Some inspiration to set up your perfect kitchen

Building up your perfect kitchen is a big challenge, especially if you cope with the restrictions of the small spaces assigned to this part of the room in most of the old style Berlin apartments. Most probably people here were not used to have big families and do not cook at home that much, therefore no need to waste a big room for that.

Which means that, from the beginning, when it comes to setting up your kitchen, you need to take into consideration your needs, including your habits as a cook. For instance, if you have a family of 5, and you cook all the meals, you definitely need a big space and a lot of appliances for your kitchen. Somehow, I discovered that if you are smart enough, you can easily adapt to what you have too. Me, I started to cook when I already had the current home where the kitchen is quite narrow, but I did a better space management. When I have to cook a lot, especially for the holidays, I am using the big table from the living room and it served perfectly my purposes.

If you are kosher conscious family, you might need some additional restrictions, as you need a sink and a counter separate for meat and milk.

I am personally a minimalist, but I still need some special requirements: a fridge, a heater, a good light - very useful especially when I have to cook during the short days of autumn and long winters, a special space for the three sorts of garbage - plastic, paper and usual, a counter with the toaster, coffee machine, an area where I have my basic utensils, a big space for my cleaning tools and substances, some space for my cooking books. a counter for my basic ingredients and dried foods - at least three separate types of pasta. I also need a special space for my many spices and another one for the pans and other cooking vessels. 

As I am still in the middle of the home redesign I still have a lot of things to set up in the kitchen, the floor covering is not yet decided, but for cleaning reasons, I prefer the vinyl, preferably a black - dark colour. Other possible options are wood or tiles. I will never ever have a carpet in the kitchen. Another element I need for my kitchen is a big window - at least one - as after a lot of cooking, you always need fresh air in the house. Especially if you are during the festival of Hanukkah, when you have to cook with a lot of oil. If you have a smoke detector in the kitchen - as I do - be aware that it might start sounding worry after the 3rd batch of latkes.

A lot of aestethic considerations are also important for creating a kitchen where you feel good and you can cook safely: the colour of the walls and how does it matches the furniture - for instance, light colours are creating the impression of a bigger space; the electricity settings that should always checked properly with a professional; creating a special counter for flowers and various fresh pots of basilicum or parsley among many others; a clock on the wall to count the time. I also added some nice photos on the wall, and some inspirational quotes, to make me feel good and entertain me intellectually during my kitchen chores. 

A table with chairs for the kitchen is a luxury, but it can create a family ambiance during the week, and a nice family space for sharing the daily plans and the achievements of the day.

If you have little children you should take seriously into consideration various safety standards, including by avoiding to set up in accessible places items that might be harmful. 

Generally speaking, setting up a kitchen is a serious, long-term and expensive adventure. But it can be a life-long investment and should be seriously considered, including by hiring the right specialists for the electric details, interior design and safety issues. 

Photos made at the Poggen Pohl store at Stilwerk, Berlin, Germany 

A virtual tour of Villeroy and Boch

I definitely need some new kitchenwares and plates, but not the usual mono-colour plates that we use to have and whose absence can get easily unnoticed. I need something more colourful, stylish and personal that can adorn my Friday evening meals. Plates to make me happy to look at, help me to enjoy the food, eventually with flowers and leaves, and a lot of colours. I spontaneously began the search with Villeroy and Boch, browsing their latest collections and, of course, the season discounts.

http://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/shop/artesano-original-dip-bowl-set-4pcs.html

The most easy to match collection is Artesano: simple pure white, with assortment of oiled acacia wood. An impressive statement that can happily invite your guests to your wedding, or for a rich lunch at the veranda of your summer house. Simple lines and big volumes, that characterize all the items, from the pizza plate, to the pitchers and creamers, or the salad servers. 

The same white monocromous line characterizes the Flow collection, the difference being the spontaneous round lines of the plates, platters and bowls. The most complete collection is in my opinion the New Wave, which have almost everything one need to have for decorating generously a table: platters with 2 or more compartments, presentation plates, grill plate, pickle dish, salad plate square, eye catcher, various sizes of dip bowls, and many bowls, plates and cups. 

Source: villeroy-boch-Audun-Ferme-Coffeepot-6-pers.-1,30l-31

Time for more sophistication and colours. The delicate items from the Althea Nova collection are inviting friends and family to a big dinner. It has also breakfast cups and saucers, teapot for the afternoon tea and an espresso cup. The salad bowls and pickle dish and various sizes of plates are clearly an indication about the kind of menu that the users of this collection would love to taste. 

Source: http://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/shop/petite-fleur-covered-sugar-6-pers-0-20l.html

Let's move slowly in my world. A world inspired by nature, as the fine porcelain of Petite Fleur (Small Fleur) collection. The flowers are scattered on the surface of the porcelain, a style inspired by the 19th century works. It's hard to chose witch one I would love the best, as each has its own charm and personality. If I would buy it, I will surely use it for a generous meal, where I can use the big oval soup tureen, the oval platters and the bowls, but also the tea and coffee pots. For outdoor meals, be sure that you have the proper assortment of flowers in your garden.

Source: http://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/shop/mariefleur-gris-basic-sugar-jampot-6-pers.html

Mariefleur gris collection cannot be compared with anything I've seen by now. A pastel painting spread to the white shinning surface of the porcelain. One of the salad bowl and the serving plate are graciously shaped. Me, the coffee lover, is tempted with a coffee cup, plus espresso and latte macchiato. It's amazing how many combinations you can have only by using two types of flowers and main colours. 

Source: http://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/shop/catalogsearch/result/?q=Mariefleur

Mariefleur collection is a step forward to more painted art on porcelain. The colours are full of life and makes you feel that it is summer all round the year. The delicate line following the shape is another element of elegance that influences the style of the table.

