Don’t call it a kitchen

The home trend of ‘living and cooking areas’ all merging into one.

THE days when the smoke- and grime-filled kitchen was kept well away from the living area may be long gone, but the rooms have remained separate physically and in the mind.

Now these two spaces are moving closer together, with interior designers and furniture manufacturers coordinating for a unified look in a new cooking, eating and living zone, as can be seen at Milan’s Salone del Mobile interior design show.

“The areas for cooking, eating and relaxing are in principle cast from the same mould,” says Volker Irle, head of the German industry group Modern Kueche.

Kitchen cabinets and wall cabinets in the living room were once designed in totally different ways, but now they differ little. In both cases handles are out, and doors are opened with a light push, and glass-fronted display cabinets have moved next to the cooker. The key idea is to have the hob, sink and utensils disappear when it’s time to eat. Worktops vanish behind sliding doors or under sliding table tops.

At the Milan show, Veneta Cucine has hidden an additional worktop behind a cupboard door, and Effe’ti has its worktop with hob disappear under a sliding table top.

The new Oasi kitchen by Aran Cucine is similar, being convertible into dining table or cooking unit at will. An unusual touch is the tree growing in the middle.

In a place were living, eating and cooking are combined, it’s important that everything that reminds us of work disappears behind doors and under tops. Some manufactures even have wall sockets vanish, so that when not needed for the blender, they are removed to disappear into a drawer.

The company Leicht has gone a step further – its new interior design idea taking in the entire interior. Leicht’s cupboards can be used as storage, as work area or even as seating niche.

Dining areas have for some time been completely absorbed into the kitchen. Scarcely any kitchens were shown in Milan without a dining function as well, with even long tables being integrated. This has compelled manufacturers to rethink kitchen design. Alongside the compact kitchen island, long free-standing units can often be seen, with one side serving as dining table. The shapes vary from L, via T to Y and even U. — dpa

— Photos: dpa In a new combined space for living, eating and cooking, it’s important that everything that reminds us of work disappears behind doors and under tops. Kitchen cabinets and wall cabinets in the living room were once designed in totally different ways,...

The new kitchen and living space concept from Leicht creates a room within a room with the placing of the kitchen island.

Veneta Cucine hides a further countertop behind sliding doors.