The kitchen was honestly one of the hardest spaces for us to design! My husband is a chef 👨🏻🍳 so his wishlist was long — prep area, powerful hood, oven for baking, smooth workflow, and plenty of storage for spices.
Meanwhile, our fengshui master also had her own must-dos: keep sink & stove in their original spots, solid wall behind stove for “support”, and fridge (the “family treasure chest”) hidden from plain sight.
With such a tiny layout, I nearly went crazy figuring it all out 😅 but here’s what we ended up with:
✨ Cook area — Fujioh inclined hood + 2-burner gas hob (one with inner flame for wok hey — my chef’s demand).
✨ Sink side — single bowl, dark sink + gunmetal tap (already peeling after 6 months 🥲). Instead of a dish rack, I designed a tissue slot above the sink since we always need tissues at hand.
✨ Steam oven — chosen because I love steaming, my husband bakes, and my mum bakes cakes. Below it, a pull-out tray for rice cooker with hidden sockets inside the full-height cabinet.
✨ Storage — mostly drawers with BLUM tracks (smooth and worth it!).
✨ Laminate choices — bottom in woodgrain (to hide water marks), top hung in microcement finish (less obvious stains than solid colors).
We also added a corner fan because the kitchen gets really hot, and had to exchange it once since the first one we bought was too big 🤭.
It may look like a simple kitchen, but the technical planning nearly gave me white hairs! Now, it’s compact, functional, and works for all of us. 🤍
👉 What about you — do you prefer open kitchens or closed kitchens?