Decluttered: The new purism in the kitchen

Every day, people – especially in big cities – are bombarded by countless stimuli that they have to process. This leads many to long for an ordered look in their homes. This also, or especially, applies to kitchens, where lots of devices and other items gather, but which – when stored well – allow an unobstructed view of the beauty of “clean” style.

But clean doesn’t mean sterile. Many people associate purism with a flawless, cool and therefore unwelcoming appearance. Modern interpretations, however, can produce a thoroughly pleasant atmosphere from a clean ambiance, based on an uncluttered design. This is also heavily dependent on a balanced selection of colours and materials used in the kitchen furniture and appliances. By establishing a harmonious relationship, these features merge to form an impression of the interior design as a whole.

In a kitchen designed according to purist principles, tall cupboards with well thought-out storage spaces are true marvels of space management. Modest door fronts maintain a discreet, low profile and thereby contribute to the purist atmosphere. Larger kitchen appliances like ovens, steamers and microwaves can be optimally integrated into the rows of kitchen units. Their individual door fronts break up the otherwise uniformly smooth and exacting design.

With room-in-room elements, kitchen manufacturers also offer walk-in kitchen cupboards that function as larders or appliance cabinets. Here, large and small kitchen appliances find a home and are always ready to hand. When not in use, they disappear behind either a (sliding) door, a roller blind or a jalousie.

Depending on their construction and the materials used in their door fronts, these modern kitchen cupboards allow you to look right inside or cleverly conceal their contents. They differ from traditional kitchen cabinets and store cupboards in that – whether open or closed – they blend harmoniously into the ambience of the kitchen and even have a decorative, homely quality. After all, kitchens of the future will be required to look less and less like kitchens. Ideally, they too will become oases of well-being for residents, just like other rooms in the home.

However, the call for a clean look can also be seen as an aesthetic consequence of more open home layouts. On the one hand, living space is becoming more and more scarce, with space savings gained from merging two areas like the kitchen and living room an obvious solution. On the other hand, there has been a clear trend toward open kitchens for many years, with a fluid transition to the living area. The result is an increasing fusion of cooking, eating and home living. With this development in mind, the trend toward purist design appears to be a foregone conclusion.

Here, kitchen furniture such as kitchen islands and dresser-like cupboards take on space-management functions and act as room dividers. Discreet, unpolished kitchen fronts without handles and elegant worktops support the homely atmosphere of the kitchen. Liquidisers, toasters and blocks of power sockets can be sunk into worktops at the touch of a button, leaving a smooth, uncluttered surface behind.