Bauformat’s Open Plan Kitchens
Whether for period properties or ultra-modern apartments, the trend for open-plan kitchens is one that’s here to stay. An open plan kitchen refers to a room with both kitchen and dining area within one blended space, often functioning as one. Whether you are knocking down walls or extending an existing kitchen, an open-plan layout is practical, ergonomic and easy to work in. It’s also a great opportunity to embrace all the latest kitchen features and innovations, whether an island, bank of built-in appliances, a mix of task and feature lighting or whatever else takes your fancy…With open plan, the sky’s the limit!
Why Choose An Open Plan Kitchen Layout?
Open-plan schemes allow homeowners to create their perfect space with different activities taking place all in the same room. This allows all family members to spend time together, whether it’s preparing a midweek meal, chilling at the weekend or helping children with their homework after school. The key to a winning kitchen scheme is to zone the areas with dividing units such as a kitchen island, or with the clever use of furniture, lighting and colour scheme. The cooking area for instance can be kept to one side of the kitchen with an island, peninsula or breakfast bar in front, ensuring appliances are safely out of harm’s way for little ones. You can then create zones for dining and entertaining with a table and chairs or bench seating, sofa and TV for relaxing; you can even include a dedicated spot for home working with a desk area for your laptop.
Open Plan Kitchen Zoning Areas
If you have a large area to play with, an open-plan kitchen is perfect for today’s busy lifestyles. As you’ll see with Bauformat’s designs, open plan is key to many of its layouts and it suits classic, country, traditional, modern and contemporary interiors alike. Take the Cambridge S 550-256. This shows how effective an L-shaped sink and cooking area works with plenty of open and closed storage to one side, a split-level island for food prep and further storage in the middle of the space, as well as a dining table and chairs on the other side. It creates a practical zoned kitchen, where each activity is immediately visible, and every element complements each other.
Eating in
An open-plan kitchen also allows for different dining configurations, depending on your needs and lifestyle. You can go down the traditional route with a dining table and chairs or add in bench seating, a window seat, a banquet or booth. Bauformat’s London 466 / Berlin 454 design is a great example of how every inch of space can be used. Islands also make great breakfast bars or more formal dining with the addition of a lower-level table, as seen in the Como 555-261 / Girona S 540-453 design.
Flowing furniture
Another great thing about open-plan schemes is that you can tie the whole space together with matching furniture in the kitchen, dining and living spaces. Choose cabinets, units and dressers in the same colour and style for a completely coordinated look, or add in a different shade or finish to break up the look. This can be for your storage cupboards and drawers in the kitchen zone as well as for a media unit for the TV, set-top box, games consoles as well as any other audio/visual equipment. You could always add extra storage in between with a freestanding larder cupboard or tall, floor-to-ceiling storage. Bauformat’s Cambridge S 550-249 / 248 is a great example.
Light fantastic
Another key idea for open-plan kitchens is to plan your lighting carefully. Use a mix of overhead spots and pendant lights for task lights over worksurfaces and dining areas and layer the effect with feature or ambient lighting elsewhere. Cabinets and cupboards can be backlit or illuminated inside, which is stunning for glass fronts, while under-shelf and under-cabinet lights, plinth lights and extractors with illuminated displays will all create the perfect ambience after dark. Bauformat’s lighting systems are dimmable and adjustable so there’s something to suit every space. Check out the Lightbridge solution, that doubles as a splashback on an island sink, the Malindi recessed LED, which can be vertically integrated into kitchen carcases, and the Up & Down LED strip, which shines both up and down.
The Benefits of Open Plan Kitchens
· Open-plan kitchens allow all family members to integrate together, as different activities can all take place in the same room.
· It’s also a great layout for entertaining, as guests can sit and chat while you cook, as well as relax after dining.
· These schemes are often light-filled and airy, as walls are knocked down or the kitchen is extended with roof lights and/or glass doors leading onto the garden.
· Open-plan allows you to co-ordinate the design with matching furniture throughout the space.
· Plus, it’s easy to zone areas by a clever use of lighting, furnishings and colour schemes.
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