Kitchen – Daastan

I’ve been away from here for quite a while now and it is so good to be back. As I had hinted at last time, today is the last stop of this home tour. And can there be a better way to end a home tour than in the heart of the home? So I heartily welcome you to the Kitchen of Daastan.

Kitchen of Daastan

The kitchen of Daastan is soft and dreamy, and bold and beautiful, all at once.

With its predominantly powder blue and white colour scheme it’s almost a pastel paradise. Then there are all the bold black accents – the handles on all the cabinets, the chalkboard highlight and, of course, the geometric black door, all add a spunk and give this kitchen a spirited personality.

And though the good looks are the most obvious character of this kitchen at first glance, they are certainly not the most important. My favourite part of this space is how we’ve incorporated every single requirement of the client in a neat, organised and well planned way.

The Plan

The kitchen of Daastan is a long rectangular space that opens at the far end into the dry balcony. The original kitchen had a door and window into the dry balcony. Though we had planned to keep it that way, we realised soon that the door only takes up space in an already small balcony, and along with the window, blocks out fresh air and natural light.

So we kept the half wall that separates the kitchen counter from the dry area, but did away with the window and door. This has our kitchen looking bigger, brighter and more spacious than what we started with.

The other major change was the addition of a service window. I showed you in our living room post how we camouflaged the window from the outside so you can’t tell it’s there at all when it’s shut. We also camouflaged it perfectly from the inside, and I’ll show you how.

Otherwise, the plan is quite standardised where the main kitchen has a neat work triangle with the sink and refrigerator on one wall and the hob on the opposite. The dry balcony accommodates the washing machine, drying rods, and storage space for the washing.

The Cooking Area

The heroes of the cooking counter, as always, are the hob and chimney. We centred these along the main counter with storage below the counter and on either side of the chimney. These cabinets and drawers hold all cooking essentials including the cutlery tray, spice boxes and drawers for large and small cooking utensils.

To the left of this area, and just at the entrance of the kitchen, we have the tall unit which houses the built in oven and microwave. Right next to that you see the rolling shutter. This has other electronics equipment like the toaster and mixer. These can be used easily in place by rolling the shutter up, and are stowed away out of sight behind that shutter once work is done.

The hob and all this equipment together make up the cooking area, with all essentials on one side, in easy reach at all times.

The Cleaning Area

On the opposite wall, we have the sink and dishwasher on one end of the counter. The dishrack and water purifier are in the storage above the sink so that all water drips and drains directly into it. The dishwasher, as always, is placed near the sink.

The refrigerator is at the opposite end of this counter, also near the entrance of the kitchen. To the left of it you can see the tall pantry unit. Between the fridge and the pantry unit, we have all eatables next to each other and quickly accessible from the entrance itself. This means someone looking for a quick bite or drink doesn’t need to walk all the way inside the kitchen. They can help themselves at the entrance itself.

The Service Window

Do you remember this stunning service window above the bar counter? I showed it to you in the living room post. Have you wondered what it looks like from inside the kitchen?

Just as it was my favourite feature of the living area, it is my favourite feature of this kitchen too, because it is just as dramatic from the inside.

It looks like a harmless chalkboard when shut… and slides open for a full view of and easy access to the living room. It gives complete privacy when shut and full access when open… simply amazing, isn’t it?

The Dry Balcony

The half wall between the kitchen and dry balcony not only separates the two areas visually but also helps us to maintain the counter heights and two different levels on the inside and outside. The kitchen counter needs to be slightly lower to easily reach the cooking utensils above the hob. The counter above the washing machine needs to be a little higher as per the height of the washing machine. We used the wall to make the transition between the two seamless.

We have a pull out rack near the washing machine for stocking all detergents etc, and a cabinet above it for storage of clothes. Pull down drying rods on the ceiling above make for easy drying, and the counter above the washing machine can be used for ironing.

Look & Feel

With all the pastels we’ve used across the kitchen, at first glance it has a soft, dreamy vibe. Powder blue and white cabinets, a soft grey quartz counter and a light rustic blue subway backsplash give us a high textural feel with the light colours.

This beautiful grey and white flooring tile adds the required pattern, yet keeps with our mellow ambience.

The vibe changes dramatically when you consider our vivid blacks.  Though we have primarily used light colours such as white, grey and powder blue, this kitchen is not all soft and sweet. The black geometric patterned door makes a bold statement right at the entrance.

Appliances such as the chimney, oven etc are usually black anyway, and add to the spiritedness of our kitchen.

We further went along with the blacks by using black handles on all the cabinets. Finally, the chalkboard wallpaper was the icing on the cake, and I love how the soft and bold have come together to make this stunning space.

Before & Afters

The before and afters from the kitchen of Daastan tell a dramatic tale of a striking transformation. You have to see it to believe it.

The left wall as you enter the kitchen..

… now holds the hob, oven, microwave and other electronic gadgets to make a self contained cooking area.

The wall on the opposite side..

… accommodates the sink, refrigerator and the service window to the living room.

The closed and cluttered utility area…

… was opened up and organised with storage units to take care of all the laundry requirements.

And so here we have it – the kitchen of Daastan. I promised you a space that is as easy to use as it is beautiful to look at. I think I’ve lived up to that promise, and would love to hear if you agree.

This post is also the last of the reveals from Daastan. It was great fun working on this home because of the immense faith the clients had in us. I think that freedom given to us comes through joyously in every corner of this home.

Have you seen all of Daastan yet? Click here in case you haven’t.. because you really shouldn’t miss any of this gorgeous home.

I will be back soon with our next project reveal… Sign up here so you I can let you know when that is.

Until then,

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Photography: Biju Gopal of @bizou.photos