The kitchen is the heart of many homes, the area where memories are made to last a lifetime. We remember small moments like making rice crispy buns with our children or having a cuppa tea and a chat with our best friend. We are less likely to remember the hours we spend on our hands and knees cleaning our kitchen, although at the time we often feel as if it will never end. At Kitchen Design House, we believe that kitchens are made for making memories. To spend more time doing so we have compiled a list of 9 features of a low maintenance, easy clean kitchen.
Keep Switches Away from the Hob.
Hobs are an essential addition to every kitchen no matter a master chef or a budding apprentice. The centre point of the mouth-watering aroma of meal concoctions. The multi-sensory process of meal making is often a messy one. Splash, sizzle, squirt, hiss. It is no wonder that food and liquid splashes everywhere, including onto switches that are close to our hob. These switches can be tricky to clean with their nooks and crannies. To create a low maintenance kitchen and avoid spending extra time cleaning switches, make sure that they are installed away from the hob.
Streamlined Hob
We all know that our hob can get a good battering of boiling liquid and grease and this can make our hobs difficult to clean especially if the problem is not dealt with straight away. To help make this cleaning process easier, ensure that you install a streamlined hob that lays flush with your kitchen worktop. This ensures that no grease, liquid, or food gets stuck in between the counter and your hob, making cleaning your kitchen so much quicker and that much easier.
One-Piece Smooth Backsplash
If you are eager to reduce scrubbing your kitchen avoid using tiles for your backsplash and opt for one large backsplash piece. Why? Tiles are fixed to the wall and areas between the tiles are filled with grout. This means that grease and dirt can get stuck in between the tiles and this results in longer cleaning times. The easiest backsplashes to clean are one-piece smooth material backsplashes such as marble or compact laminate.
Easy Clean Cabinets
When looking for easy-clean cabinets avoid cabinet doors that have raised areas and corners such as shaker doors. Cabinet handles also gather dirt and can become difficult to clean over time if they are not cleaned regularly. The best cabinet doors which are quickly and easily cleaned are handleless modern slab doors. Floor-to-ceiling cabinet doors are best to avoid dust and dirt from gathering on top or below kitchen cabinet doors. “But how can I open these cabinet doors?”. Choose between doors with a small overhang so that you can slip your fingers behind to pull open the door or push-to-pull cabinet latch options.
Undermount Sink
An undermount sink is mounted to the bottom and is encapsulated within the counter. This means that there is no lip between the sink’s edge and the counter for food and dirt to get stuck in between. Not only are undermount sinks a sleek kitchen feature, but they are also much easier to keep clean.
Hidden Bins in Strategic Areas
Trust me, this is a life-changing tip. Not only does your kitchen look cleaner since the bins are hidden from sight, but keeping bins under the worktop where you are meal prepping will make the meal prep and cleaning process much easier and faster.
Easy Clean Appliances
Opt for appliances that are slick and smooth and avoid any appliances that have many edges or lips. For example, a streamlined electric hob is much easier to clean than a gas hob that has pieces to take apart before you clean it as well as areas that need to be cleaned around. Appliances such as kettles with a smooth surface area will be much easier to clean than one that is coarse.
Easy Clean Worktop
Just like your easy-clean appliances, a worktop that is smooth, free of joints, and is non-porous is much easier to clean. Worktops made from concrete will need to be sealed as concrete is a porous material as well as being waxed regularly to avoid staining. Do your research or talk to an expert to ensure that you are getting the best workshop to suit your family’s needs. A young family will need a different worktop than a newly retired couple. The correct worktop will minimise kitchen cleaning time.
Washable Paint
When you say it out loud it is obvious, right? Washable paint is a must when it comes to an easy clean kitchen and there is an array of reasons why you should use washable paint in your kitchen. Whether you have little people running around with sticky fingers, furry friends, or an adventurous chef there will be multiple times when you will wish you could wipe down your walls.
Conclusion
There you have it, 9 features of an easy clean kitchen. Is there anything that we have left off the list that you would recommend? Let us know.
If you are looking for kitchen inspiration and don’t know where to start, why not check out our article 5 Steps using Canva to Make a Mood Board for Interior Design. For design inspiration follow us on Instagram. If you are unsure of where to start why not get in touch with a professional. At Kitchen Design House we have a team of experienced designers. We look forward to working with you.