20 mistakes in a Modular Kitchen
20 Mistakes in Modular Kitchen
The term Modular Kitchen is used to describe the modern standing Kitchen. The term Modular explains something made in different modules, so that it can be changed, enhanced or removed as per requirement.
While making a modular kitchen few mistakes are made which makes the use of the space a bit irritating and inconvenient. We have come up with 20 Mistakes in Modular Kitchen. You may have few more. Please feel free to comment and share in the comment box below.
You can watch the video on this topic in Hindi in the video link below.
The 20 Mistakes in a Modular Kitchens we have found are as below:
- Having a White Kitchen Countertop and not taking care of.
- Improper installation of Kitchen Countertop.
- Having storage cabinets near the Sink.
- Using low quality Channels and Hardware.
- Using MDF, Prelaminated Board for Kitchen Shutters.
- Too much of distance in Cooking area and Sink area.
- Storing frequently used items away from Cooking Area.
- Not considering number of family members.
- Not planning the Kitchen – Future Ready.
- Not having Open Shelves over the Countertop.
- Wrong height of Kitchen Counter top.
- Wrong height and size of Overhead Cabinets.
- Not having a raised platform on the floor, to start the Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers.
- Inferior Quality Facets and Taps.
- Not planning Kitchen Countertop edges to stop liquid spillage.
- Not having proper Waterflow levelling of the Kitchen Countertop.
- Having thick partition walls – Brick walls for partition of the Kitchen.
- Improper Lighting and no lights inside the cabinets and drawers.
- Not planning a proper thrash bin.
- Having an ineffective Kitchen Chimney.
So let us dive directly into the 20 Mistakes in Modular Kitchen.
1. Having a White Kitchen Countertop and not taking care of the White Countertop.
White kitchen countertop looks really beautiful. Unfortunately the white brings with it lots of challenges and responsibilities. You have to maintain and care for the white kitchen countertop. You can read the article on having a white kitchen countertop. Click here to read the article on Nano White Kitchen Countertop.
The minor and major scratch can spoil the look and feel. The Nano White which is used to get White Countertop is a glass type material, which can crack. Another item is acrylic solid surface. We will talk about the product in some other article.
So please be aware on how to take care of the Nano White Kitchen Countertop before choosing it.
2. Improper installation of Countertop.
The homeowner needs to ensure that the kitchen countertop is installed properly. Do not leave any hollow spot between the base and the actual Kitchen Countertop Stone. The homeowner must ensure that a firm secondary leveling base is installed before installing the actual kitchen countertop. Among the 20 Mistakes in Modular Kitchen, this mistake can be fatal. The stone or nano white can crack any day due to the hollow or loose spot. The final words are, the Kitchen Countertop must be pasted using sufficient adhesive or any other bonding agent.
Installing the countertop stone nicely is a very important thing. This mistake can prove to be one the costliest mistake among 20 mistakes in a modular kitchen.
3. Having Storage Cabinet near Sink area.
Sink is a wet area. You will be washing your utensils in this area. Never put any cabinet or storage near the sink area. When you put a storage or cabinet near or next to the sink or washing area, the water spills on the body of the cabinet. Also the water can seep and flow inside the Cabinet. The water that enters the cabinet can help in germination of germs and insects. You may also experience a bad smell inside the cabinet.
So keep the Sink or Wet area free from any storage or cabinet.
4. Using Inferior Quality Hardware and Channels.
Just to save some money, the homeowner or the Modular Kitchen contractor selects inferior or cheap quality channels, baskets, and hardware. The inferior hardware loses its sheen and shines very fast. The movement of the Channel becomes hard and inconvenient. The Channels and hinges get loose and may come off leading to a very uncomfortable situation for the homeowner. Never use low-quality hardware. The cost of hardware is not substantial in one Kitchen. By investing this money, you can keep yourself free from all types of unnecessary headaches.
Each one of the above mistakes is equally important to consider among the 20 mistakes in modular kitchen.
