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Can I have an island kitchen in my Indian home?

Disclaimer: The following content about the island kitchen design is meant only for middle and upper middle-class folks that are buying apartments in the city. Of course, there will be exceptions, so take it with a pinch of salt.  

Kitchens smaller than 100 sqft

No. You may not have an island counter in your kitchen. Any space less than 100 sqft would affect the work triangle. Also, there will not be so much of walking space for you to freely move in your kitchen. 

Big NO for apartment kitchens

Apartments (except the luxury ones) in the cities have a kitchen size of less than 100 sqft. Example: 2500 sqft of flats worth more than 2C in Hiranandani Chennai have the kitchen of size less than 100 sqft. Even if the kitchen is big to have an island counter there are a few restrictions -  

The provision for the gas line, chimney and Sink cannot be easily changed from the original kitchen design. This means if you are adding an island counter, the hob or sink cannot be moved to the new island counter.

A lot of Indians go with Vastu. In a kitchen built without an island counter, it is difficult to add a new counter complying to all the Vastu standards

You should be lucky enough for the things to fall in place, but yeah, we know that there is Murphy.

If you want to have an island kitchen in the apartment, the modular kitchen design should be discussed with the builder during the initial stages. This would enable the builder to accommodate your requirements and come up with the required design. 

Alternative 

Zenterior has designed and implemented a lot of kitchens where the homeowners are dead set on island kitchens initially. After we design the space and explain the restrictions, they'd change the requirement. One of the things that would balance the island requirement and the utility is to have a breakfast counter. A lot of customers have gone for this idea as it is half way close to the island counter (without the hob and the sink)

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What are runners doing in my cabinets?

Runners are classified as follows:

Telescopic Runners

Drawer Systems (Tandem Runners)

Concealed Runners

General mechanisms:

Normal Close

You cannot control the speed of closing. Normally used for budget home interiors.

Soft Close

The closing speed is controlled automatically by the spring/hydraulic piston present inside the runner and hence closes smoothly once pushed.

Push to Open (Tipon)

These fixtures are used to give a handleless finish to your cabinet. You can push the shutter to open the drawer and then manually close the same.

Telescopic Runners

You find some kind of metal fittings at the sides of wooden drawer or the SS Baskets in your kitchen. These fixtures are called telescopic runners. Telescopic channels are generally coated with Zinc and hence you see Zincoxide formation (rust) when water spills over it. But cost wise, its the cheapest option. You can find these runners suitable for the smallest to the biggest of drawers.

Drawer Systems (commonly known as Tandem Runners)

These soft Close runners are the common drawer systems you find in kitchens today. Carpenter made kitchens to imported kitchens use this drawer system to enhance the experience. All brands are coming up with innovations in the looks of these drawer systems to differentiate themselves from the rest. Push to open (tipon) and soft close mechanism combined together is offered by some major brands. You can use organizers to utilize the space inside these drawers as required. There are custom made partitions available for these drawer systems that fit perfectly with it.

Concealed Runners

These runners derive their name from the position they are seated inside. Its concealed underneath the drawer and is not visible outside. The magical drawers seems to move without any support. They are naturally provided with hydraulic pistons for smooth closing (soft closing mechanism). They last longer compared to telescopic runners and come at a higher price. Push to open (tipon) and softclose mechanism combined together is offered by some major brands.

Major brands in this segment are Hafele (Blum), Hettich, Ebco, Grass, Ozone, Samet, Moda to name a few.

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Hinges for your Kitchen and Other Cabinets (Soft-Close vs Standard-Close)

While looking for kitchen and other cabinets, one of the most common things that the homeowners should know is the types of hinges that are available and the impact that they would have on the price and the lifetime of the cabinets.

The following are the most common types of hinges -

1. Self-closing or Normal-closing hinges

Self-close or normal-close hinges are a type of hinges that have a spring-based system which pulls the cabinet door when you close a cabinet door. The auto-pull action will trigger after the door is closed to some extent (around 45 degrees).

