Cooking up something new with modern kitchen design
For Nov. 30
Maria Endah Hulupi The Jakarta Post Jakarta
It's no longer enough to have a well-organized kitchen to accommodate basic functions for cooking and preparation of meals.
There is a growing awareness that the kitchen, like the people who use it, is a dynamic space, with the ability to change and, sometimes, needing a bit of freshening up.
The means customizing and "growing" the kitchen, even with limited space, and proper planning is essential to help plans become a reality.
Prita Marahimin, procurement manager from Tristen William culinary wares boutique and cabinetry systems, said that a functional kitchen should accommodate main activities -- preparation, washing area (sink), working surface, cooking (stove and oven) and storage (cabinets, drawers and pullouts) for all the cooking utensils.
Those functions can be accommodated in an L-shaped or U-shaped kitchen with a minimum space of 2 x 2.5 meters.
"Actually, we can create alternative kitchen designs to fit the shape of a particular space," said Prita, who is also a designer with the newly launched boutique on Jl. Ampera Raya, Pejaten Barat, South Jakarta, specializing in cabinet systems for kitchen and wardrobe.
Whether it is a modern or a country-style kitchen, basically any design can be built to match the owner's lifestyle or tastes.
To ensure a well-organized kitchen, ideally it should be equipped with a cabinetry system.
"This system enables a kitchen to grow since it can be conveniently adjusted to accommodate additional functions," Prita said.
For young couples, a kitchen with basic functions may be enough but once their family has grown in number, or they need additional functions -- like a wine cooler or a dishwasher -- kitchens with a cabinetry system are easily adjusted.
Each drawer in a kitchen cabinet system is equipped with drawer management hardware to separate the drawer in several compartments for easy and efficient storing of various items, like cooking utensils, cutlery, food/provisions, dining plates and bottles.
"This will ensure optimal use of storage space and easy access to each of the kitchen utensils during cooking. And since equipment, provisions and bottles have their own spaces, they can be easily reached," said Som P. Santoso, the boutique's director.
He also stressed the convenience that a customized and functional kitchen system offers.
"It is especially helpful during religious holidays when most servants leave for their hometowns and house owners have to prepare meals on their own. They won't have a hard time finding any cooking equipment."
A kitchen design, Prita said, was best built by using standardized modular kitchen cabinets.
"Besides offering easy cabinet arrangement and relocation or rearrangement whenever needed, such a modular cabinet will ensure optimal use of the kitchen space. Any space left can be covered using space filler."
For a small kitchen, priorities should be given to the basic functions, but a more spacious kitchen can also accommodate a larger storage area, an island and a separate dining area.
Another important aspect to consider is arranging the functions in a successive flow -- from preparation to cooking -- to assure smooth and easy movement in the kitchen.
"Common mistakes people make when creating a kitchen is they concentrate more on artistic aspects, but often ignore the flow of activities in the kitchen area."
As for maintenance, Prita said that because of the corrosive quality of water in Jakarta, it was advisable to immediately wipe dry any spills before they leave a stain on kitchen surfaces.
"Besides wiping, it is also important to regularly take care the kitchen materials, such as by using the right cleaning solutions for the sink or the wooden cabinet."
For lighting, apart from using functional lighting to provide adequate illumination in the cooking area, indirect, soft-tone lights can also be installed, like in the dining area, to create a different ambience.