5. Using MDF, HDF, Prelaminated Board for Kitchen Shutters.
MDF, HDF, PLPB, or Pre laminated Board, these boards are not suitable for shutters of Modular kitchens. The screw holding capacity of these boards is quite weak in comparison to the nature of its uses in a Modular Kitchen. Just to save some money, the homeowner or the contractor making the modular kitchen, selects these boards. It is always recommended to use a decent quality Plywood. The top layer or the decorative layer can be used as per the choice of the user. Always use good quality plywood for Kitchen Shutters.
Hence, Plywood is one of the best material for Kitchen Shutter. The Plywood can be finished by laminates, acrylic sheet and veneers etc.
6. Wrong distance between Cooking Stove and Sink.
Indian Kitchens are different from European Kitchen. Indians have a very rich variety of foods and the cooking pattern is very intense. When a homeowner keeps wrong distance between Cooking Stove and Sink, it brings in the inconvenience. In Indian Kitchen, the person cooking have to reach the sink very often.
- Chawal me se maand likalne ke liye.
- Pohe bhijane ke liye.
- Pakode banate samay baar baar haath dhone ke liye.
- Thakurji ko bhog ke liye haath dhone ke liye. and many more (leave comments below).
7. Frequently used items should be near the Cooking Stove.
Storing frequently used items far from the cooking area is one more mistake from our list of 20 mistakes in a modular kitchen. Always plan the space for spices, tea, and coffee very near to the cooking stove or cooking stove. These items must be stored either in the space under the cooking stove or just above. This will give easy access to the frequently required items. This in turn makes the cooking experience pleasant and convenient.
8. Storage planning based on number of Family Members & Expected Guests.
Grains, Vegetables, Utensils and other items required for the Kitchen needs to be planned as per the size of the family. A large family may need more storage space, whereas a small family can do with small storage spaces.
Always plan the storage cabinets, drawers, pantry cabinets etc. as per the size of the family. Some families love to have lots of guests. So do not forget to consider the family members, extended family members and expected guests while planning for the storage space in the kitchen. Do not have too much of storage, when you have a small family. So also do not make a stylish, trendy kitchen with very little storage space when you have a large family and have guests coming in.
9. Not planning the kitchen future ready.
Gone are the days when the lady of the house use to be there all day at home and take care of the house and the kitchen specially. She has the power and capability of handling two fronts of the life – Office and Home. She and in some houses She and He has to leave the house in the morning and they will return home after office hours. The lady of the house specially, I will prefer to call her “Mahalaxmi” will need the appliances, tools and machines to carry out the Kitchen chores. Always plan a kitchen future ready.
There are so many Kitchen Appliances that are required. To name a few, I am giving list below:
- Induction
- Microwave Oven
- Dish Washer
- Juicer Mixer Grinder
- Coffee Machine
- Blender – please add your names in the comment section below.
Even if your are not planning to have these items immediately in your Kitchen, keep the provision. Keeping provision for all these equipment and install them whenever required is a better idea. When the kitchen is not future ready, the equipment and appliances are kept in an unplanned manner. Take my words, you are going to need most of them in future. So plan your kitchen future ready.
10. Not having Open Shelves.
Open Shelves are my favorite. Always plan open shelves. These shelves can be used to add energy in your kitchen or to put some too frequently used items or products.
By adding energy in the kitchen through open shelves I mean, put some plants (artificial), pictures or decorative items.
Open shelves come in handy to keep things which we may need very frequently. You can motivate your kids by keeping some art or craft work created by them. You can place some pictures of your loved and dear ones. Pictures of your recent or past vacations can also be place there. Artefacts memories aur movement toes which you may be stuffing in your suitcases or underwear cabinets can be rotated and frequently changed and placed on those open shelves.
So not having an open self can be considered as one of the mistake in modular kitchen, among the 20 mistakes in modular kitchen.
11. Height of Kitchen Countertop. (33 inch).
In Indian or Asian context the height of the kitchen countertop should be around 33 inches. This is an average size not necessary to be strictly followed. Sometimes we make the mistake of keeping it 33 inches without considering the height of the family members or the person who will be using the kitchen mostly. So don’t make the mistake of going by the rule book. We can change the height as required by the person mostly using the kitchen. As I am from India so I will consider that the lady of the house will be using the kitchen mostly.
