Keep your interior up-to-date, starting with the heart of your home; your kitchen. Take advantage of this Ultimate Guide to a Modern Kitchen in Malaysia and find stylish kitchen ideas which will stay trendy for years to come.
Modern Kitchen – Floor Plan & Layout
Let’s face it, kitchen design trends and fads move fast. From the vintage retro style of yesteryear to the shabby chic age of the ‘80s, kitchen design is constantly evolving and coming back. In today's way, trends that may have gone out of fashion decades earlier can make a comeback today. However, the one thing that doesn’t change much is your kitchen's floor plan and positioning. There’s a reason why most kitchens have the same or similar floor plans. It’s cause they work!
Whether it’s the traditional L-shaped kitchen or the timeless galley style, you can never go wrong with these kitchen floor plans. So with that in mind, here are our suggestions for good kitchen design layout practices and awesome design layouts for the modern kitchen.
What Constitutes a Good Kitchen?
A kitchen should, at minimum, be able to cater to your basic cooking needs. But what’s the difference between a great kitchen and a meh kitchen? A great kitchen is designed to maximize every inch of space available. For instance, your kitchen should have sufficient storage and counter space in the right places. A great kitchen is also well-lit and easily accessible to bring in groceries.
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Furthermore, your kitchen should also be as efficient as possible. In particular, there’s a little something we’d like to call the work triangle in every kitchen. This triangle is made up of your kitchen appliance (stove), fridge, and sink. The basic idea here is that your kitchen layout should take into account this triangle and not interrupt the sacred flow of work.
For example, you are having an island that breaches the work triangle. This makes moving from your fridge to the sink a whole lot further. Alternatively, large kitchens with enormous work triangles are also to be avoided. This is similar to the previous scenario albeit, without the kitchen island. You’d still have to walk a long way from each point with this kitchen design. And speaking of interruptions, we’d definitely recommend placing your kitchen at the end of your home to reduce foot traffic. Constant traffic cutting through the work triangle is likely to cause accidents.
Last but not least, we’d also advise against sacrificing your counter space and storage for kitchen appliances if your kitchen is small. Basically, know your kitchen size limits!
Kitchen Design Layouts
Here are some great examples of popular kitchen design layouts you can adapt for your next kitchen makeover project. And don’t worry, these tried-and-true kitchen layouts are still relevant to today’s lifestyle.
Basic One-Wall Kitchens
One-wall. That’s all you’ll need with this layout. The one-wall kitchen layout is generally found in studio or loft spaces. In other words, it’s the best choice to save space. As its name implies, your cabinets and appliances are fixed only on a single wall.
A modern spin to this traditional layout is to include a kitchen island. This would change your one-wall layout into a galley style kitchen with a walk-through corridor.
Galley Style For Kitchen Design
Speaking of galley layouts, this style is also an ideal choice for smaller spaces and one-cook kitchens. The galley kitchen’s defining trait is that it has two walls placed opposite each other.
Otherwise, you could also have two parallel countertops with a walkway between them. Galleys are one of the best ways to maximize usage of your space. And there’s no need for troublesome corner cabinets, so you can save some moolah there!
L-shaped Kitchen Layout
If galley style isn’t your cup of tea, maybe you could consider an L-shaped layout. An L-shaped kitchen solves the problem of maximizing corner space . And this design is best suited for small and medium sized kitchens. You may wonder, why is it called L-shaped? The basic components that make up this kitchen floor plan are countertops on two adjoining walls that are perpendicular, forming an L. That’s why.
On the other hand, there are L-shaped layouts that do not follow this traditional setup. For example, you could have a double L-shaped kitchen or a broken L-shaped kitchen. With this type of layout, you’ll effectively eliminate most foot traffic and the subsequent accidents that may occur. Plus, you’ll also be able to easily add a dining space and multiple work zones to this layout if necessary.
Horseshoe/U-shaped Kitchen Countertops
If you have space, we’d also recommend the horseshoe kitchen layout. Also known as a U-shaped kitchen, this layout’s defining trait is that it has three walls connected to one another. And these walls form a distinctive U-shape.
There’s also a modern variation of this layout (peninsula) that involves an L-shaped kitchen with an island forming the third “wall”. This particular design works well because it enables efficient work and traffic flow around the island.
Peninsula Kitchen / Kitchen Island
This kitchen floor plan basically involves a connected kitchen island. The best part of peninsula kitchens is that you don’t necessarily have to start from scratch. You can convert your current layout by extending your counter area with a kitchen island!
