Whether you are looking for the best pendant light to suspend above a breakfast nook, or to add a natural touch above an island, Neptune’s new ‘Athena’ is up to the task. Woven from rattan, it emits a diffused glow that will lend any kitchen a cosy, café-style quality. £195 (neptune.com).
Balancing aesthetics and practicality in the kitchen is key – and something that Caesarstone is well-practiced in. The brand’s newest quartz, ‘Taj Royale’, is not only incredibly durable, but also taps into a growing desire for warmer, earthier colours. With beige undertones and toffee sauce-like veining, it pairs beautifully with dark cabinetry and brass hardware. £400 per square metre (caesarstone.co.uk).
Vicente García Jiménez and Cinzia Cumini, the duo behind Italian studio García Cumini, want you to re-evaluate what a kitchen can look like. Their ‘Unit Pocket’ for Cesar combines all the essential elements into a single piece of multifunctional furniture. Intended to be placed in the middle of an open-plan space, it acts as both kitchen and divider, with the marble-topped window ledge (home to the sink and hob) providing a sightline between different zones. From £35,000, Espresso (espressodesign.co.uk).
Kangan Arora is one of the most productive stars of the print world, having created designs for Floor Story, Heal’s and Tate. Her latest collaboration, with Bangalore- and London-based brand Tiipoi, places her patterns firmly in people’s kitchens. ‘Yantra’, comprising colourful geometric shapes, is named after drawings that play an important part in Buddhist rituals. From £25 for a tea towel (twentytwentyone.com).
For a design named ‘Bigfoot Firenze’, this storage solution by Protek actually has an ironically small footprint. Ideal for squeezing extra cabinetry into more compact kitchens, it is essentially a shelving unit set into a lightweight aluminium pocket-door frame, allowing it to slide out of view. There are options to add plug sockets, LED lighting and even an electronic lock. From £2,050
1909 Kitchens is now run by the fifth generation of the same family and, just as it has evolved, so has the styles it offers. The ‘Slab’ collection is its most contemporary yet. What hasn’t changed, though, is the brand’s commitment to detail – the sleek in-frame cabinets are made by joiners and carpenters in its County Durham headquarters, and there are also experts in stonemasonry and paint on the team to ensure every detail is made to last. From £28,000 (1909kitchens.co.uk).
For many people, cooking is an active form of mindfulness; a chance to nourish body and soul. But what is the optimum shade for a relaxing kitchen? According to Tom Howley, founder of the eponymous kitchen company, it’s