So if the lady of the house is of short height the height of the kitchen countertop can be reduced. If she is taller, we can increase the height of the kitchen countertops slightly.
An under height kitchen countertop may bring in back pain. The kitchen with over height kitchen countertop can become inconvenient or uncomfortable for the user.
So don’t make the mistake of not considering kitchen countertop height. If not taken care of, the wrong kitchen countertop height can become the costliest mistake among the 20 mistakes in modular kitchens.
12. Wrong planning of Overhead Storage Cabinets.
Over head Cabinets are placed just over the kitchen countertop area, above the cooking hob or near and around the Kitchen Chimney. Following are few mistakes which we make while doing the overhead cabinets.
- Placement of OverHead Cabinets – Placing the Overhead Cabinets at the wrong height. In other words, we can say that the mistake is made by placing the overhead cabinets too low on the walls which hinders the cooking area, or they are mounted too high making the access to the cabinets inconvenient.
- Depth of the Cabinets – When we make the cabinets too deep, it becomes very inconvenient for the user to reach the containers in the back. My suggestion is to keep the depth such so that maximum of 2 to 3 layers of containers or items can be stored in the cabinets.
- Partitions inside the Overhead Cabinets – It is recommended to have two partitions inside the cabinets. This will help in keeping the cabinets uncluttered.
- Lights inside the Overhead Cabinets – Not planning for lights inside the overhead cabinets is another mistake in overhead cabinets. This increases the counting of 20 mistakes in modular kitchen. This topic will be again taken up later in the article.
13. Not having raised platform under the modular unit.
Starting the Modular Kitchen Unit from the base floor level of the kitchen is one more important mistake in the list of 20 mistakes in a modular kitchen. Always ensure that the base of the modular kitchen unit should be always raised by minimum 4 inches from the base floor of the kitchen.
Following will be the challenges you will face if you start the Kitchen Unit directly from the floor level.
- Dust, dirt, and insects can enter the storage cabinet area of the modular kitchen. The area under the Kitchen Countertop will need frequent cleaning and maintenance due to the flow of dirt, dust, and insects.
- While opening the doors and drawers of the Kitchen Storage Units, they may hurt your feet. There will be no space for your feet when you open the doors and drawers. On the other hand, if the base of the storage unit area is slightly raised, the drawer and doors will open slightly higher than the base floor. This will avoid any possible hurting of the feet. In India, we do not take our shoes inside the Kitchen. Here the chances of getting hurt are even higher.
14. Inferior Quality of Faucets & Taps.
Never think of saving your money on the quality of faucets and taps. They are the most frequently used products in any Kitchen. Having a low-quality plumbing item like faucets and taps may bring in a permanent nuisance of taps and faucets malfunctioning. Always invest in decent-quality faucets and taps so that they serve you trouble-free for a longer period.
Do not forget to get the faucets with maximum features and options of using. Buy and install a decent quality of faucets and taps and plumbing.
15. Counter top not planned to stop liquid spillage.
The edges of the Kitchen Countertop must be intelligently planned. It has been seen that just for the sake of design and looks, the kitchen countertop is designed in such a way that when some liquid spillage is there, it flows all over the cabinets under the Kitchen Countertop.
Always keep in mind the point of water or liquid flowing or dropping from the Kitchen Countertop. Avoiding this mistake from 20 mistakes in a modular kitchen can save you from slipping in the kitchen. The liquid and water if regularly fall on the cabinet shutters below the countertop, will damage the look, feel and shine of the cabinet shutters.
Do not make the mistake of not planning the edges of the Kitchen Countertop. A properly done kitchen countertop can save you from a kitchen slipping accident and keep your cabinet shutters looking new and fresh, longer.
16. Liquid Flow direction of Countertop.
Among the 20 mistakes in a modular kitchen, this mistake may seem to be not that important. Unfortunately, this mistake of not keeping proper flow or depression of Kitchen Countertop can give the maximum headache to the user.
Whenever there is some liquid spillage on the kitchen countertop, you will always love the proper flow or depression of the countertop. You will equally hate the wrong direction of water flow level in similar situation.