As we’ve said before, you can convert your L-shaped layout into a horseshoe by adding a kitchen island to the mix. But did you know that your U-shaped kitchen can also be converted into a G-shaped kitchen by doing the same? Though, the problem with this is that most kitchens do not have the required space to pull this off.
G-shaped Kitchen Layout Plan
Finally, we have the G-shaped kitchens. This kitchen layout is ideal if you’ve got a huge open space in your kitchen. One side of the “G” can go along a wall, while the rest of the kitchen can extend out into the room.
Other than that, you may also utilize the aforementioned peninsula kitchen by adding an island to your U-shaped kitchen. This will give you a ton of base counter storage which would make up the loss of storage due to the absence of walls. Be warned though, with that much space you’ll bound to run into some overstuffing problems.
Clutter and junk can and will accumulate, thus giving your kitchen a disorganized look. In addition, the planning of the layout itself is complicated. You’ll need to figure out where to place each kitchen appliances, bearing in mind that the work triangle may be affected.
Modern Kitchen – Lighting
LED There Be Light! Kitchen Design Ideas
The kitchen as they say it, is indeed the heart of the home. Just like other rooms, kitchens have different lighting needs. Just like a healthy balanced meal, your kitchen requires the right balance of lighting to get you on the right track to accomplish the day’s tasks.
Realistically, we need to cater to both lighting needs for meal preparation and creating an inviting, warm environment for you and your guests. Fret not, that’s what we’re here for. These are the tips for great lighting in your kitchen.
Layer It
It’s pretty vital to create layers of light when creating a room design, particularly in kitchens!
There aren’t any fixtures out there that will provide all the necessary light for kitchen lighting task. Since that’s the case, you have to try adding layers!
Couple the main overhead light with layers of smaller lights place in areas for various tasks. For example, near a food prep station, over the stove and above the kitchen sink.
Moreover, adding layers will also help cut down on glare. The concept is key when you can consolidate ambient, task, and accent lighting to devise a dynamic space.
1. Ambient: This will be your main source of light—whether in addition to natural light, or to fill in for lack of it. You want to cast as much of it as evenly as possible from your ceiling. You can do so with a combination of (but not limited to) chandeliers, pendant lights, recessed lighting, and flush mounts.
2. Task: While ambient lighting is used to enable you to navigate throughout the kitchen, it often leaves shadows in areas that require more focus. With the help of task lighting, work surfaces and cabinetry are properly illuminated so you can safely prepare meals, read recipes, and easily spot ingredients on a shelf. Common kitchen task lighting options include strip lights and puck lights.
3. Accent: Consider these flourishes the cherry on top of your well-designed kitchen: toe kick lights, cabinet lights and any other light that might accentuate your favorite elements. They also might cross over into ambient and task lighting as well.
More On Lighting In The Kitchen
Make Your Design Shine: Add Kitchen Accent Lighting
The right placement of accent lights can really help emphasize your favorite elements. Common kitchen accent lights include:
- Recessed: This type of refined, out-of-the-way lighting can go anywhere. But it is particularly important when you want to illuminate areas of visual interest like open shelves and glass cabinets.
- Overcabinet: Placed between the cabinet and ceiling, overcabinet lights add a dramatic touch to your kitchen. Created in a similar fashion to undercabinet lighting, overcabinet lighting can provide even illumination to accent decor and architecture.
- Toekick Lights: A great way to distinguish kitchens and to illuminate a pathway. Toe lighting is produced via rope lights or LED tape.
Focusing on the right layers will help you make the most of the space in your kitchen and enjoy every meal from breakfast to midnight snacks. Need some ideas? Discover inspiration in our kitchen lighting ideas.
Latest Kitchen Trends: Add a Little Character
Character in other word the ambiance of the kitchen lighting needs to be on point too. Ambient kitchen lighting is often overlooked in cooking areas. And it can help fill any gaps in lighting, while also creating a warm glow for the room and is an inexpensive way to upgrade your kitchen.
The kitchen environment requires ample ambient lighting that is supported by task lights for specific workstations. When we walk into our kitchens, we usually want to be able to see the whole room clearly with the flip of a switch.
This can be achieved with an assortment of styles of fixtures that are available in a myriad of designs, and this is where we can grant expression to our creativity and sense of design.
