prepared, and cooked and where the dishes are washed”. Today, it has become a multi-use space where families and friends live, cook, eat, open the post, entertain, help with the children’s homework and everything else besides…

From a design perspective, materials and colour palettes are also evolving past the standard finishes. Bold, bright colour palettes are becoming increasingly popular, challenging the trend of all-white cooking spaces, while timber is being used in increasingly imaginative ways to bring new depth and character to twenty-first-century kitchens.

We look back on some of our favourite kitchens incorporating eye-catching colour and timber…

Bright orange

Modern minimal kitchen with orange Velchromat

This contemporary kitchen designed for an avid cook incorporated bright orange Valchromat panelling, stainless steel countertops and birch ply cabinets to bring together a distinctive, functional space.

The orange panelling introduced a bold splash of colour along the back wall as well as making a standout kitchen island. Valchromat was used as not only an extremely durable material, ideal for the kitchen, but its unique texture and aesthetics incorporated a bold, playful quality.

This eye-popping hue was then contrasted with the industrial aesthetic of the stainless steel finishes of the countertops and appliances alongside the warmth and tactility of the birch-ply cabinetry and wall-mounted storage units, which introduced neutral tones to act as a balancing counterpoint within the scheme. This design counterpoint was then continued through the extensive wall and ceiling storage as well-used stainless steel pots, pans, knives and implements were set against a backdrop of ply storage to become an integral part of the overall concept.

Finally, bright, white Formica on the cabinetry completed the concept to bounce light around the space, elevating and contrasting with the tangerine tones of the Valchromat.

Industrial vintage

Rustic sustainable kitchen cabinets
Designed by Mia Marquez

This unique industrial style vintage kitchen (designed by Mia Marquez), championed the materials used in its creation – predominately oak – celebrating their inimitable character.

Solid French pippy oak doors and worktops and unfinished angle iron and box steel framework were brought together to meet the distinctive brief of making the components look like “they were found in a skip in Paris“.

The generous 65mm oak worktops matched to the cabinetry created a cohesive scheme, enveloping appliances and evoking the desired, relaxed and inviting feel with a weathered, well-loved finish. Industrial steel frameworks sharpened the concept with a similarly tactile, worn finish as well as adding visual contrast and detailing in keeping with the overall aesthetic.

The natural warmth of the solid oak cabinetry contrasted with the rusty hues of the flagstone flooring atly demonstrated the scope of simple, raw materials to bring distinctive design concepts to life.

Electric blues

This kitchen was designed as a functional offshoot of the open plan living room/diner. The design needed to bring a sense of unity and flow to the space whilst injecting character to an open plan area and delineating the kitchen-based elements.

Colour became a key component, the vibrant blue of the cabinetry contrasted with the clean, white metro tiles provided an impactful, visual distinction whilst staying true to the home’s overall aesthetic.

The shadow groove inlay of each cabinet slab door in European oak served to break up the blocks of colour, softening the scheme and linking the space to the wooden accents of the dining room, while the open wooden bookshelf for the family’s cookery books also helped carry through this design note and blend the spaces together. The scheme was then finished with concrete-effect Corian countertops mirroring the Marmoleum Liquid Clay ‘concrete’ floor to help balance and ground the concept, melding it further with the open plan dining room,