Source: http://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/shop/anmut-bloom-espresso-cup.html

For people in love with colours there are even more options. The Anmut collection is offering various combinations with more new options being updated regularly. Because I love diversity, Anmut Bloom looks very close to my soul, but elegant eaters will probably prefer to chose from one of the versions of My Colour, featuring, till now: ocean blue, petrol blue, rocky grey, sky blue and savannah cream, forest green and orange sunset, pink rose or red cherry. 

Source: http://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/shop/catalog/product/view/id/23701/s/kima-vase-midnight-sky-300mm/

There is no Friday evening meal without flowers on the table and at Villeroy and Boch, I can finish the shopping with vases too. The collections of Kima, Tiko, Numa and Nek. The names sound very funny and unusual, but the products are very simple bottlenecked or rounded and with a lot of force in the monochrome nuances and clear lines. 

As a simple calculation, a full set can cost a little fortune, but at least in Germany, there is the chance to catch up one of the special season sales that can last for a couple of days. Such a purchase is an investment for life so really worth the effort. 

Clean as you go

I have a small kitchen. Why? It is a very simple answer: when I moved in this house, almost five years ago, cooking was my last priority. I was not even able to cook anything else but an egg. And to clumsily cut some tomatoes. 

Times changed and I have created a new space in my little library for the cooking books. I go daily to check the latest fresh fruits and vegetables at the local stores and, more importantly, I cook and bake almost daily (proof my gorgeous cheesecake waiting to be tasted tomorrow early in the morning).

But my kitchen is still small (as many of the German kitchen are, at least most of the Berlin ones are like that) and when I need to prepare some of my lunches or suppers, I should use the living room table for having enough space to cut, arrange, mix and melt all the ingredients of complicated cakes or salads.

Predictably, I should cope with a lot of cleaning emergencies that will help me to prevent the kitchen mood to enter the rest of the house. Take, for instance, the Fridays, the busiest days for cooking, when I need to get ready in due time and to prepare a menu of at least 3 meals, for 5+persons aimed to last for 2 days. A lot of work and a lot of cleaning. 

As I need to be ready in time and I love order, I try as much as possible to clean on the spot. I don't let the spots till change into a crust and cannot be removed easily. Once I see the dirt, I clean it and continue the work. For a multi-tasking person as me, there it is not such a big problem to interrupt the cooking for a while and continue focusing on the ingredients. I always keep some whipped creams on my side or a wet sponge and in a couple of seconds I am able to be back at work. Cooking on a clean table is similarly for me with working on a desk where all the books and papers are in order and I know what to take from where. When I finish with one meal I clean immediately the dishes and bowls and other tools used during the preparation. It may take another extra 5 minutes, but again, it is better that I see everything in order and clean. There it is also a practical reason to do so: once I see the dirt it is better that I do the cleaning as soon as possible as one meal after I may completely forget where should I clean properly. 

With more cooking books and ideas of recipes for the next weeks, and new tools bought for the kitchen, I am more and more concerned about the lack of proper space. Wherever I will be sooner or later, I will continue to keep the good habits of cleaning as I go - where do I go? to the next stage in my cooking life. 

Colourful ideas for the kitchen, by Pylones

When I want to make my eyes happy, I go to Pylones and everything is getting better. My noble taste and educational habits may tell me that there are a lot of bad taste choices, at the limit of kitsch, but when it comes to various objects, the context and the function are overcoming the artistic appearance. I am rather inclined to pledge for simplicity and uniformity, but when it comes to the children, they will always prefer to have around objects that make them happy and will invite them to enjoy the food.

The prices are a little bit above the average, but most products looks like good quality and most likely they will survive the test of intensive 12-month+ use. They have so funny plates for children, colourful,  shaped as animal heads and very funny. I am on the opinion that when you have children, your kitchen should go through a tremendous transformation and thus, more colours and funny gadgets are welcomed in the temple of good food. Hence, I would love to have one of the toasters to bright my mornings, especially when the weather is too bad for a good start into the day.

A resource of ideas, good to explore in depth when my plans about kitchen design are getting more serious!

Colours of my kitchen

As in the case of your home, the kitchen needs to be more than the place where you go to eat something because you are hungry. A pleasant ambiance created with the help of the wall painting and the design of the furniture will most likely invite you to spend more time there because you simply feel good around. 

My kitchen is quite simple, as I prefer to have a big table in the middle where to put all the ingredients and tools used for the preparation of the recipes. Especially when I am baking, I need more space than usual and I want to use the entire area of the table. The space of the kitchen is not as big as I wish to, but it is one of the best arrangement I enjoyed in years. 

Besides the table, the oven and the sinks, and the fridges, I have another wood closet where I put some of the cooking spoons and the reserves of flour, different bottles of oils and the usual pasta savings. The colour of the kitchen is not at all my favorite choice in terms of interior design - a combination of grey and dark blue - but I can live with this. 

But if asked, I would have said that I want my kitchen to have as much green as possible, in trends with my healthy diet, based especially on vegetables and fruits. I would have preferred a lot of wood furniture, with enough space for flowers. Maybe the idea to have different wall prints for different seasons, especially for spring and winter, is not an outrageous idea: for instance, I would prefer a lot of colourful wallpapers in the spring, with red and blue and orange and some purple. 

As for the tablecloth, I do have a lot of interesting models: during the week, I change between nuances of blue and green, but also some elephants print - a memory of a trip to Thailand. As I am waiting for the spring, I introduced the table clothes with flowers - right now, I have a light green one with yellow and red tulips. 

Honestly, I realize the lack of coherence when it comes to the style of my kitchen and I wish that I have more time and resources to redesign completely the concept of my house. But for the moment I am only looking for inspiration and I promise to share the best ideas here soon!