Nautical Cooking

 A galley kitchen usually consists of two rows of units divided by an essential corridor.  These can be difficult to work with but there are a few tricks you can use. So how do you design a galley kitchen?

The first essential feature is a corridor that's wide enough!  The minimum is considered to be 1.4m. You may believe that you could cope with less but remember you need space to open unit and appliance doors, and you may well need to have two people squeezing passed each other. So 1.4m minimum it is.

Plan in that magic kitchen triangle, an imaginary triangle formed between the sink, cooker and fridge.  You need to check that all three are easy to reach while also allowing room between them to work. Remember you'll need food preparation space next to the hob and never place the cooker, hob or sink within 40cm of a corner or behind a doorway.

As galley kitchens tend to be smallish, plan in plenty of kitchen storage. It's a good idea to speak to your local kitchen designers at Kitchen Solutions Kent  as there are many clever ideas to increase storage space. Innovations include skinny larder units which pull out and then rotate 90 degrees on their axis to make it easy to pick the can or bottle you want. Other helpers are extendable baskets within units, corner units with carousels or pull-out shelves so you can easily reach items at the back, and drawers fitted into the plinth below the units.

If space is really tight bear in mind that small is both beautiful and practical.  Many manufacturers now provide multi-function or half size appliances.  Go for sleek hobs and narrow fridges and freezers. A cooker hood is all the more important in a limited space so get your designer to work out the power you need from it, based on the volume of the room.

A touch of class is always welcome.  Add some luxury with finishes in stone, glass, steel or sleek Corian.  Using the same material for the worktop and splashback is a match made in heaven but coloured glass can have a spectacular effect.   If you do introduce colour limit your choice to one vibrant hue, adding multiple coulours in a small space can easily be an overkill.

And finally maximise daylight!  This is vital in a small room and will help it feel larger, however small the initial space..

Kitchen Design: Where To Begin

Your kitchen could well be the room where your family meet and engage most often, or just a small cooking facility! Whatever roll your kitchen fulfills it must be efficient, comfortable and beautiful for it is central to your familiy life and needs careful consideration when it's up for change.

So what should you consider when contemplating a kitchen change?  Well, we at Kitchen Solutions Kent feel you should consider a few basic points before you begin.

Firstly you need to assess your kitchen needs.  At this stage, remember it is your kitchen and the advice of others, while helpful and interesting, will not have contemplated the same needs, likes and loves as you.  So chat with your family, and friends extensively, but do speak to professionals whose first step is not to talk but to listen.

Don't worry if you feel bewildered at this time.  Everyone does. Kitchens are complex and no one design fits all.  Look at as many displays, photographs and brochures as you can and keep pictures or notes of things you like.

Remember, set your budget, establish your essentials and note how you really live.  Be honest with yourself.  While a state of the art oven may sound ideal, if it's not going to be used to it's full potential then a saving here could release that budget for something that really lightens your kitchen life.  Be sure you have fun thinking things through and involve all of your family. They will all have needs from the kitchen.

One essential tip to remember is the kitchen triangle.  Efficiency experts have noted that a natural pathway exists in any kitchen between fridge, oven and sink. This natural pathway forms the heart of your kitchen and while it's sides need not be equal, it is always present.  Consider this natural affinity and try to imagine how you would move around it and, in some kitchens,  what distances you would cover!

Also make sure your design includes counterspace next to the open side of the fridge for standing those bags of shopping, as well as plenty of heat and wet resistant counterspace on both sides of the hob and sink for landing of heavy, hot, or slippery cookware.

Big or small, most efficient kitchen designs fall into one of a few basic arrangements. L shape kitchens have one long "leg" housing two of the three basic appliances and one short "leg" housing the other. U shape kitchens have two "legs" and a connecting "middle leg", while G shape kitchens are L or U shaped with an added peninsula partly separating the work area from an adjoining space.  Finally, galley-shape kitchens often have the hob and sink on one wall, the fridge on the other, and a walkway in between.

Whoever you seek advice from, though, always remember they should be "listening".  No two kitchens are the same and your needs are unique.  A good kitchen designer doesn't tell you the latest craze but listens to you talk about your kitchen life and designs it around you. 

Little things will give the game away.  So if they ask if you're left or right handed, feel assured ... they are looking to put the draining board on the correct side of the sink for you!

German Kitchen Design Tips

Whenever you are looking for a modern German kitchen you'll want to create the most effective potential design that's delivered promptly and within budget. These 3 design tips may arm your kitchen planner with the right information so they're able to advise you and deliver the best possible design for your particular needs.

