Italian design meets functionality
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Beautiful or practical?
Twin sisters Giovanna and Ricarda are almost impossible to tell apart. During their school years they took great pleasure in baffling their peers, teachers, and more recently even male admirers! Like most twins, they are alike in many ways. For example, when it comes to their professional ambition: Giovanna is a successful designer at a renowned fashion house, while Ricarda has just been promoted to a top management position with a small but well-known private bank. Both twins inherited a passion for cooking from their Italian mother.
But when it comes to their opinions they do sometimes disagree – for example, when planning and designing a kitchen. Should a modern kitchen be primarily attractive or practical? How important is the shape of the kitchen? For Giovanna, it's the look that counts. She thinks it is only possible to feel relaxed and happy if you have an attractive kitchen. Although Ricarda has nothing against a modern design, she finds the practical aspect of a kitchen equally important.
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Fashion designer Giovanna is sceptical when her sister Ricarda enthuses about the functional features of her kitchen. Can her twin convince her that function doesn't have to come at the expense of great design?
Aesthetic kitchen with inner values
It's Saturday evening, and Ricarda simply has to find out what her sister thinks, so she's invited her to dinner at her new flat. She awaits Giovanna's initial reaction with interest, because her sister can often be rather critical. The visitor checks out the kitchen while Ricarda prepares onions for the main course. Right away, there's a surprise: "I'm impressed," