Introduction:

Modular kitchens have been around us for more than 50 years. Italians innovated a new concept and named it as a modular kitchen. So based on the appliance, interior designers design the kitchens. In the 60’s and 70’s people started to integrate appliances with the modular kitchen. 

The modular kitchen then evolved across the world, at the same time interior designers made multiple design upgrades based on the need and preference. 

EPS Interior in chennai, offers 100+ modular kitchen designs with different shapes. 

Here are the types of modular kitchen

• Straight Layout
• Parallel Layout
• ‘L’ Shaped Layout
• ‘U’ Shaped Layout
• Peninsula Layout
• Island Layout

Straight Layout Modular Kitchen:

The straight layout kitchen is very simple in nature and it has a high functionality layout. If you are out of space in your kitchen, a straight layout modular kitchen will help you out. 

Sometimes this concept can also be called a one wall kitchen, most of the interior designers recommend a straight layout for small apartments and small offices.

Features of Straight Kitchen:

• The shape is minimalistic and it won’t take much space. 
• It gives you a lot of control over the kitchen, the design is a single wall fixture. Small is always good.
• Straight Kitchen gives you a perfect workflow, so contacting the fridge and sinks is very easy.
• Compact kitchen allows us to design thousands of designs. The installation and repair is easy as well.
• Straight kitchens are cost effective, where you need not to install multiple materials. 

Multiple storage facilities are missing in the straight kitchen. So this type of kitchen is only suitable for small spaces.

Parallel Kitchen:

The concept is very new and it is easy for any one to use the parallel kitchen because of the functionality. Two parallel cabinets form this compact kitchen. This kitchen is very common for apartments, small houses and offices. 

You need more space than a straight kitchen, we can implement theme based modular kitchens. If you are looking for more space and need multiple storage facilities then a parallel kitchen is there for you.

Features of Parallel Kitchen:

• This kind of modular kitchen is simple in design and the house owners can keep maximum storage for their boxes and utensils. 
• You can even integrate your home appliances with this modular kitchen.
• Apart from storage, a parallel kitchen can offer you more cabinets. So it’s easy to compress all your kitchen belonging to one compact place.
• The working area of the kitchen is big and multiple people can work in a single area. We can avoid kitchen traffic in a parallel model.

L-Shaped Kitchen Layout:

This is a common kitchen layout, where many middle class and upper middle class have installed in their kitchen space. L shaped kitchens are the most efficient and high functionality model, where we can use them as multipurpose kitchens.

The workspace and kitchen traffic is very minimal in this concept. The design and concept gives you a lot of flexibility. 

Features of ‘L’ Shaped Kitchen:

• The ergonomics provides you a lot of space to integrate home appliances and other kitchen equipment. 
• Kitchen triangle is possible with ‘L’ Shape Kitchens, so it gives the cooks or homeowners a convenient walkthrough inbetween stove, sink and refrigerator.
• L Shape kitchens do not need larger space for installation. 
• This type of kitchens are always installed in the corners, so you will be having multiple entrances and exits. We can manage the kitchen traffic beneficially. 

U Shaped Modular Kitchens : 

U shaped kitchens are more convenient than L shaped kitchens. The cabinets are attached with three walls and we have one big spacious entrance and exit. U shaped kitchen provides you more comfort and space. 

Homeowners can integrate the home appliances and other kitchen appliances with this big space modular layout. 

Features of ‘U’ Shaped Modular Kitchen:

• U Shaped kitchen can be installed with various themes. Any theme can be designed for this layout.
• The kitchen space should allow you to design U shape, if not we can easily opt for an Island shape kitchen. 
• The main advantage of having a U Shaped Modular kitchen is 2 or more cooks can work together without any kitchen traffic. 
• They have an immense storage capacity, so it’s easy for us to keep the utensils, kitchen equipment.
• U Shaped Modular kitchen provides tons of counter space, storing your oven, grinder, mixie and juicer is very comfortable.

The main disadvantage of a U shaped kitchen is kitchen traffic if it is not planned correctly. Since the kitchen is narrow, the traffic might happen easily if the space is small. 

Island Modular Kitchen:

Island layout is very different from other modular kitchen types. This layout is otherwise called the Peninsula modular kitchen. The main difference between island and peninsula is 

• Island single cabinet will not be connected with other main cabinet
• Peninsula, on the other hand the cabinet will be connected with the wall.

Island modular kitchens are very comfortable and Straight and L shape kitchens can be altered any time to convert as an Island kitchen. 

Features of Island Modular Kitchen:

• You need more space to install an island kitchen. More space increases the maximum storage capacity. 
• Kitchen traffic can be balanced, because we have two different entrance and exit points
• It’s a dream layout for many house owners, island kitchens always stand out from other kitchen layouts.
• Gives you the highest cooking functionality.
• The Triangle cooking process made Sink, Fridge and stove become very handy. Hence the cooking time can be reduced as well. 
• Island kitchen gives you more luxury than other models.

The main disadvantage of island kitchens is Space, sometimes it interrupts the triangle workflow. Its cost is higher than other modular kitchen types. 

Conclusion:

In the 18th and 19th century, before the invention of gas stoves. Home makers used to cook it in iron ranges. In case of India the concept is totally different, we use a small stove and burnt the wood for cooking. 

Evolution in interior designing happened in the late 1950’s where interior designers used a lot of architectural innovation. This resulted in advancement in modular kitchens. The same situation will happen in future. Based on the eating habits of humans, the style, equipment and utensils will be upgraded.