Pros: Reliable and budget-friendly

Cons: Closes with a tap/or a slam (Check out the video below)

2. Slow-closing or Soft-closing hinges.

Soft-close is durable and provides a smooth, silent closing motion. The primary benefit is the long-term health of your cabinets. Every time the door is slammed the hinges take off the impact and avoids slamming of the door. When you have kids accessing the cabinets, it is better to go with soft-closing as it acts as a safety feature and protects the fingers.

Pros: - Door closes elegantly - Added safety feature to help protect the fingers of your children and little ones. - Better cabinet life as it avoids slamming.

Cons: - Price is slightly higher. The difference will be significant in high-end brands such as Hettich and Blum

Commonly used Brands

Zenterior uses the following brands according to the budget and the client requirement. 

Ebco - Durable and budget-friendly, both soft-close and self-close.

Hafele - German brand. Little more sophisticated than Ebco. Self-close hinges are comparable to Ebco and the soft-close hinges are costlier.

Hettich - Another German Brand. More sophisticated and high-end prices.Blum - Most sophisticated and costliest of all.

We use them only in select high-end projects.

Price Range

Ebco

Self Close: ~ Rs. 60/set

Soft Close: ~ Rs. 120/set

Hafele

Self Close: ~ Rs. 65/set

Soft Close: ~ Rs. 270/set

Hettich

Self Close: ~ Rs. 70/set

Soft Close: ~ Rs. 400/set

Blum

Soft Close: ~ Rs. 450/setNote: 

There may be multiple models available in each of the brands and the listed ones are what we commonly use in our projects. Get in touch with vendors or showrooms

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Demystifying Postforming & Edgebanding

This guide briefs some of the terms in the manufacturing process.

1. Machine Pressed vs Hand Pressed Sheets

Depending on your vendor's capacity, the laminates are hand pressed or machine pressed over the plywood.

Hand Pressing - The plywood and laminates are cut as required, laminates are glued (commonly used adhesive is Fevicol), and pasted over the plywood.

Machine Pressing - The laminate is pressed over the plywood using machines in the factory. There are two types of Machine Pressing. Machine Pressing has a better life when compared to the hand pressing. Hand pressing sometimes will result in uneven finish and formation of bubbles between the laminate and the plywood

2. Postforming

"Postformed" literally means "formed after being laminated" to the plywood or any other substrate. Postforming is a process where laminates are applied to a plywood/MDF or any other substrate with specifically formed edges, and the laminate can be rolled over the edges to create a single, unbroken laminate face. The postformed edges are not sharp and have a nice rounded finish. Typically the vendors that manually press the laminates take the plywood to the factory and get it postformed. This would cost a little more price than the regular finish. Since the laminate has to be bent to create a postformed surface, the thickness of the laminate used is 0.6mm for the postformed surface.

3. Edgebanding

When the plywood is cut, the plywood will have a raw edge. If the raw edge is not covered, apart from the bad looks and the cause for scratches, moisture can seep in making the plywood warp or lumpy. The raw edges are covered with a narrow strip of material called edge band, and the process is called Edge Banding. The thickness of the edge band varies from 0.5mm to 2mm with a slight variation in the price.The price of 2mm edge band is 3-4 times higher than 0.5mm edge band.

From Wikipedia - Edge Banding is the name of both a process and an associated narrow strip of material used to create durable and aesthetically pleasing trim edges of the laminated ply. It is used to cover the exposed sides (edges other than the postformed one) of the plywood, giving a better appearance. There are 3 types of edgebanding.

Manual - The edge band is pressed over the edges manually. This typically happens when the cutting happens on the site

Semi-Manual - This type of banding happens on small factories. The band is pasted using machine, but are filed manually

Through Fit (Fully Machine) - This edgebanding is done completely by machine.