Besides Kitchen Colour Combinations, Think About the Task..
If you placed a task kitchen lighting properly, it will provide just the right illumination for tasks such as reading recipes and prepping vegetables.
The best place for task lighting is between the work surface and a person’s head, so lighting placed under cabinets is ideal. And strip lights are a popular choice for this space.
Common kitchen under-cabinet lighting options include:
- Strip Lights: Versatile and great for illuminating the interior of a cabinet, especially low cabinets that hardly receive any ambient lighting. LED strip lights are also used under the cabinet to fully illuminate counter spaces.
- Puck Lights: Round and oval, puck lights are great mood lights and can be used to illuminate countertops in the form of a scallop, spot or pool of light.
Light Dimmers – Use Them!
Adding light dimmer switches in the kitchen makes sense because bright illumination makes tasks easier, while dimmed lig hts help with ambiance after the meal.
Adding separate kitchen lighting dimmers for each fixture will help you customize the lighting for the situation.
Dimmer switches add much desired flexibility to any lighting design. In the kitchen, these handy gadgets grant the homeowner the ability to turn up the light while preparing food and during the after dinner cleanup, and soften the lights a bit during the meal and later in the evening when activity diminishes.
Know Your Kitchen Layout Measurements
Space and counter size covering is vital and your selection of the lighting relies heavily on this. Most of the the kitchen islands are accommodated by two or three small pendants, but some require as many as four small lights (or perhaps alternatively fewer but larger lights).
In this instance, the three medium-sized pendant lighting perfectly cover the whole marble island.
Stay Focused
Choose a focal point and illuminate it. You have to decide where you want your guests to look by doing this. Avoid directing the eye towards the sink area.
You don’t want your visitors to get a glimpse of your dirty dishes now, am I right? For instance, the heirloom lights in the image below which create focus to the kitchen countertop.
Don’t be afraid to go big when replacing a kitchen light centerpiece. Whether it’s a classic chandelier or something reflective of your eclectic style, a big, bold piece in the center of the kitchen will make a statement.
The Power of Track Lighting for Wet and Dry Kitchen
Who wants to work in their own shadow? No one. So, this is where track kitchen lighting comes in. As a matter of fact, track lighting is rising in popularity as an overhead lighting source because of its availability in energy efficient options.
Not only that, it also allows you to position each light to customize your space. Installing track lighting is a project that can be completed in a weekend.
Kitchen Design Ideas – When Less is More
Considering your main overhead kitchen lighting options? There is such a thing as TOO much. Try to keep to one main bold piece, or two to three pendants over an area(usually above the countertop).
Making your hanging fixtures compete can make a kitchen look a little cluttered and chaotic. On a side note, if more lighting is needed for work spaces, try affordable track lighting or under-cabinet lights like mentioned earlier in this article.
Kitchen Colour Combinations
When choosing your fixtures, think about the color of your kitchen. Since white reflects light, if you have a lot of white in your kitchen you may be able to lower the wattage of bulbs. But those with darker kitchen lighting may need more wattage.
Modern Kitchen – Countertop & Kitchen Island
Everyone goes through a dilemma when it comes to difficult decisions. Every day, life is filled with many difficult decision that have to be made. Be it something as meaningless as choosing what you’re going to wear to the office today, or something that bears a little more weight like; deciding whether or not to quit your job. Generally, you’ll ask yourself some standard questions to get a satisfying conclusion each time. And so, when it comes to kitchen renovation, the process is pretty similar.
One of the many decisions that will screw you is the process of choosing the perfect kitchen countertop. Fortunately, selecting the right kitchen countertop doesn’t have to be as burdensome as people make it. Take as much time to plan in advance and consider a few key points, you can usually narrow down your options to the perfect countertop choice rather easily and still avoid pulling your hair out in the process. Without wasting any more time, let’s check out and see what you should take into account before choosing your kitchen countertop.
Moolah – Your Budget for Kitchen Renovation!
In any decision to revamp or renovate your space, you have to think of the budget! Of course. This has got to be your first place to start whenever you’re trying to decide on a countertop style.
There are vast array for the types of countertops. Some are known to be expensive. Engineered stone and granite are on the costly side but the price is basically the same for these materials. Marble is expensive and so is stainless steel. Even though paper composite may sound like and affordable choice, that’s not always the case.
Laminates are known as the much simply less expensive options than others, like quartz. You have to be realistic! Don’t set your hopes too high, or too low, on an option that doesn’t match your finances.
