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Cooking, whether you love it or hate it, can be a messy process. This is especially true if you have a hectic family life and little free time to devote to keeping your kitchen clean and functional. But have no fear; here are three ideas to help to turn it into a low-maintenance, enjoyable space for every member of your household.
1. Shaker-style cabinetry
Shaker-style kitchens can be traced back to the early 1700s Quaker movement. Fast forward to today, and the style has become an interior design staple — favoured for its cool, crisp lines and clean, uncluttered appearance.
“You can immediately spot a Shaker-style kitchen by looking at its doors, cabinets and drawers, which will have a flat centre panel and a raised rectangular frame” — the experts over at Harvey Jones explain. With no nooks and crannies for dust and dirt to hide in, this style of cabinetry is easy to clean and wipe down to maintain its appearance and keep kitchen viruses well at bay.
What’s more, Shaker cabinets are typically made of long-lasting, natural materials like oak, maple, or pine, so can withstand daily use without showing signs of wear and tear. When combined with a conventional hardwood worktop or one made of granite, marble, or quartz, a Shaker-style kitchen should remain in good condition for decades without requiring significant maintenance.
2. Easy-to-clean flooring
As the heart of the house, the kitchen is subjected to heavy foot traffic on a daily basis. The flooring you choose is crucial if you want a low-maintenance solution that will still look good for years to come, despite being exposed to heat, stains, and water damage.
At the top of our list is ceramic flooring, mimicking the look, feel, and strength of natural stone, while designed to be completely watertight. It’s reliable and durable, can hide scratches, and allow for muddy foot (or paw) prints to be easily mopped up. Plus, the versatility offered by the tiles almost guarantees that they’re adaptable to both classic and contemporary aesthetics. However, they do have certain drawbacks, like being chilly underfoot and lethal to a dropped dish or glass.
Laminate flooring is another good solution. Laminate’s reputation as a euphemism for “cheap-looking” has long gone, with products today designed to closely resemble the look and feel of real wood, right down to the knots, grain, and texture. Look for modern laminate boards with a coating that makes them impermeable, easy to clean, and hygienic.
3. Smart gadgets and appliances
Once upon a time (when microwaves were the cutting edge of kitchen tech), talking to your refrigerator would have earned you a few funny looks, to say the least. Today, whether you like to embrace technology when cooking or not, one thing is certain about the latest high-tech appliances: they know their way around a kitchen.
Smart appliances, such as voice-activated kettles, automated pan stirrers, and self-cleaning dishwashers, are the icing on the cake for any low-maintenance kitchen — cutting down on the amount of time needed for food preparation, cooking, and cleanup.
The humble oven has also had a shiny new makeover. Pyrolytic ovens, i.e. self-cleaning ovens, make scrubbing a thing of the past. They function by reaching temperatures of 400°C to 500°C, at which point baked-on residue is completely burned away, leaving behind only ash that can be easily swept up.
