If You Want a Kitchen Different from Others: 6 Ideas + 5 Life Hacks

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the room tour of the apartment of art historian and designer Anna Aerova, where she lives with her husband, young child, and dog.

Although each room is interesting in its own way, Anna says that the kitchen is her favorite place at home. In this post, we share solutions that helped the designer make this area attractive and as functional as possible.

Instead of upper cabinets — art objects

Anna divided her kitchen into two sectors. The first, or "wine," sector is the working zone with lower cabinets and wine-toned facades.

The second, or "wooden," sector is built into a niche from floor to ceiling, and it compensates for the lack of upper cabinets by providing the main storage area.

"It was needed so that on the empty wall, paintings or posters would appear later," Anna says. For now, clocks designed by George Nelson hang there.

Backsplash — low

It is made of tiles and is only 35 centimeters high instead of the standard 60, making the kitchen appear even lighter visually.

At first, the family was worried about practicality: what if the mini backsplash isn't enough to protect the wall surface from splashes and drops? But their concerns were unfounded: the painted part of the wall doesn't get dirty.

Black edging along the ceiling perimeter

This trick visually increases wall height. Plus, it just looks beautiful and fresh.

All hardware in one color

Did you notice that there are no chrome parts on the appliances? The designer carefully selected handles, rails, and also mixers and accessories in black. This approach visually unifies many elements of the kitchen into a cohesive composition and ties them to the black cabinet.

Floor — vibrant

In most apartments, the kitchen floor is neutral. Here, it was tiled with a colorful pattern. The accent surface draws attention and serves as decoration.

All appliances — built-in

Freestanding models would definitely spoil the effect of a "living" kitchen created by the designer. However, the solution has one caveat: built-in models are smaller in size than freestanding ones.

+ 5 Secrets from the Designer to Make a Kitchen Functional

Attractive design is only half the job. Here are 5 more tricks from the designer: try these to make your kitchen not only beautiful but also convenient.

Oven and microwave — at elbow level

"It's very convenient: you don't have to keep bending over, as with a standard stove," the designer says.

MDF with wood veneer — maximally practical!

Facades made of this material were chosen by the designer for the "wooden" sector. According to her, "there are no splashes or drops visible on the facades at all".

Upper cabinets — for rarely used items

For example, this is the "formal" tableware and a medicine cabinet to keep kids from reaching it. Everyday dishes are in the pull-out drawers and the cabinet.

Drawer in drawer — to avoid cluttering the cabinet

The designer included a hidden pull-out drawer in one of the main drawers for storing tableware.

Narrow drawer-column with hooks — for bottles and towels

And also clips and other small items with loops.