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5 Important measurements for the Indian Kitchen

Most of us spend a lot of time in the kitchen. The following are a few key measurements to make sure that the kitchen is more comfortable.

In Indian Kitchens, since most of them are semi-modular, the structure and the counters are laid typically by the builders

1. Counter Height

The optimal counter height for the Indian women is 34" or little less than that according to the height of the ones using it. Ideally, there are three different heights to the counter.

Preparation Surface The height of this surface is a little more than 34", which is around 3" to 4" below the elbow. This is primarily used to cut vegetables and do the prep work.

Cooking Surface This is the height at which the cooking happens, It is around 2" less than the preparation surface and 5" below the elbow, around 34". This is to make sure that the hot oil does not splatter at the face height.

Low-level Surface This surface is around 8" below the elbow. This is primarily used for intensive tasks where you want to be on top of things, literally. These include kneading dough, butchering meat etc..

2. Counter Depth

The standard size of the counter is 24" or 2 feet. Again, if the people are short, the depth can be made a little less to have better access to the wall cabinets. If the kitchen is small, and if there is a side that does not have the Hob or the Sink, the depth can be made to 18" to have better moving space in the kitchen.

3. Wall Cabinet Height

The distance between the counter and the wall cabinets should be at least 20". In most of the Indian home, the backsplash is given as 24", on top of which the cabinets are fixed. The cabinet sizes are 24" usually. The size and the height of the cabinets can be adjusted according to the depth of the counter, the height of the person and the height of the backsplash.

4. Kitchen Triangle

The kitchen triangle can be constructed considering the sink, the stove and the refrigerator as vertices. The triangles for different kitchen layouts are given below. For an optimal usage, the circumference should not be more than 275"

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Matte of glossy finished cabinets?

This article is more in the context of Indian homeowners with a budget of 3L to 10L for home interiors. This explains only about the LAMINATE finish which is most commonly preferred in this budget.

Though the finish is primarily decided by the likes of the homeowner, the following factors also weigh in to decide the finish.

Kitchen Size

Price

Handle or Handle-less finish

Cleaning efforts

1. Kitchen Size

Glossy surfaces reflect light and bring light into the kitchen. Matt surfaces absorb light and give you a flat muted look. If you want to make your kitchen look bigger, glossy is the way to go.

Most of the Indian apartments have kitchens of less than 80 to 100 sqft and do not have a lot of sunlight. In these cases, glossy is preferred to make the kitchen a little more spacious. U-kitchen will definitely need glossy finishes (to make the kitchen look bigger) as the cabinets take a lot more space of the kitchen than the L-kitchen types (presuming same kitchen size)

Tip:

For a given kitchen size -

Less than 80 sqft: Glossy finish

80 - 120 sqft U Kitchen: Glossy finish

80 - 120 sqft L or straight Kitchen: Glossy or Mix of matt + glossy

Greater than 120 sqft - Matt finish. If you think the kitchen is too muted, use profile doors or handles or dual color to show some depth.

This abstracts out a lot of details, so follow this with a grain of salt.

2. Price

If we are only talking about the laminates, there is an increase in the budget for using glossy laminates. Nonetheless, the difference is not too much: For a typical kitchen, the price will increase by Rs.8-10k. Most of the vendors or contractors in the market charge in terms of sqft or lump sum, so are aware to ask them about the details.

For instance, a matt laminate is priced around Rs. 1200. Glossy laminates are around 2000 bucks. Laminate sheets come in 8x4 ft (32 sqft). Technically, the difference between matt and glossy is (2000-1200)/32, which is around 25 bucks per sqft. Considering the wastage, multiple colors and the type of edge-band used, the difference should not go more than 50 to 75 rupees per sqft.

Tip: Just go with glossy finish if you like it. The price difference is not too much and is worth it.

3. Handle or Handle-less finish

When you go for the handle-less finish, you frequently touch the surface of the cabinet door.

