Whether you are living in a listed cottage with space limitations or a grand, period townhouse, you are sure to have bundles of charm in your home. So, whether you’re a culinary extraordinaire or more into the social side of entertaining, a contemporary kitchen means you can have it all, stylishly blending modernity into your traditional home. But what should you consider when designing a modern kitchen for traditional home?
Traditional and period homes often have rooms with unusual dimensions. This can make designing a modern kitchen in traditional home slightly tricky, but there’s no reason you can’t benefit from the best of both worlds. It’s your choice how large you want to make your renovation project, for example, many townhouse kitchens showcase their fantastic high ceilings and install skylights to let in even more light or extend out onto a patio, installing by-folding doors. This can turn your dark, galley style kitchen (more popular in Victorian properties) into a stylish, modern space that is bright and welcoming.
For a modern kitchen in traditional home that looks flawless, it is best to have a professional kitchen designer measure and custom-create your space. Professional designers will be able to maximise every inch of available space, whilst still showing off the charming characteristics of your property.
A professional kitchen designer will also be able to ensure the whole design is installed flawlessly. An easy way to achieve the modern kitchen aesthetic is to ensure it is completely streamlined. You can choose handleless cabinets (or inset handles) and ensure they are floor to ceiling with base boards and side panels designed to cover any unusual or interrupting dimensions.
Cabinets are often the main feature in a kitchen as they take up the majority of the space. To achieve a harmonious modern kitchen in traditional home, it will be important to consider the style of the cabinet fronts. You could opt to juxtapose the styles with high gloss doors or choose bevelled, timeless kitchen fronts. The latter option is more likely to absorb the light, whilst anything glossy or shiny will reflect the sun.
Depending on the light available in your space, you might want to be careful with the colour choice for your cabinetry or tiling. Dark colours can start to feel claustrophobic if they are overbearing. Fortunately, a popular trend in contemporary kitchen design is two-tone cabinets. If the darker, coloured or wooden panels are used for the base cabinets and you choose light colours for the mounted cupboards that coordinate well with the ceiling and wall colours (white is recommended), you can achieve an illusion that draws the eye upwards. This will make the room feel so much bigger without forgoing on any storage.
The shape and style of your kitchen will determine what you can showcase. There are features that will be able to show off the nuances of your traditional home even in a modern design. If you have the space available, you might consider a kitchen island. Islands are considered luxurious and can achieve an extremely elegant aesthetic, perfect for blending a modern kitchen with a traditional home.
Pantries are also a long lost but much-loved feature of modern kitchens. If you have the space available, pantries are extremely useful to hide appliances that cannot be integrated. The are extremely practical and keep workspaces clear of clutter, working to achieve the clean lines of a contemporary kitchen design.
For more information on how to achieve your dream modern kitchen in traditional home, get in touch with Lambert Welch Kitchens.