Conscious design begins with a plan

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Balance is the cornerstone of a luxury kitchen

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Kitchens have long been the heart of a home, but they have played an even bigger role amid the pandemic. Add a wider variety of appliances and finishes than ever before and there is a lot to consider when designing a kitchen.

“Starting with a plan is essential. People kind of dive into it and feel overwhelmed by what really is the most important space in your home, ”says Ali Budd, president and creative director of Ali Budd Interiors in Toronto.

She joined Aleem Kassam, director of Kalu Interiors in Vancouver, C. End devices.

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The designers emphasized the importance of mindfulness when it comes to creating multifunctional, balanced and uncluttered physical experiences.

Multifunctional spaces

Budd thinks the kitchen triangle – placing the cooktop, sink, and refrigerator close together – is helpful. Materials “not only beautiful and extraordinarily functional” are also essential to a multifunctional kitchen.

With a huge range of appliances available today, including convection ovens, steam ovens, warming drawers, wine fridges, and built-in coffeemakers, it’s important to think about how you cook and entertain.

An integrated beverage center, for example, allows customers to congregate in that area and help themselves, Kassam explains. Plug-and-play appliances that allow a custom cover to be installed on the front or front of the appliance that matches the rest of the cabinets provide a streamlined alternative to a sea of ​​stainless steel, he adds. The demand for smart or WiFi enabled devices continues to grow.

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Create a balance

Balance is the lifeblood of design, but people are more aware of its importance in these stressful times, says Kassam. He likes to repeat colors, materials and finishes throughout the house to create a “sense of cohesion and balance”.

For Budd, creating a balance is primarily a matter of scale and proportion. When these things are wrong, even a nicely decorated room will “feel bad.” In her own kitchen, she wanted the biggest fridge-freezer possible, but didn’t want it to take over the space. His solution? Ready-to-use columnar appliances that would blend in with the rest of the cabinetry and allow the dual cooker to be the star of the show.

Customers may not know to ask for ‘zones’, but it’s the responsibility of the designer to make sure there is a place for everything – from dishes to cleaning supplies, says Budd. . In its own kitchen, the pantry is located next to the column refrigerators, creating a food zone, while the pots and pans are tucked away on either side of the stove, creating a cooking zone.

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Clean design

If you have ever experienced buyer’s regrets after purchasing an item that attracted you but did not suit your home, Kassam recommends that you pick one or two themes to guide your choices, such as culture, style, a color or a metal. to end.

“In my particular space, I wanted to use a lot of natural materials, colors and finishes, things with an amber tint and darker coppers and brasses,” he says. “It helped me remove items that wouldn’t work in my space. It’s about choosing a theme, sticking to it and not getting confused.

When it comes to displaying your items, Cohen is a fan of open shelving, but believes they need to be used “thoughtfully and thoughtfully” to make your business tell a story.

“There has to be a relationship between all the props you show. You have some metal in one room and you want to feed it into another room, ”she says.

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Cohen also encourages homeowners to be careful with the placement of mirrors. Hanging one that reflects an open shelf, for example, will double the clutter.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be minimalist. “This doesn’t mean that your space has to be clinical or sparse, but every object you bring in and introduce into the design has to be something that has beauty, sentimental value or function or that simply adds value to your design. space. Kassam said. In his own kitchen, he incorporated floating shelves to accommodate cookbooks, houseplants and flowers to soften the industrial look of the range.

Designer tip

When working with an interior designer, communicate visually by sharing images of the look you want to achieve and avoid the risk of your message getting lost in translation. “What I think is modern may not be modern for you,” says Ali Budd of Ali Budd Interiors in Toronto.
Even if you’re tackling the project on your own, start by getting a good idea of ​​what you like and what you don’t like. Don’t worry about matching things like metals. Instead, focus on items that complement each other, like you would when wearing jewelry, she says.