What's Hot: 4 Tips To Give Your Kitchen That Awesome Look

Women don't exaggerate when they say a good part of their lives is spent in their kitchens. But, this is also true that the cooking station is no more a woman's territory. With changing lifestyles, kitchens are fast becoming the playfield for all family members. This not only changes the way cooking is done, but also affects how kitchens are constructed.

In his book 150 Best New Kitchens, Barcelona-based author Manel Gutierrez describes new-age kitchen designs. An aesthetic continuity and integration of spaces could be achieved by a coherent design that features similar finishes in different areas that were generally separated, Gutierrez told news portal NorthJersey.com in an interview. 

PropGuide lists out some of those key ideas from the book:

Blend it

Gutierrez says that you should design the kitchen in a way that it merges with the rest of the house seamlessly. He argues even to the point of concealing appliances behind cabinets or sliding doors. Integration is the new cool. The bigger the integration the better it is. The goal is for the kitchen to blend in with the rest of the house.

(150 Best New Kitchens book)

Mix it up

According to Gutierrez, designers now prefer materials such as lightweight concrete, cement, ceramic, stone and terra-cotta glass, alongside the tried and tested stainless steel and the good old wood for kitchen interior. The development of these new materials has strongly caught the attention of designers. These materials are easy to install, maintain and clean, apart from being long-lasting. Also, they are aesthetically innovative and are paving a new road for exploring kitchen designs.

(150 Best New Kitchens book)

Cover it up

What you see is important, but Gutierrez argues that what you don't see is more important. High-end storage designs, for example, makes use of the odd corners and keep things behind and that in turn makes everything sleeker, tighter, and more compact.

(150 Best New Kitchens book)

Go Monochromatic

Single colour themes always makes a strong design statement, whether it's light or dark, Gutierrez says. Going white could be it. He writes that colour white has many benefits: it looks harmonious and creates a sense of cleanliness. Similarly, the use of dark-stained wood adds a natural touch to your hypermodern black kitchen/dining room.

(150 Best New Kitchens book)