If you’re planning to renovate your kitchen and is on a limited budget, it’s really vital for you to find a high quality countertop option that you can actually afford. Likewise, if the sky’s the limit on your project, then splurge all you want for a higher-end stone options that reflect the style and aesthetic look of your entire kitchen.
What is the Kitchen Countertop Material for YOU?
Materials, materials. Such a hard question. Will this material complement that material? Is the texture of this material accentuate the kitchen counter top or dim it? SO hard. And what makes it harder is the wealth of choices available in the market. From the usual butcher’s block to the less common such as glass and terrazzo. Which one should you choose? Engineered stone and marble is expensive, but are they worth it if we were to compare it to paper composite?
With that being said, we must have in mind what we want for a kitchen top. Or how do we want it to function as. Wooden ones like butcher’s block is a sturdy material that not only exudes a vintage vibe, but can also function as a chopping blocks, if you so desire.
If a look is what you are after, stainless steel oozes an industrial and cyberfunk feel due to how these materials look. But stainless steel tops are noisy as the clangs from pots and kettles will certainly up the decibel in the kitchen department.
Concrete countertops are edgy, and are very customizable in terms of the overlay where one can overlay glass fragments, rocks and shells. But one thing to be remembered though, adding all these customizations can also increase the cost of the countertop materials and building it as well.
Kitchen Renovation – Think of The Maintenance!
Every type of countertops requires maintenance, some more than others. What dictates this? Of course it’s the material, colour, and finish you choose that affects it. If you’re taking Granite into consideration, they’re pretty good with heat and scratches. It can withstand it pretty well but it still has to be sealed every now and then or they will get stained.
There are countertops that are maintenance-free, which is the solid surface countertops. How come? Because the material is non-porous. You don’t need to seal it or have a special cleaning for it. However! These babies can be susceptible to scratches and burns.
Other than that, marble may look stunningly glamorous! BUT! It stains easily, EVEN is it’s sealed. If you want to have a marble countertop, yeah sure but maybe not all. Limit its use to certain areas only.
On the other hand, stainless steel countertops are nearly indestructible. They are very heat and bacteria resistant. Plus, they have that industrial look that a lot of modern, contemporary kitchens can rock. However, they show fingerprints and dent easily. Stainless steel countertop is very recommended. Just look at how it compliments the modern, contemporary kitchen look in this video below;
More on Kitchen Countertop Maintenance
Concrete countertops. Things are simple with concrete countertops. They resist heat very well and are durable. Just like other things, it also has its flaw. Because they are porous, they stain easily and have to be sealed quite frequently. Wood and moisture can never be friends. So take that into consideration before choosing the material for your kitchen countertops.
Moreover, wood is not resistant to bacteria and has to be disinfected frequently. It also doesn’t withstand scratches that well. However, these can be fixed through sanding or oiling. Paper composite. I know, that doesn’t sound appealing at all. But these babies are surprisingly durable! They withstand heat and water really well but are not resistant to scratches or chemical damage.
Lifestyle – How's The Traffic or Use in Your Kitchen?
While material, price and looks are important, what you need to focus on is your lifestyle and that of your family. The kitchen countertops have to be a good fit. So if you have kids and there’s always a mess in your kitchen, perhaps white isn’t the best color for the countertops and wood or marble not your best material choices.
What will you use the countertop for? If you live in a house filled with young kids, you may not want to install a white granite countertop that could be easily stained from Kool-Aid, jelly, or finger-paints.
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Similarly, some countertop options can be easily damaged by water, heat, or knives. It’s important to choose a color and material that will function well for your lifestyle and cooking needs. If cooking is your favorite pastime and budget allows choosing kitchen countertops made of marble, quartz, or granite would all provide the properties desired for various cooking applications, like making pasta or rolling out cookie dough.
After you’ve established both space and budget, take a moment to think about the primary use of your kitchen. Do you frequently entertain guests? On the other hand, if cooking isn’t really your thing you may decide to look past the heat-regulating properties of marble, and instead choose to focus on a countertop material that better fits your style and overall desired properties.
Modern Kitchen – Fixtures & Fittings
You can get all these at your local depot or bathroom or kitchen fixture store. Or, online you can get some off Lazada. The best online store for these without a doubt is Amazon. They have variety and reviews on all the best ones. All of which are guaranteed to enhance your choosing and shopping experience.
