Press Article
METRO - 23 June, 2011
Kitchens are the hub of the modern home
By Jo Eccles
According to research by the kitchen retailer, Magnet, kitchens nowadays are almost double the size they were back in the 1920s. The research also showed that the kitchen is now often used as the main social hub of a home; it is no longer just a room in which to cook, but it’s a place to work, entertain, dine and relax, and this trend shows no signs of abating. Apparently, we spend an average of two hours a day in our kitchens, but only one and a half hours a day in our living rooms.
Traditionally, the kitchen was hidden away; this is highlighted in period properties where the kitchen is often tucked away at the back of the home. Now, many home owners are embracing side returns and extensions to enlarge the kitchen space and integrate it with the rest of the property’s reception rooms.
Kitchens are often seen as a statement room; we recently acted for a couple who insisted on an open plan kitchen, with all the latest gadgets and gizmos, despite being open about the fact that they never cook and had no intention of learning how to! They simply wanted a big kitchen for entertaining family and friends, and for show.
Another client recently bought in a mansion block in Victoria, and completely gutted and redesigned the layout of the entire flat to create more flexible kitchen space – originally the kitchen was at the back, but he turned the accommodation on its head so that the kitchen and reception were at the front, as you walk in. He decorated the whole flat in a very neutral style, but decided to choose a very bold, modern kitchen to make an impression.
We also had a Canadian client buying a property for his daughter; whilst we showed them some spectacular properties, they just weren’t quite ‘right’. In the end, we established that the problem was because in Canada, they are used to the kitchen being the heart of the home, and anything which didn’t have an open plan kitchen was considered too formal for them. Subsequently, we found a lateral flat which had a vast open plan kitchen, reception and dining area centred around a big fireplace in the middle. This was a major selling feature of the property and the most important factor to them, demonstrating the huge influence the kitchen has on people’s buying decisions today.
As the kitchen is such an important factor, this should always be a consideration when buying or selling a home – a good kitchen really can add value. If you can’t extend it, there are a number of simple ways you can improve your existing kitchen; buying new taps, door handles and a new worktop (upgrading from laminate to granite, for example), is likely to add value and be much more cost effective than buying a whole new kitchen.