The space in which one cooks is sacred, but who says it can’t be stylish too? These kitchen design ideas are just the tip of the iceberg of endless possibilities, the starting point of creating a space where creativity flows and people come together.
Thought Parallels create a modern home in a secluded corner of Kozhikode, merging a contemporary structure with traditional craftsmanship and vernacular architecture. “The site was afforested with mango, bougainvillea, jackfruit, neem and other indigenous trees which organically offered green fencing as demarcation,” say Nikhil Mohan and Shabna Nikhil, principal architects of Thought Parallels, whom the couple entrusted to bring their sylvan sanctuary to life. The 2,220-square-foot glass-and-concrete structure, topped by a wing-shaped inverted roof of lightweight steel and wood, peeks out from this vegetation and quietly puts on a show. In contrast to the façade, a material palette of concrete, kadappa tiles and wooden slats on the ceiling makes for interiors that are a nod to Kerala’s vernacular architecture and feel cosy and lived-in. On the opposite end of the living room lies a six-seater dining table, in a lighter wood, that’s illuminated by a striking red pendant light. The dining area organically flows into the kitchen, a minimalist, yet warm space with wooden shelving, tiled backsplash in shades of browns and maroon, teal cabinetry, and a wooden kitchen island with carved legs and a black granite top. Across the home, patterned tiles, terracotta inserts, artwork, and tapestries from Dimapur-based Heirloom Naga add colour and texture to the simple decor.
Architect and founder of Mangalore-based Hiraya Design Studio, Apeksha Naik’s 90-year-old family home is a typical Mangalore style villa. Located in a quiet residential area in Mangalore town, it was owned by her father’s paternal uncle. “Since my father was very attached to this villa, in 1987, my grandfather decided to buy it for his son. This is where my brother and I have grown up,” she shares. Reconfiguring all the interiors and some parts of the exterior formed the vital part of this renovation project. A car porch was developed, and built-in outdoor seating was constructed at the entrance of the house. Inside, the wall segregating the dining and kitchen was broken down to accommodate an open kitchen.
“My mother and brother are great cooks and my dad and I are great eaters, so the island was planned—this is where the initial tasting is done and we tend to have a lot of conversation around it,” smiles Naik. A handmade concrete light with a leaf inlay from Purple Turtles; an antique wardrobe converted into a crockery unit from Karaikudi; Spanish tiles for flooring; and the wooden columns over a pedestal that act as an entryway are the other talking points of this warm hearth. The dining table is a stunner—an antique door topped with glass with pillar-like solid wooden legs. The chairs are a combination of solid wood and cane. A small portion of the utility area was punctured to accommodate a wash basin on a marble-topped table, near the dining table setting. Moulding on the white wall frames a delicate antique brass mirror complemented by antique lights. The bowl on the floor is a traditional rice measuring device, kalase, from the family’s ancestral home.
In a city like Mumbai, you’d be hard-pressed to find spaces that allow you to watch the sky, let alone have it seep into your room. In a city that never sleeps, crafting a home for mindful pauses is nothing short of a miracle, and designer Mahek Lalan of SML Architects accomplishes that unassumingly. In the neighbourhood of Matunga stands a three-level home in a 25-year-old building, spread across an area of 2,250 square feet for a family of three. The home in Mumbai is surrounded by patches of green—another rarity for the city—which it revels in by widening and elongating the windows, ushering in as much of the outdoors as one possibly can.
In the kitchen, a striking contrast of warm wood and cool black stone adds an element of visual and tactile nuance. The designer makes clever use of fluted glass-an effortless way to add an element of elegant modernity to any space while imbuing it with character-by lining the overhead cabinet shutters with the material.
Abdul Latheef of Atelier Republic Architects combines Japandi aesthetics with a touch of Kerala’s traditional architecture in this elegant home. “Whether it’s a dedicated study area for the father or a thoughtfully organised kitchen for culinary creativity, their house is a reflection of their aspirations. What sets this architectural project apart is the client’s vision for a space that fosters interaction and togetherness. It’s not just a house; it’s a place where shared experiences and family bonds are nurtured, where interactive spaces bring everyone together in a harmonious blend of modern living and traditional values,” Latheef elaborates.
The floor plan for this Thrissur home was carefully structured into four distinct zones—public, semi-public, semi-private, and private— a fact that is seen in the kitchen design ideas of the home. “A flexible approach was taken with the kitchen, allowing it to function as part of the semi-private space, yet offering the option to be partitioned off when necessary. The client also wanted to have a plan that did not follow the normal design procedure which had rooms partitioned as per function but rather follow an open plan,” explained Latheef. The kitchen partition incorporates Japanese-inspired fluted glass panels framed in black. This addition not only added an element of privacy but also served as a striking design element, further enhancing the Japandi aesthetic.
When Rohan Thakur (Ronnie) describes the eight months (and time leading up to it) he, his wife Bharati Bahrani (Barty) and their interior designer Sherab Zangmo Tharbus, spent working on their 1,500-square-foot Manali home, his voice is emotion-filled. Almost as if echoing the raison d’etre of its filmmaker residents, the home doesn’t just speak, it emotes. The initial brief focused on a space that blended the rustic-Bohemian aesthetic with their functional needs. The design styles may sound different but as Sherab explains, “There are overlapping elements — both styles are very unfinished with so much character and both use lots of natural materials.”
Teal is used in abundance in the living room walls, against the wooden ceiling and wall to balance the colours while orange and reds were used in the kitchen-dining area where cabinets are blue. The heart of the home, the kitchen by Alea Kitchen, is bright and cheerful thanks to the patterned ceramic backsplash tiles from Chandigarh, terracotta flooring, and the large window ushering in natural light.
For AD100 Akshat Bhatt of Architecture Discipline, designing this villa in Goa enabled him to experiment with materiality, for the brief only outlined a few functional requirements and nothing more. The home’s external expression—a composition of charred timber crafted using an age-old Japanese preservation technique called yakisugi—lends a stark character to the home. But more importantly, the treated timber panels with their enhanced durability and resistance to heat and moisture make them well suited for Goa’s tropical weather, while allowing the facade to morph and age gracefully with the elements as time passes.
The juxtaposition to this organic character comes in the form of the kitchen, which is not only clad in zinc, but breaks out from the primary linear geometry of the home with a deconstructed cantilever. One feels almost suspended in nature in this zone, flanked by the pool on one end and the kitchen garden on the other.