Cooking The Looks

As domestic kitchens continue to evolve into social focal points, even the most compact homes are incorporating open-plan aesthetics that embrace the latest colour and technology trends

- Dennis Lee

Space pressures in Hong Kong have long dictated that kitchens be confined areas crammed into a home. But with the emergence of the kitchen as a focal point, where people come together to socialise and reconnect, there is a growing trend towards open-plan designs – even in smaller residential units.

This shift in role means a considerable amount of planning goes into functionality, aesthetics and storage in the redesign or creation of a modern kitchen. All-white installations have tended to dominate kitchen colour palettes, with grey undertones also elegantly fashionable and the combination of two-tone plain hues, which create visual highlights, also a common sight.

However, more recently, designers have taken a shine to black – both jet black and matt. Tommy Fong, owner and kitchen designer at Kitench, says Europe has seen phenomenal demand for black and he believes the trend will continue.