Over the last few years, the modern kitchen has evolved from the room where you cook meals for your family to where everyone gathers to spend time together when they want to socialise or spend quality time.
Suppose you also want to transform your kitchen into a social hub. In that case, you should know that the process can be an exciting endeavour because it allows you to personalise the space to match your personality and create an inviting room where everyone loves spending time.
This article provides information about the features you must incorporate to obtain a cooking space with a vibrant vibe that encourages socialisation.
Embrace the open-concept layout
The open concept is perfect for creating a social hub because it connects two adjoining rooms, like the kitchen and living room or dining room. When you can tear down the walls, you remove the barriers between you and your guests (who would probably sit in the living room) and encourage easy interaction. Opening up the kitchen to the living room or dining room is the easiest way to create a social area. If you’re lucky to have an open-plan house, you don’t have to worry about tearing down walls; you only have to find a way to balance the two areas.
In case you have two separate walls, take down the wall connecting them. Decide if you want to visually demarcate it or create some boundary between the rooms before engaging in this type of project. You can build a half wall to serve as a bridge between the two rooms and provide additional storage solutions. It would be great to pick dining furnishings in the same style as the kitchen cabinets.
Brighten up the room
Lighting is transformative in interior design, regardless if we’re talking about artificial or natural light. The right lighting scheme will give the kitchen the necessary appeal, warmth, and ambience to make it feel more inviting. Your loved ones won’t want to gather in the kitchen if it’s a dark space where they don’t feel encouraged to communicate.
The lighting system in a functional room like the kitchen is more complex than in the other rooms of the house, and it integrates a wide range of lighting solutions: mood, task, and feature light. A successful social hub includes all these three types of lights because they serve the different needs you have in the kitchen. When installing the LED bulbs, make sure to include a combination of bespoke and LED bulbs so you can benefit from festive light on special occasions.
The right lighting will change the room’s vibe, so take your time to create a scheme that fits your space. By installing pendant lights above the breakfast bar or kitchen island, dimmer switches, and cabinet lighting you boost the space’s functionality and make it look more like a socialising area.
Pick a welcoming and stylish design
The kitchen’s design and décor should reflect your personality and create a welcoming ambience. If your old kitchen cabinets are damaged, you can replace them with new ones in warm colours. You don’t have to break the bank to furnish the kitchen with new cabinets, you can find cheap kitchens that match your home décor and add character to the socialising hub.
Many homeowners struggle to transform the kitchen into a socialising hub because the area must blend functionality and form. A social cooking space should feel welcoming and engaging; the furniture and decorations can help you achieve this. Too many kitchens have an ultra-minimal look that transforms the kitchen into a sterile-looking room instead of a casual space. You want a kitchen that makes people feel invited and comfortable to sit there for long periods.
Ensure the kitchen is practical
The last thing you should tolerate when you try to build a social hub is a chaotic and unorganised kitchen. How can someone feel comfortable spending time in the kitchen when utensils and ingredients are thrown around all over the place? Practicality is another aspect you should pay attention to when you convert a traditional kitchen into a social hub. You want to ensure the kitchen serves your needs and can easily handle all the traffic in the house. Therefore, remove everything you don’t need daily from the countertops, store the ingredients in the pantry, and evaluate the state of the surfaces to ensure they are easy to maintain and suitable for the cooking room.
Stainless steel, Corian, or granite countertops are better alternatives than marble countertops because it’s easier to clean and maintain them.
It’s also best to remove all chinaware and glassware from kids’ reach and place them in closed cabinets to ensure they don’t suffer any damage.
Invest in low-noise appliances
Noise is inevitable in the kitchen, but you should try to reduce its intensity as much as possible because it might bother your guests or make it challenging for you to communicate. The sounds in the kitchen are often comforting when we’re talking about the soothing hum of the oven, the whistling of a kettle in the morning, or the pouring of water over vegetables and fruits in the sink. But some appliances are quite loud and can sour out the social ambience and the kitchen’s potential to encourage communication.
If your budget allows it, you can switch the old appliances with new low-noise equipment to make the kitchen more welcoming.
Add some personal touches
Finally, it would help if you made the space feel yours by adding some unique decorations that reflect your taste and preferences. If you have enough room, you can create a gallery wall with family photos or hang a canvas with an inspiring quote. You can also bring some flower vases or even plan pots in the kitchen to live up the atmosphere. Natural elements like flowers have the power to relax people, so you should integrate as many as possible in the kitchen design if you plan to use it as a social hub.
Transforming your kitchen into a social hub takes time and planning, so you shouldn’t hurry.
Image source https://unsplash.com/photos/four-brown-stools-RryFk4n-vOs
