Walls painted in white, granite counter top, mosaic or checkered flooring, bare and sturdy cement shelves, window with curtain printed in bright floral designs and a dusty tube light perched high on the ceiling - this is how most traditional kitchens looked like. Gone are the days when a kitchen seldom made it to the list of items that needed remodeling and renovation. A few elemental changes are all you need to make your old-fashioned kitchen look very close to a modular kitchen.
A modular kitchen is aesthetically appealing, trendy, sleek, convenient, safe, luxurious and utilises space better. Rajender Gandhi, Managing Director, StoveKraft India Ltd, says, "a modern modular kitchen is designed for the modern housewife. She is not only concerned about convenience and ease of use, but also beauty of the place."
What does it take to transform your kitchen into a fascinating modular marvel? According to Rajender, "the basic elements of any kitchen traditional or modular, is the stove and the chimney.The antiquated gas stove has been replaced today by modern hobs. The heating unit in hobs is concealed beneath ceramic, metal or granite surfaces. Thus, your countertop looks more spacious." On chimneys he adds, "more powerful and efficient electric chimneys have replaced the traditional chimneys that we've grown up with."
CHIMNEY
Most of us love spicy,hot and oily fried foods. Oil and grease characterise kitchens without proper working chimneys and ample ventilation. Electric chimneys starting from an affordable Rs 5,000 to an expensive Rs 70,000, is available in the market. These come in two flavors. One is the traditional electric chimney, which sucks out fumes and odour through a duct. A more sophisticated chimney comes with carbon filters filled with carbon granules. It cleans smoky and smelly air and then re-circulates purified air. This model does not need a duct that leads smoke to the outside, as the former model demands.
Chimneys generally come with stylish hoods, but the most popular ones are the sloping stainless steel wall mounted hoods.Sleeker models are also available for those who want to make them the focal point of their kitchen.Typically, a hood comes with standard halogen lighting, blower, options for variable speed settings and chimney.
HOB
Hobs come in several innovative and visually appealing models. From the traditional gas and electric hob to the most modern ceramic and induction hobs, you have a wide range to choose from. Undoubtedly , induction hobs are steadily climbing up the most sought after list of hobs. In most heating systems, heat is first transferred to the utensil and then to its contents. At the end of it, the entire cooking or heating unit is hot. Even after hours of cooking, the top only becomes warm and not very hot. When you turn on the hob, electricity flows through the coil under the cook top's ceramic plate. This creates an intense magnetic field.
Induction hobs require all the cookware to be made of ferrous material . The magnetic field induces current in the pan or cookware and heats up only its contents. The instant the pan is removed from the hob, energy transfer stops.
CABINETS
Elegant cabinets are the highlight of a modular kitchen.And if you want to give that look to your little factory, it is time for some woodwork. The most durable of cabinet materials, particleboard and MDF are fortunately the most economical. Mount florescent lights under the kitchen cabinets so that light floods the counter tops where you generally work.
Vandana Karthikeya, a software professional, recently upgraded her kitchen at a cost of Rs 80,000. She summarises, "cooking is no longer a daunting, nightmarish task. Modular kitchens with all the modern appliances have made cooking faster and a pleasure."
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