Learn from the pros

Plykea co-founders Tim and Adam offer their top tips for planning your kitchen…

WALL CUPBOARDS VS OPEN SHELVING

Kitchens benefit from high wall units to give a greater sense of space, but more and more we’re seeing a move away from standard cupboards. Today, kitchens tend to be open-plan, sociable places to relax and unwind in – a pleasure to be in even if you’re not cooking! It’s tempting to fill the walls with wall cupboards to ‘hide’ everything away, but floating shelves or a row of open box shelving allows you to embellish the room with your favourite books, utilitarian objects or plants. Our Ürtil units with sliding doors are a popular alternative to wall cupboards because they feel like a piece of custom furniture.

INTEGRATE, INTEGRATE, INTEGRATE!

Ever looked at a glossy picture of a kitchen and thought, ‘I love it! But where’s the toaster? Where’s the kettle?’ See the mantra above! Declutter electrical items and integrate appliances where possible. This will make your kitchen feel less like a kitchen and more like a pleasant place to hang out when it’s not in full swing.

EXTRACTOR HOODS

Extractor hoods are slowly becoming obsolete due to the rise in popularity of downward extraction. Unless your extractor hood is an ornamental feature, hide it away by integrating it into a high cupboard – or do away with it completely by venting out cooking pollutants at source with a Bora hob.

AMERICAN FRIDGE-FREEZERS

Lots of customers ask to integrate these shiny monoliths into their design. Unless you’re wedded to the idea, our advice is always to fully integrate a full-height fridge and combine with an undercounter freezer elsewhere.

DRAWERS ALL THE WAY

Drawers are much more functional than cupboards, and hidden drawers from Ikea allow you to keep the fronts looking more uniform.