Make the Most of Open-Plan Kitchens

The orientation of your kitchen is important, this kitchen is positioned to flow directly into the living room and then onto the outdoor dining space. This allows for a ton of space for guests to mingle in when you’re hosting family and friends and need multiple seating options. It is also a practical orientation for everyday use, a family member can whip up dinner and still interact with others that may be seated on the island or in the living room. Open spaces eliminate the need to carry dinner plates and food an excessive distance to table settings.

Consider flipping your kitchens orientation, to match the one above, and extend the length of your island. Bigger islands allow for more seating spaces and also the ability to incorporate appliances or sink ware into the bench space.

Create a clean profile by relocating your upper cabinetry. Not only does changing the location of your upper cabinets expand your storage but it helps create a soft transition between your spaces. The kitchen above uses black gloss cabinetry to reflect the space in front of it making the room feel bigger and brighter. The streamlined cabinet fronts with recessed openings allow for a clear line of sight and translate to a modern minimalist style.

The cabinetry positioned next to the dining table makes setting up the table a breeze. The flow on from the island bench to the dining room incorporates more seating areas and creates a lovely entertaining space even while someone prepares the food.

An L-shaped kitchen positioned near a window, helps fill the space with natural light and offers lots more storage and bench space. To ensure the kitchen doesn’t have an empty void in the corner, incorporating open shelving or a rangehood like the kitchen above can tie the two spaces together. Using contrasting tones and cabinets create a soft blend of spaces and adds a stylised tone to the area.

The kitchen above takes advantage of not only of space but the view beyond, a picturesque place to wash up dishes. The island anchors the space and allows for additional seating area without interfering with the flow of the kitchen. The appliances are unobstructed ensuring transferring items to other areas in the space are seamless. An open-plan space that can suit any family size and occasion.

Space is a luxury in many home renovations, not only can you squeeze more storage and value into the areas, but you can achieve an ambience of spaciousness and grandeur. This kitchen has width, height and depth. Cabinetry soars up the architecturally sculpted ceiling, positioning the kitchen in a corner space of the home allows the design to take advantage of multiple bench spaces and has a generous space between counters and around the perimeter of the island.

Keeping the areas consistent polished concrete covers the floor, and the upper-level flooring matches the islands woodgrain panelling. Dark woodgrain cabinetry with recessed handles keeps a clean profile and allows the cabinet fronts to vanish from a distance. The window backsplash injects colour from the outdoors and brings in natural light to warm up the space.

Curves were the statement piece of the year; contemporary homes embraced the curves for not only their aesthetic appeal. Curved features in the home soften the harsh lines of modern cabinetry and subtly direct traffic, such as keeping children away from danger spots and stops guests from getting under your feet.

The kitchen above uses a large kitchen island which is enhanced by linear wood panelling to create an interesting visual contrast to the horizontal flow of the curve. Curves also allow for extra space for stools to slide in underneath and maximises bench space than if it were to be a sharp edge. Curves create interesting visual elements and instantly become a statement feature of any home.

We hope these kitchens inspired your open-plan space and equipped you with a few more tips and design elements to incorporate into your next build.