There are 3 crucially significant things one should weigh over;

Illumination – What sort of lighting ought you to consider? Storage – How much do you require? Purpose – What's the primary function for your kitchen?

After scanning this article you'll be in a much more favourable position to achieve the kitchen design of your dreams. Let’s consider those important points in a bit more detail.

The function and form of your kitchen is exceedingly individual to you. Are you the sort of person who wants to entertain mates each weekend or do you favor something a little more intimate. It is wise to consider when you will be utilising your kitchen and what for. Commonly there are 3 work areas in the majority of kitchens, preparation, cooking and cleaning or sink area. Additionally many kitchens will have a serving up or dining area. Thinking about these details may make a difference in the plan and layout as will ones storage requirements.

Storage room has become much more than merely an afterthought particularly when it pertains to German designed kitchens. Whenever you spend any measure of time looking at German design you'll come to recognise that ergonomics are all important. The aim here is to allow for outstanding practical storage space and concurrently to deliver style and great aesthetics.

You'll need storage for things like cookery utensils, pots and pans and they should be placed adjacent to the range in order that they are handy during cooking.

Kitchen drawers and kitchen units may be improved with specialised organisers that make better usage of space and store everything neat and tidy. Talk to your designer regarding the diverse types of materials that are now obtainable.

Expert utilisation of Illumination in a kitchen can create a monumental difference to the whole space. There are 2 fundamental sorts of lighting to chew over.

Task lighting in food prep regions is evidently essential however so is Illumination within kitchen cabinets. Incidental or ambient lighting will help produce the right climate. If you have a dining table in the kitchen it is sometimes a beneficial idea to have a dimmer switch, this will help to maintain the illumination a bit gentler and give a nice atmosphere as you desire.

Now that you understand these 3 tips you can assist your designer in furnishing you a with cracking kitchen and one which you'll be proud of. One final detail, please provide a budget. Kitchens come in all types of sizes, materials and equipment levels. Having a budget can ensure you obtain the best optimised design and will save a lot of time in the long run

German Kitchen Cabinet Quality

Here is a reminder of the quality of the German kitchens available at Kitchen Solutions Kent.
The cabinets they supply are from Nobilia and they are completely factory assembled.

Each kitchen unit is supplied in one cardboard box, complete with doors, drawers and internal fixtures already assembled. The handle holes are pre-drilled at the factory to comply with the choice of handle the customer has specified. The adjustable feet are pre set to a determined height at exactly the mid point of the 2.5cm adjustment available.

All of this goes to explain why fitting a German kitchen from Nobilia is significantly quicker, cleaner and more cost effective than the products supplied by other kitchen manufactures. You open a box, position the cabinet against the wall, open another box and position that cabinet next to the previous one and clamp them together. Continue to do this until you have completed the length of that wall and then level the units using a spirit level and the adjustable feet. Screw the kitchen cabinets together and then fix them to the wall.

This is not over simplifying the skill and work required to fit a kitchen, after all there is still the plumbing, electrics, worktops cornice, pelmet etc to fit and a high degree of skill is required of the kitchen fitter. However further assistance from Nobilia is available in the form of factory cut mitres for kitchen worktops, cornice and pelmet so one can easily see that from both a kitchen fitter and a kitchen buyers point of view, the installation suddenly becomes much quicker and significantly cleaner, if mitre saws and routers, are not required to be used as much in the householders kitchen.

So save time, money and cleaning bills next time you change your kitchen. Fit one from Nobilia supplied by Kitchen Solutions Kent.

Kitchen Storage - Uber Organisation.

So, is your kitchen disorganised, lacking space. Do you have to squat down to access those awkward kitchen corner cupboards? Nowdays we live in a world of ever increasing kitchen gadgets, must have pots and pans, toasters, breadmakers, waffle machines, juice extractors - the list is endless. We also have to act as part time dustmen, sperating our waste into different colour bags and bins. No wonder there seems to be a lack of storage space in all but the biggest of kitchens.

Well, at Kitchen Solutions Kent we have some kitchen storage ideas that make the most of the available space in your kitchen and help to organise all of those must have, must do things that go on in kitchens these days.

How about an under sink recycling unit that helps with that waste separation. This unit sits in a drawer that runs right down to floor level meaning the space behind the plinth is fully utalised.



These pull out shelves bring the contents of you corner cupboard right out into the kitchen for ease of access. This means you can store more than the old roasting trays and stuff that you probably have there now - and need to retrieve from the gap between the units that they continually fall into.




Or how about organising all of your crockery into one handy drawer unit with our variable organiser.



All of these storage units come completely factory assembled from our german kitchen supplier Nobilia. For more kitchen storage ideas visit our website.