Exciting selection

Press, 31 August 1989, Page 28

Exciting selection

Kitchens bring together the most expensive collection of appliances and fittings in the house. Because you have to live with the choices you make for a long time, they have to be the right ones for you. By buying the best quality you can afford, the kitchen will look good and last well. It has been shown that about 60 per cent of decisions about whether or not you like a kitchen depend on colour. People decide in about 90 seconds whether they like a kitchen — colour is usually the deciding factor. Style and colour are early decisions. The natural effect of timber such as rimu is popular. This looks particularly good in a colonial style kitchen, decorated with baskets of dried flowers, hanging pots and utensils and pottery. The stark, clean, crisp lines of white have been popular in Europe for some time. Designers expect white to remain the most popular choice for another four years.

Teamed with black, white introduces dramatic possibilities into a “hi-tech” kitchen.

One of the most recent European trends is to combine a touch of wood — for example in the show panels or bench top — with white, a blend of both styles. More new kitchens are put into existing homes than into new homes — 60 per cent are renovations. The requirements — easy cleaning and no maintenance — are the same. Choices will give the kitchen a personal stamp. Bench tops can be stainless steel, formica, corian, Italian laminates, or

Avonite; new materials are always appearing on the market. Formica is made in a variety of finishes — “El Dorado,” velvet, leather grain or slate. Formicas come in primary metal finishes — anodised silver, copper or aluminium — for a really space age look. Formica on cupboard fronts, if you can afford it, gives excellent value and is easily cleaned. The choice of floor coverings is endless. One again, it pays to buy the best quality flooring you can afford so that it will last a long time. Slate, ceramic tiles, vinyls and cork tiles are some of the flooring materials you can choose. For easy cleaning, vinyls should be coved. Non-slip vinyls made in a range of attractive patterns and colours could be a good option for homes where there are young children, people with disabilities or elderly folk. Window and wall coverings must be practical. Tiles on walls where there is extra heavy wear may save early replacement of worn-out wallpaper or paint. Tiles to windowsill level and behind hobbs can be easily cleaned. A practical solution for window coverings is blinds. A bonded blind for the window over the sink in the same fabric as curtains on other windows looks smart. So too does a Roman blind with its neat folds when pulled up. Slimline blinds, the modern distant relative of Venetian blinds, are excellent for filtering line. Slats are made in several widths and many colours.