The Soft Kitchen: A More Relaxed Way to Design

Homes & Gardens recently declared that kitchens have never been as inviting and lived in as they are now. They have given this softer, more relaxed style a name, the soft kitchen.

It is a new phrase for something we have always rather loved. A space that feels less like a place reserved for cooking and more like a well loved room. Somewhere to sit with coffee, arrange flowers and read the Sunday papers.

A little less kitcheny

For a while, kitchens became very sleek and serious. Everything matched and worktops were kept almost completely bare.

The soft kitchen is a little more forgiving. A freestanding dresser might sit alongside fitted cabinetry, with open shelves for favourite bowls, old jugs and well-used cookery books. There may be a lamp on the worktop, a painting on the wall or a vintage stool that doesn’t quite match anything else.

Natural materials help too. Timber, stone, aged brass, woven baskets and reeded glass all bring warmth and texture. Painted cabinetry needn’t be pale either. Deep greens, gentle blues and muddier shades can make a kitchen feel wonderfully cosy.

Of course, relaxed doesn’t have to mean cluttered. A good larder, deep drawers or a breakfast cupboard can hide away the packets and appliances, leaving the more pleasing things on show.

Collected rather than coordinated

Perhaps the loveliest thing about a soft kitchen is that it doesn’t need to look newly installed. Mixing timber with painted cabinetry, adding an old table or filling shelves with pieces collected over the years makes the room feel loved.

These are not things that need to be bought all at once. A favourite wooden board, a slightly wonky pot, framed pictures and flowers in an old jug all add something personal. The room gradually becomes yours.

Lighting makes a difference too. Pendants, wall lights and small lamps create a much gentler mood than ceiling spotlights alone, especially as the evening draws in.

A kitchen that belongs

When we design a kitchen, we look at the whole room. The proportions, the light, the adjoining spaces and the way people naturally move through it.

Because everything is made to order, an island can feel like a proper piece of furniture, a dresser can be designed around a collection of pottery and cabinetry can sit happily against old beams and uneven walls.

The kitchen still has to work hard, but it should feel warm and welcoming too. Somewhere that copes with weekday breakfasts, muddy boots and Sunday lunch, yet still feels comfortable enough to spend the evening in.

The interiors world may have given it a new name, but the idea behind the soft kitchen is very simple, less showroom, more home.