Editorial: Keep it plain and simple

The kitchen and the bathroom are the two most important rooms in most houses.

The kitchen is where I spend a lot of my time – even if I am not cooking or baking. I definitely see it as an extension of the living area and the place where I gladly always end up.

The bathroom is of course the quietest room in the house. It is a place where you can relax and know you will not be bothered.

A nice, big kitchen is where you can spend long hours in winter cooking or baking over a cup of tea or coffee, and hot summer afternoons entertaining with cooler concoctions before moving outdoors to enjoy a cool breeze.

With both rooms, practicality should be a priority. When planning a kitchen, you need to have in mind what is most important to you. What will you be doing most in your kitchen? Do you enjoy cooking? Do you like to entertain? How much time do you actually spend in your kitchen?

Do you own many kitchen utensils or gadgets? Is storage important to you? Do you need a pantry for extra space?

Do you really need a huge bathroom? Is the bath important to you? You might think not but, from experience, if you do not install one, you will eventually long for a nice, hot, relaxing bath.

Mirrors, shelving, lighting, storage, cabinets, extra towel rings – all this needs to be planned beforehand. You will surely tire of extravagant colours in the bathroom. Keep it plain and simple and don’t go overboard with design and colour. Remember, this is a room where comfort comes first, so you need to feel totally relaxed.

You might need to downsize your kitchen – this does not necessarily mean you are downgrading it, as Frances Bissell advises on pages 8 and 9. This could be a useful exercise in terms of checking what you really need in your kitchen and doing away with what you do not use.

For storage, Sonja Kralj offers a few tips with extra shelving and cabinets on pages 10 and 11. You might also learn a few lessons about the simplicity of cooking and keeping kitchens simple from Deborah Ratcliffe, who is touring India and learning that the simple things in life are usually the best.

Finally, kitchens reveal a lot about people, as Deana Luchia writes in her fridge magnet feature on page 15.

Enjoy reading the supplement and I will be back next month with a Gozo one.

space@timesofmalta.com