Oily fingerprints are visible in both Matt and Glossy finishes, though it is more visible in the glossy surfaces. But, Matt surfaces are difficult to clean than glossy surfaces. Go for the glossy finish in a handle-less kitchen as you can wipe the grease off of the surface easily.

Tip: If you do not like cleaning your kitchen frequently, go for kitchen with handles.

4. Cleaning effort

Cleaning those matte finishes is typically not as easy or straightforward as cleaning glossy surfaces. Scratches and other imperfections may not be easily seen in matte surfaces, they are difficult to remove when it happens. If you have a maid or kids or a messy spouse for that matter, go with glossy finish and do not look back.

Tip: If maid or children access the kitchen, go for the glossy finish - at least for the under counter cabinets.

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Guide to choose colours & themes for your home interior & modular kitchenin

A lot of first time home buyers, while doing home interiors, spend a lot of time in choosing the colors. But, they are not confident with the chosen colors and they will have some surprise (mostly not good) when the work is completed.

For people shelling out extra money on designers, rendering can help visualize. But, if your budget is less than 5-6L, you may not spend on a designer. The less-than-average renders from the interior companies will not be accurate in terms of light, space, and size, etc.

In any case, this guide should help someone with pointers to choose the colors and themes for the house.

Tip #1: Match exactly or go for contrast. Ideally, there should be a single wood color in a room including the sofas, doors and modular cabinets. Most of the apartments do not have a lot of choices with the door colors, so when you buy a sofa or choosing colors for the modular cabinets such as tv units and wardrobe, try to have the closest match to the doors in terms of color and pattern of the door.

This may not be possible at times, so the easiest way is to go with contrast colors for cabinets and fabric sofas in neutral colors. If the door is brown with bold grooves/patterns, go for cream or off-white cabinets with beige or grey color sofas. Of course, you can use some wood patterns in the cabinets that may not match with the door.

You do not want to be in a place where you have a walnut colored door with Sheesham wood sofa and teak modular cabinets. If the doors are white, you can go with any color you like.

Tip #2: Stick to the 3-color theme

The 3-color theme works for most of the houses.

Have a base wood color. This can be dark or light and can have any patterns that you like. This is the only wood color that will be used wherever wood is required.

The second is to pick a neutral color that goes along very well with the wood. This will be mostly one of black, off-white, cream, grey or some specific pastels. The proportion of wood vs the neutral color depends on your personal choice. If you want to simplify further go for 70-30. 70% wood and 30% neutral or vice versa in any of the rooms.

The third color can a bright color which you can use in the kitchen to make it stand out. Most kitchens have a bright color with the above mentioned neutral color.

Kids rooms are exceptions and can have any color or themes that you like.

Tip #3: Have a touch of black Sometimes, you feel that you have done everything but something is missing or quite not in place. This is where the black/dark grey comes in. It can be a simple background, or a table top or some patterns on the wood. Try this sensibly.

Tip #4: Go for light colored counter-tops and matching backsplashes A lot of people use black counter tops in the kitchen for easy maintenance. One of the disadvantages of this idea is that it is very difficult to choose colors that go well with black countertops. It the black has some random patterns, it makes it even worse. So, try to have something lighter than black, even a grey would do. This will completely change the look of your kitchen and provides you with a lot of color choices.

Another blunder a lot of builders make is to lay completely unmatching backsplash tiles with the countertop. In those cases, it is worth to remove and relay them with something that is matching with the countertop.

Tip #5: Glossy and light colors for small rooms Another thing except for the color is the finish: matte/glossy. Glossy surfaces reflect light better than Matte. Light colors reflect light while dark colors absorb light.

If your room is small and you want it to make it a little bigger, go for light glossy finishes.

Tip #6: Wooden Ledges If there are shelves or ledges (thick shelves), go for wooden finishes. Naturally, this should match with the wood that we mentioned in Tip #2.