Integral Parts Of A Fully Functional Kitchen
Kitchen is not an individual unit! It has a lot of integral parts that make it a perfect haven. Let’s see ways to accommodate the various parts, to optimise the available kitchen space and enhance the aesthetics!
Sink
It is ideal to locate the stove and sink in two ends of the countertop. This will ensure that both are functional and convenient to use at same time. Preferably, locate the sink near windows to eliminate odours quickly. Though granite sinks are aesthetically pleasing, a stainless steel sink is easy to maintain under the hard water conditions. It is ideal to have a sink with drain lock.
In our opinion, a double sink is not necessarily needed for Indian households. It kind of constrains the available counter space inside the kitchen. On the other hand, you can choose any sink style if you are going to have it in the utility area with a vessel drying rack.
Baskets
Baskets are versatile. They help you neatly organise your vessels, and keep everything organised. Here are a few helpful tips to get the best out of your basket choices.
- Always make space provisions for hob upgrades.
- Keep your cutlery basket wider your cutlery collection is going to expand over time
- Make sure your thali basket is sufficient to accommodate your biggest plate. You can also have necessary partition to keep other vessels in same basket
- Check Bottle pullout rack height.
- Check if tandem boxes are kept at appropriate height to accommodate bigger kadais and cookers
- Customize the wicker baskets according to your dry storage capacity and size of the counter.
- If you are going to have a magic corner in your countertop, kindly keep in mind that you will only have 3/4th of the space as usable space. Same is applicable to the W drawers at the corners.
- Its best to keep rice drum or long-term storage items in corners
- Plan space for your dosa roti tawas and chapati rolling base and pin.
Appliances
Ahh appliances!! We can’t live without them, can we?! They have simplified life multifold. Few common appliances are,
- Fridge
- Mixier
- Grinder
- Induction stove
- Chimney
- OTG
- Hob
- Blender
- Sandwich grill/toaster
- Dishwasher
- Chopper
As most modular kitchens are designed to accommodate appliances, get 16 amps and 5 amps provisions installed. Let practicality guide you when you plan the space for appliances. For example, it is Ideal to keep OTG ovens on counter top as items taken out will be extremely hot, and need a stable place to rest on. In case you have no plans to put OTG on counters, you have to plan the space for a OTG stand.
Chimney
Chimneys are like dark chocolate! Few love them and few think they are not needed. Some prefer the traditional exhaust fan. Anyways, there are 3 kinds of set-ups that can be made to keep your kitchen free of fumes and smoke.
- Physical structural chimney
- Exhaust fan
- Electrical chimney installation
In recent times, most houses have 2 kitchens – one being used for more oily food preparations and the other for lite work.
In the active kitchen, you can have a physical chimney hood (pogai koondu) above the stove. The major drawback is the wasted space, as it is an elaborate fitting with tiles and exhaust set-up above. On the other hand, if the exhaust fan alone is fitted, the oily fumes travel up and stick to the walls and tiles. Over a period of time, the interiors and appliances get dirty.
Electrical chimneys effectively sucks up all oil and fumes, and make the environment fresh and free from smoke.
Choosing the chimney that best suits your need
Size
Choose the chimney size to suit your stove size. As it is a one time investment, consider going for 3 feet, 3 filter models.
Capacity
The first point to keep in mind while considering chimney choices is the ‘suction capacity’ – naturally this depends on your cooking frequency and set-up.
If you have an open kitchen or diner-attached kitchen, we would suggest around 1000 m³/hour suction (especially for non-vegetarian and deep fry cooking)
You might be rooting for a ‘Auto Clean Model’ – even this requires periodic cleaning every fortnight or month (again, based on frequency of cooking)
A 3D chimney is stylish and versatile! Especially suits island kitchen set-up.
Noise level
This is another major thing to consider when choosing a chimney. Ensure the noise is less than 50 decibel. Ensure that your outlet pipe is not too long (to reach outer air)
Easy cleaning
Don’t choose chimneys with a mesh filter. Choosing the model with a baffle filter is ideal for self cleaning.
Hob and Gas pipeline
Here I choose to give you insights about why a concealed gas pipeline is best for stove or fitted hob. This is the best solution to avoid drilling holes in your countertop.
You might wonder why! If you or your maid clean vessels in the sink, water might get into the counter top hole. The frequent dampness might cause damage. A simple valve control on the gas pipeline will easily convert the gas flow when you change from stove to hob or vice versa.
Counter top
You might be amazed at the choice of kitchen slabs available in the market.
| Material | Granite | Marble | Quartz | Kadappa |
| Availability | Natural stone | Natural stone | Machine Made | Natural stone |
| Strength | Stronger | Strong | Strong | Strongest |
| Colour | More options | Stunning than anything | More options | Only Black |
| Cost | 80-1000/sqft | 500-2000sqft | 700-3000/sqft | 30-80/sqft |
| Heat Resistance | Yes | Yes | No,On high heat it melts and causes burnt marks | Yes |
| Pattern | Random | Random but stunning patterns | Uniform patterns | No pattern |
| Polishing | Possible | Possible | Matt polished | Doesn’t make much difference |
| Stain Resistance | Yes, Don’t penetrate | Yes, but Penetrates if not cleaned for longer period | More prone to stains, turmeric penetrates easily | No difference |
| Sealing | Required | Required | No need of sealing, you get jointless shapes according to your space | Required |
| Scratch Resistance | Yes | Acidic substances and harsh cleaners can cause damage | On high heat it melts and causes burnt marks | Yes |
| Best suited for | Kitchen counter | Kitchen counter | Serving counter | Gardening shelves |
Wooden countertops are beautiful and ideal to avoid spreading microbes. But, it needs high quality maintenance to avoid discoloration and damage.
Whatever your kitchen counter type, please don’t break coconut on it, then none will guarantee its life.
As per survey, majority(more than 70%) of the people use black countertops that are made up of granite. Only 8% of people who use white countertop are happy that they made right choice, and are able to maintain it. But 10% of the people who use white countertop felt that they made wrong choice, and do not recommend it to others.
We hope you got an idea about the important factors you need to consider when designing a fully functional kitchen.
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