The COVID-19 pandemic was a stressful time for many, but out of the anxieties caused by restrictions and lockdowns came a newfound appreciation for aspects of home life- particularly in the kitchen. The percentage of Brits cooking every meal at home naturally rose over the lockdowns of 2020, and as things have begun to return to some semblance of normality, a YouGov survey has indicated that more than 91% of us intend to cook as much or more. But many kitchens across the country are in dire need of a spruce up. Here are five of the best ways you can level up your kitchen space to make the most of your renewed passion.
Backsplash Tiling
We are no strangers to tiled backsplashes in our kitchen space, but the trend for tiling has come back around to glazed finishes. These glossy, glistening, easy-wipe surfaces come in a variety of vibrant colours, letting your countertops pop and giving the illusion of space in the process. Your local kitchen showroom will have some excellent examples available for your perusal, as part of their demonstration installations – don’t be shy about going down, taking a look and speaking to an advisor about popular sales and current trends.
Adding Natural Elements
Many contemporary kitchens make the mistake of leaning into minimalism too heavily, relying on monochromaticity, sparseness and angular design. Even the minimal homes of the Bauhaus movement included considered nods to life – whether rattan, woven decorations or well-placed indoor trees. Nowadays, maximalism is in full swing in many households, where plant life has had a huge part to play in filling out and breathing life into spaces. Introduce plants to your kitchen, whether hanging ivy over your kitchen island or succulents by the sink. These sparks of colour will contrast against your units, and give your kitchen an entirely different vibe.
A Boiling Water Tap
This may seem like a particularly luxurious addition to this list, but adding a boiling water tap to your Ada kitchen sink will change the way you use your kitchen. For starters, you can do away the electric kettle, for which there is never a particularly good space on any worktop. This means you have more counter space to show off varieties of tea and coffee, and more room in which to make beverages and prepare food. Cooking becomes quicker and more intuitive, and your kitchen cabinets are saved from steam damage in the process. This is a true upgrade to your kitchen space, no doubt about it.
Levelling Up Your Storage
Investing in stepped spice racks and glass racks for stemmed glassware can open up a whole new world of storage to your kitchen cabinets. By storing things smartly, you can improve the aesthetics of your cupboard spaces and make things easier to reach in one fell swoop. The racks provide layered storage, enabling you to fit more in the space without compromising usability, and potentially freeing up counter space as well as preventing cupboard clutter.
Marble Finishes
Marble is a beautiful material to introduce to your kitchen – especially black marble, where your kitchen is other wise coldly coloured. Use black marble for the floor to create a sense of depth as well as an easy-to-clean floor surface, or opt for slabs on your countertops and kitchen islands to bisect the space horizontally. The shine of marble adds a touch of glass, as well as a resistant surface, to your upgraded kitchen.
