Top Tips for your 2022 Countryside Kitchen
If you’re considering a kitchen redesign, what better time to start than after a busy festive season. After catering for friends and family, often hosting what turned out to be last minute get togethers, maybe now is the time to consider what a new kitchen can deliver for you in 2022.
The past two years have seen us at home much more than ever before. Our communal spaces have been working harder, with temporary offices and classrooms fashioned out of hallways, kitchens and utility rooms. We are now entering the ‘new normal’ where our working lives are likely to be split more than ever before. Many of us are working from home at least part of the time. As the heart of the home, our kitchens have been adapted even more than before. Where we used to just prep and cook and of course dine we now can be found zooming, working and socialising both virtually and in person.
Reviewing how we have used our home spaces and how we will likely develop in the coming years plus the supply chain challenges we have put together a list of things that are worth thinking about when planning your new kitchen for 2022.
1.Smart Storage – make the best use of your space
Keep all of those gadgets out of site but accessible when needed. Piles of laptops, Tablets, paper and pens have joined our coffee machines in the kitchen. Utilising smart storage can ensure that everything can be near at hand when needed and out of the way when finished with.
2. Practical beautiful worktops
Granite is always the first stop for a classic hardwearing and beautiful worktop, but don’t forget Quartz worktops. They have come such a long way and are not the premium cost they once were. Practical and pretty much bullet proof and in a massive range of colours, be it Caesarstone or Silestone, there is a practical worktop for you.
3. Smart Lighting Plans
Making the best use of low energy smart lighting means that you can have the flexibility of bright light where you need it and subtle mood lighting when you want to relax.
4. Integrated Appliances
More than just dishwashers and fridges, discreet appliances make the most of your space. Clever custom cabinetry can hide away small appliances so when you are finished with them the space is made available.
5. Multi Function Taps
Quooker taps provide instant boiling water whenever you need it as well as hot, cold and even chilled filtered and also sparkling water. Your environmental impact is reduced as there is no need to buy plastic bottled water. No more kettle or bottled water means you save on fridge and storage space and you have the convenience of your preferred water ‘on tap’.
6. Island Life
Islands and breakfast bars have been with us for a while for casual dining and have been used for the ubiquitous Zoom meetings. Adding a full dining island in the kitchen can enable extra storage from the cupboards underneath as well as giving you integrated dining with a quick office space too.
7. Downdraft extractor systems
Press down a button for a few seconds and your extractor will rise up from behind your hob or from the worksurface. When you are finished, it simply vanishes back into the surface.
8. Timing!
There has been such a high demand for appliances, it is not unusual to have to wait a considerable period for some products to become available. So plan, plan and plan!
9. Choose sustainability
Kitchen suppliers with their own manufacturing facilities are able to provide a more sustainable product as the units are not being shipped from the other side of the globe. It also means that lead times quoted are likely to be far more accurate as the supply chain is short and under control. Countryside Kitchens have our own manufacturing facility in Kelso.
10. Trust the experts
It’s no accident that Countryside Kitchens have been around for over 40 years. There’s not too much we haven’t come across before. From our first contact to leaving you in peace to enjoy your new kitchen, we love making dreams come true!
If you are considering remodelling your kitchen, utility or boot-room, we have lots of ideas in our brochures as well as the galleries for ideas. Get in touch with us for more information
