5 Beautiful Yet Functional Design Tips for Your Kitchen in 2017

5 Beautiful Yet Functional Design Tips for Your Kitchen in 2017

The kitchen, back in my grandparents’ era, is the most important part of the home. In the Peranakan culture, the kitchen is also known as ‘The Heart of the House’. While modern couples may not utilize the kitchen with the same frequency and enthusiasm their parents did, the kitchen still remains as one of the most important part of the home when it comes to design. You can’t get into an impromptu romantic swing dance routine in the kitchen without breaking some crockeries. But – hey – if that’s your kind of thing, I’m totally supportive of that.

The topic I’m exploring today is on 5 features you must consider when designing a beautiful yet functional kitchen for your new home in 2017.

(Picture by M3 Studio)

The kitchen island! That’s on most people’s wish list but how can we make that option feasible in a HDB kitchen? The best option would be to break down the wall between the kitchen and the dining area and have the kitchen island double up as the barrier between both rooms. The kitchen island is great for mingling with friends while having a glass of wine of if you need to prepare a quick snack.

Another interior design secret I’m going to share with you is The Work Triangle. The triangle should allow the chef to have easy access to the stove, the sink and the refrigerator without obstruction. That path forms a triangle. If you plan your kitchen design following The Work Triangle rule, you would be able to fit a spouse and a pet cat in the kitchen and work together in harmony.

So you got a beautifully designed cabinet and you marvel at your choice of material selection, then you start to unpack your groceries and grandma’s delicate Chinaware, and that’s when you realize the horror of horrors. The cabinet doors clash with adjacent doors and walls and some are even poised in angles that are accidents waiting to happen.

(Picture by M3 Studio)

When designing your kitchen, think about every door and how you’ll use them. Your concept drawings should include the geometry of appliance doors. This includes the swing of the refrigerator doors, the cabinets in their open position, and any other key operations like drawers and dishwasher door. While there will definitely be overlapping areas, the idea is to plan which doors will be operational at which part of the process.

The sink, rubbish bin and dishwasher should be situated close together. Many people may not consider this relation until its too late. The design of a kitchen should consider the convenience of cleaning up after a meal. Ideally you want to have these things out of sight but yet situated close enough to the dining area.

(Picture by M3 Studio)

And for my final and probably the most important tip – food preparation space. Never underestimate the space you require. The space you will require and the material of your kitchen top will differ with your ethnic group. Western meals generally require more surface space than oriental meals. Oriental meals, usually piping hot when served would do better with a more resilient kitchen top. Indian food, with its sauces and spice, will require even more space.

If all these points sounds really confusing, just remember one thing: Your lifestyle should determine the functionality of your kitchen, not the other way around. Come talk to your friendly designers at M3 and we would be happy to factor all these considerations in your design so you don’t have to worry.

‘Walking along The Alley’ by M3 Studio

‘Walking along The Alley’ by M3 Studio

We have seen an increasing trend in current times circling around the Scandinavian and Industrial themes, giving birth to a whole new concept called ‘Scandustrial’. Although this theme does give a very good balance between raw and refined looks, M3 Studio wanted to evolve the ‘Scandustrial’ theme to a whole new level.

Singaporeans love to travel and we are well-known for that. Many of us walk down the streets of Berlin, Amsterdam, Istanbul for example and marvel at the culture of the architecture lining along these very streets. So why not have such an experience in the comfort of your own home as well? By taking our travel experiences around the world into account, we created a ‘Street-Style’ theme within a home.

So what goes into a Street-Style themed home? We wanted to re-create the essence of being on the road therefore we decided to create a ceiling with lane markings to represent the road and used lights to illuminate the lane markings at night. Having a road above you is something totally fresh isn’t it? It was an awesome thought and we were very determined even though we were unsure as to how to really make it work.

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We also gave careful thought to wall treatment and thought of traditional brickwork to lay along as we walk and cement screeding to represent the pavements where we step onto our journey. As you enter the house you are greeted by a never-ending long brickwall on a cement screeded paved floor. We then got a bolt of insipiration by putting a letter-box along the wall as we have all probably come across while walking around in different countries. We even got the letter box to be bright red in colour to represent how they used to be. A bit of nostalgic input in there.

road & brickwork

So we have inculcated elements of roads, brickwalls, pavements and even a letter-box into our design. What’s more? To amp it up further, we even used some cement blocks that were unfinished and lined them up to form a partition for the Dining Area. We also painted the bomb shelter door a fire-red colour to represent a fire-escape door!!

fire door & blocks

With all the elements in play, together with strategic furnishings and decorations, we managed to give birth to a whole new theme that is not often seen yet, especially here in Singapore.

Peranakan Patterns!!

Peranakan Patterns!!

The interior design scene is constantly on the move and evolving with new trends and styles popping up all over the nation. Geometric Peranakan patterns was all a craze in the 1970s and they have come back with a bang, encassing many a homes with their retro and colourful touches. But you might be wondering why are these so popular nowadays?

M3 gives the low-down on the current pattern styles;

  1. Visually Appealing

Peranakan patterns by themselves are really visually appealing as they are full of colour and vibrancy. Paired with simple saturated walls around, they can really shine out as the wonderful feature and a conversational piece among you and your peers.

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2. Emotional Feels

Being so colourful and vibrant, one cannot deny that these patterns tend to give a sense of happiness and playfulness to an otherwise subtle-toned home. In some cases they do tell us that the home owners possess a fun side to their character and it’s not always just about work, work and work.

3. Remnants of our past

Many of us grew up remembering the good old times and there is no reason why you can’t relive those memories through your home/space designs. Geometric patterns are very much associated with the older Peranakan culture as you can evidently see them in many Peranakan tiles design. A simple touch of nostalgia always brings a smile to our faces as we remember how it used to be. Many home owners nowadays still relate to this as we progress forward into modern times.

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How to apply these patterns?

These patterns should be more of an accent role. If a room was full of pattern, it would be over-powering and messy. You will not be able to rest your eyes at all. They should be lined in as a feature or even encompassed into everyday items or furniture such a pillow cushions, sofa rugs or little decor items.

This article is written by Montie Mahtani, Creative Director of M3 Studio.

Go BIG on small spaces

Go BIG on small spaces

Space is a truly scarce commodity in Singapore with many units, HDB or condo, being small. Many home owners are delighted upon obtaining a home however when they get the keys and first visit, many are disappointed on how small their new place is compared to the floor plan.

However a small space doesn’t mean an impossible space. You can maximize the most of any space with proper planning and knowing your limitations. Speaking to a professional Interior Designer would help you to understand what you want and need and how to go about to achieving that.

Here are some tips on how to design your small space.

1) Firstly, know what you want and need. You need to understand the smaller things that may have a bearing on your layout and design as well. For example would be the number of people staying there, any young children or old folks.

2) Although floor space may be limited, wall space is pretty abundant so design more on the walls to enhance to feel and look of the place. Wall features and wall décor such as paintings, photo frames etc etc are a great way to enable the design to reflect the personality and character of the home owner.

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3) Mirrors and glass help to reflect direct and indirect light so use that where possible to provide an illusion of space. However do take care where you place your mirrors because although you want to reflect more light in, you don’t want the glare from the sun so knowing where the sun rises and sets in relation to your home is important.

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4) Integrated design. Custom build items that help to provide more than one function to maximise the usage. For example, using a bay window and converting to a book shelf or study table.

Just another helpful article from M3 Studio. 🙂

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