The kitchen is changing – how do you use yours?

The way we use the kitchen is evolving. This is a room that has long been the hub of the home, but it has recently taken on even more of a central role, as homeowners have been reconnecting with the space and spending more time at home. This has meant there has been more time to enjoy great tasting, home cooked meals and for spending together with our closest family members.

If you are planning a kitchen revamp, it is important to think about how you will be wanting to make best use of it before making a start. Here, we look at some of the ways the way we use the kitchen has changed recently. How many can you identify with?

• We’re cooking more – People are dining out less than they used to and the popularity of TV programmes such as the Great British Bake Off and MasterChef have made a lot of us keen cooks. Homeowners are opting for bigger appliances and for tech that would more often be found in a professional kitchen, to keep food fresher for longer and save on those supermarket trips, and also means more worktop space is required for food preparation. If this is you, then it is important to make sure the work surfaces in the key areas of the kitchen are hardwearing, scratch and stain resistant.

• We’re working from home more – the kitchen now often doubles up as a home office, with laptops, tablets and smart phones all needing to be plugged in to keep us connected. Surfaces are therefore being used differently, sometimes as a makeshift desk and there is a need for more sockets and access to cables for connectivity.

• Staying in is the new going out – catching up with friends and family has been a long time coming, and entertaining at home is now much more of a priority for many of us. This means the kitchen needs to be designed to have a good balance of functional and fun, with the chef brought centre stage courtesy of appliances integrated into an island unit perhaps, with seating for guests and a good lighting system that incorporates adequate task lighting for cooking with something more ambient for when the socialising is in full swing. Wine coolers, beer fridges and even cocktail cabinets are all increasingly being chosen for the kitchen, and making space for one or all of these is something of a must if entertaining at home is something you enjoy.

• Focus on hygiene – the need to keep kitchen surfaces clean has always been important, but perhaps now even more so. Choosing a material that is simple to wipe clean with a regular anti-bacterial spray and a damp cloth is a must. CRL Quartz is an ideal option here, think about those regular touch points and high traffic areas of the kitchen – how easy are they to keep clean? Are there lots of joint lines where dirt and germs can gather or would it be better to opt for a surface in an extra-large slab format to reduce this?

For more ideas and inspiration ahead of your kitchen redesign visit our photo gallery.