Kitchens are an important element in any home. Some might even call it the heart of the home because it is the place where you prepare food to fuel the body, mind, and soul. After all, it is a place where the family spends quality time together.

Thus, when you are doing interior design for your home, you want to make sure that your kitchen is well-designed so that you enjoy spending time in the kitchen.

In this article, we introduce 6 different kitchen design that you would die to have in your kitchen. You might even be tempted to show them off to your friends and family when they visit the next time.

1. Kitchen Island: The Versatile Kitchen Addition

The design concept of kitchen island was first started in 1930s by a designer called Franklin Lloyd Wright. The initial concept was to create a space where the owner could prepare meals while still interacting with her guests. It then evolved to become more popular and widely used in the 1950s. While the concept of kitchen island isn’t new, it seems to be making a trendy comeback in recent years.

One key benefit of having a kitchen island in your home is that it adds a lot of flexibility to your kitchen. Besides the basic function of having more countertop space, you can also use it for storage purpose. At the same time, it can also double as a dining table for your own family or your friends when they come over.

Because of the flexibility, you can choose how you want to design it depending on what you value most.

2. Parallel Kitchen/Gallery Kitchen: Simple Yet Efficient Design

Parallel kitchen, or gallery kitchen, refers to kitchens where the kitchen cabinets are lined on both sides of the kitchen, leaving a central aisle for moving in the kitchen. It is also typical to find kitchen cabinets running parallel on one or both sides of the kitchen.

With parallel kitchen, there is no lack of countertop space. You can place as many kitchen appliances as you like, from air fryer to microwave to cooking stove. With everything in sight, it is also easy to get everything within your reach, making the cooking experience a joy. Plus, with the cabinets, you also get lots of storage space to keep the beautiful wares for special occasions.

3. Kitchen + Balcony: Smart Utilisation Of Space

Balcony space is a conundrum that homeowners may face, especially for those living in an HDB flat. On one hand, having extra space is great. However, on the other hand, it can be a little troublesome to utilise the space when it comes in the form of a balcony. Luckily, with some smart interior design touches, you can turn the under-utilised balcony space into extra space for your kitchen.

One way is to extend your kitchen design all the way into the balcony. Rather than having it as two separate space, you can turn it into a single space. You can then place your electrical appliances like washing machine, dryer, and fridge in the balcony to hide them away from view directly from the living space in your house.

Alternatively, you can choose to keep them as separate areas to keep the “wet” and “dry” areas away from each other. With a clear glass door design separating the two areas, you get to enjoy a kitchen that feels bigger visually without compromising on having a “wet” and “dry” area for your kitchen/balcony.

4. Kitchen + Dining: Two Is Better Than One

With the growing trend of smaller apartments across HDBs and condos, interior designers have to crack their brains to make the best use of the limited space. But if you have a good interior designer, he/she can help you deal with the space constraint without compromising on your quality of life.

Besides kitchen + balcony, the other design permutation that an interior designer can introduce is the kitchen + dining design. This can be done by breaking away from the traditional mindset that every part of the home needs a space on its own. Instead, you can combine them into one space. For example, you can turn your kitchen into a kitchen + dining space.

You can also consider using a kitchen island to bring both your kitchen and dining space as one. This lets you utilise the dining space as a countertop space when you are doing your meal prep and turn it back into a dining area when you are having your meal.

5. Open Kitchen: Makes Everything Look Bigger

Open concept kitchen (or open kitchen) adds lots of visibility for the apartment, giving the home a clean, clear view. It also creates an illusion of space, especially if you are living in a small apartment.

Besides the illusion of space, having an open kitchen also creates better ventilation across the home. Since there are not much obstructions (think window, glass) in an open kitchen, it encourages air flow throughout the unit, making the home more ventilated.

For some, open kitchen also creates a friendly and informal vibe for guests and the family. It is a fun space for chit chatting and having meals rather than just a space that is used to prepare meals. The open kitchen also leaves greater space between the kitchen and the living room to let kids roam around freely.

6. Semi-Enclosed Kitchen: Best Of Both Worlds

But what happens if you want to do some heavy cooking in your home? Open kitchen isn’t conducive for heavy duty cooking as the greasy cooking smell can easily flow to other parts of your home and stay there for a while. Sometimes, it can also make your living room floor oily and greasy, which is something homemakers absolutely hate.

If you want to enjoy the benefits of having an open kitchen while still have the option of doing heavy cooking in your own home, the next best option is a semi-enclosed kitchen.

With a semi-enclosed kitchen, you can turn your open kitchen into an enclosed kitchen whenever you want. When you are cooking, you can close off your kitchen to prevent the greasy oil smell from permeating your whole house. When you are done cooking, you can open up and return to your original open kitchen. In short, a semi-enclosed kitchen is akin to the best of both open kitchen and closed kitchen.

Looking For Kitchen Design Inspirations?

Still undecided on what kind of kitchen design you should have for your home? Why not get some visual inspirations from the renovation partners on Hometrust? You can find a range of kitchen designs on Hometrust’s kitchen photo inspiration page to inspire your next kitchen look.

Once you decide on the kitchen design that you like, you can reach out to the interior design firm via Hometrust. Alternatively, you may also want to use our interior design recommendation engine to find a suitable interior design firm. You can then bring your photo inspiration to the interior design firm to kickstart your design process with them.