Cooking up something new with modern kitchen design
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.