Covid-19 has forever changed the way we handle our food. From how we buy it (eCommerce), to how we store it, and what we do in order to prepare it. While lockdown, in Sydney at least, may be lifting, these experiences won’t just be temporary, instead, they’ll have a lasting impact on how we go about our daily lives long after the coronavirus becomes second hand news.
The impact of all this on the future of kitchen design, will be more pronounced than just finding a spot for the hand sanitiser.
Here are some predictions from our leading Sydney Kitchen Design team;
- The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we buy, and handle our food.
The majority of us are now switching to online shopping which was always on-trend, but now that trend is accelerating quickly. It’s convenient, economical and offers contactless delivery – but there are usually minimum order limits, which means you tend to purchase a lot more, a lot less frequently.
Popping down to the shops has become a far greater effort, and also (if you’re older, or you have underlying health conditions) it carries much more risk.
Kitchens now need much greater fresh food storage, freezer storage and pantry space than they have ever before.
- As a result, Kitchen Space is more important now than it ever was.
Space in the Kitchen has always come at a premium, but the pandemic has meant that our kitchens have become busier than ever.
Plus, we’ve discovered that slow cooking itself can be therapeutic. Like baking sourdough to help pass the time inside and calm our monkey minds.
Both of these things mean that more of us are spending more time with more people in the Kitchen, more often.
We’ve laboured through the battle for bench space when it comes to multiple people trying to use the appliances of their choice, all at the same time.
Particularly the space near the outlets where you can plug them in becomes competitive.
Noisy devices that annoy the neighbours and wake up the kids are quickly relegated to the back of a corner cupboard where you know you’ll only bother to reach in an emergency.
Now we’re needing solutions that make use of every possible bit of kitchen space to help make sure that we reduce clutter and chaos, and give ourselves a sense of calm amidst the anarchy.
- Kitchen Designs have to become even more socially oriented, as home entertaining becomes the norm.
We all need solutions that make it easier for us to enjoy socialising at home and the living room isn’t the only place where you can play host. A well designed kitchen can be just as well equipped to be the social hub of the house.
But if you’re up for making your kitchen into your home’s new social space, you’ll need to design for it.
For example, if you’ve got a kitchen island benchtop, then make sure you include some stools or chairs and arrange them around the island to make it more like a bar area, or makeshift dining table so everyone can gather around for a chat.
- Kitchens will have to help us become more Creative as cooks, without our favourite Restaurants to rely on.
Our favourite restaurants have been closed and some of our most dependable grocery items have become unavailable, so we’ve all had to learn how to cook unfamiliar recipes that take us out of our comfort zone.
The pandemic has well and truly tested our culinary repertoires.
The Kitchens of the future will need to balance not only fashion and function but also fun.
If nothing else, the coronavirus lockdown has helped us to reconnect with our kitchens.
It’s also made us more open to investing in solutions that enable us to enjoy great tasting food at home.
While (unfortunately) it seems like Covid-19 will be with us for a while yet, it’s long term impact will mean that these pain points will have to be addressed in any modern kitchen design.
Looking into the future we’re all going to need to make our home lives more fun & social, and any good kitchen should be at the centre of that.[/vc_column_text]
