Cultural Kitchens

Kosher and feng shui

Integrating technology into kitchens is becoming increasingly popular. As technology is such a major part of our lives it makes sense that it would find its way into our kitchens too. Technology in kitchens isn’t just about the appliances such as ovens and fridges but also about the cabinets and benchtops.

Some of the new technology for cabinets includes:

• Blum, Aventos with servo-drive (motorised lift up doors)

• Blum, drawer runners with servo-drive (motorised drawer runner for seamless, handle free opening)

• Benchtops that slide across to reveal a sink and/or cooktop

• Benchtops that lift up to create a higher serving area or hidden storage

• Table surface that extends out from the bench to creating a dining area. This can be motorised or manual.

Some of the new technology available for appliances includes:

• Integrated dishwasher and/or fridge

• Under bench fridge drawers

• Induction cooktops

• Downdraft extractor fans (rangehood that lifts up out of the bench and sucks the steam downward)

Visit one of our kitchen showrooms to see the possibilities available for building in your appliances.

There are many cultures or religions that require a kitchen to be designed and set up in a certain way. It's not always about food preparation or storage but where the appliances are located too. The whole lay out of the kitchen is very important in these situations. For some kitchen designers, working with these guidelines can be difficult but not for ours. Our kitchen designers have many years of experience, with clients from all walks of life, and are well educated in the different cultural requirements.
Two of the main cultural requirements are kosher and feng shui. Below, we explore little about what's required.

Jewish – Kosher:

To help avoid confusion, it is best to designate separate cabinets for the dairy equipment and meat equipment. When designing your new kitchen, you can divide your kitchen into two sides so the meat can be stored on one side and the dairy one on the other. When you first organize your kosher kitchen, it is wise to label the cabinets on the outside as "Dairy [Chalav]" and "Meat [Basar]". Separate sinks, dishwashers, cloths, dishes, etc. often need to be used. Storage of all of this can be provided for and if your kitchen is only in a small space, your kitchen designer can help you get the most out of the space.

Chinese – Feng shui:

Feng shui in a kitchen relates to the footprint and the decoration in the kitchen. If certain layout options aren’t possible due to the space restrictions, then specific decorations/mediums can be used to balance this out. Placement of your appliances needs to follow feng shui principles of fire versus water and hot versus cold. The placement of your appliances is sometimes more important than the actual direction your kitchen faces, because incorrect appliance placement can create inauspicious elements and negative chi. Where the kitchen is located in the house is not often changeable so certain other decisions become very important.