Always ensure that the water flow level of the kitchen countertop is flowing towards the kitchen sink. Also, there should not be any depression or flow towards the wall. The flow towards the wall will hold some liquid near the wall frequently. This will always keep the countertop dirty. The user will have to keep in mind the spots where special local cleaning needs to be done.
17. Modular Unit partition using bricks.
As kitchen is a very small space in the entire house so every inch of space counts. Little I have never seen any new kitchen being made using brick wall partitions under the kitchen counter top. If you make partitions under the kitchen counter top using bricks it is a major mistake which will waste lot of space in your modular kitchen. It is strongly recommended not to use brick wall partition as partitions under your kitchen countertop or for kitchen cabinets.
The best way to create partitions under the kitchen countertop or for kitchen cabinets are as below
- Single slab of marble
- Double layer of marble sandwich with plywood in the centre.
- Good quality plywood partitions.
- WPC aur PVC board partitions.
In some cases kitchen is made using GI channel partitions. Very high and exclusive kitchens are made out of stainless steel. The stainless steel modular kitchen are available in stainless steel look and also in different colour coatings.
So when you are making a modular kitchen please ensure that every inch of space is saved and his used for making cabinets in the modular kitchen.
18. Improper Light planning. Not having lights inside the cabinet.
Light is not just for illuminating a space it creates lot of energy and designs to a space. Modular kitchen is no different to this rule. While designing a modular kitchen always give lot of priority for light and light designing. A very simple and ordinary kitchen could look wonderful if light planning is done nicely.
These are the following type of lights required in a modular kitchen.
- Basic illumination light.
- Light specially for kitchen counter top.
- Lights inside the cabinets and storage units and pantry units.
- Decorative and designer lights.
Don’t forget to put small LED lights insides the draw cabinets overhead cabinets batteries or any other stories space and even below the sink area. These are all dark spaces and normal lights cannot enter these areas specially in the evenings. It is always convenient to have additional lights inside the cabinets almirahs cupboards draws everything.
Spend some type for deciding on your requirement of lights and in this point itself I will add one more thing that use must plan sufficient electrical points. In modern kitchen lot of gadgets and appliances are used so you will require many switch points on electrical points to use those appliances.
19. No planning for thrash bins.
Kitchen generates lot of thrash. The waste generated in kitchen are biodegradable food waste and also non degradable plastic and packing items which come with the food items. You have to have proper garbage or waste planning in a decent modular kitchen.
Normally waste bins are mounted on the doors of under sink area. It has been observed that many times the door with the thress been comes out and gets damaged. It is recommended not to hang the thressbeen behind the doors. If you spend some time researching on this topic you will find different options for kitchens thrash bins.
20. Using ineffective Kitchen Chimney.
Kitchen Chimney is a compulsory item in any modular kitchen. Kitchen Chimney socks all the fumes and smells of a modular kitchen and process it outside the kitchen. This helps in keeping the kitchen walls cupboards cabinets and area clean and fumes and smell free.
Always buy a decent quality Kitchen Chimney with a powerful suction. Section strength of a Kitchen Chimney is the most important thing in any kitchen chimney. So make sure that your kitchen chimney has sufficient suction power required for the size of the kitchen you have. Additional bonus point for kitchen chimney is that try to get a very minimum maintenance taking kitchen chimney. The kitchen chimney you buy must be auto clean and if required some parts can be removed and clean locally at your home itself and no technician is required to clean the chimney on regular basis. This will help you in reducing the maintenance cost and issues related to kitchen chimney getting choked or not performing property. So insure that the kitchen chimney has got proper suction power and is clean able at your home by your team itself and no technician is required to be called from the company for cleaning the kitchen chimney.
Above all the list of 20 mistakes in a modular kitchen. While you read the above points the counting may increase by 20 because we have included few more additional mistakes related to some topics so whenever you are planning a modular kitchen make sure that these basic minimum mistakes are not there in your kitchen.
Peace feel free to ask your questions by leaving your comments your questions in the comment box below.
Do check out the following articles – https://interiordost.com/front-load-and-top-load-washing-machine/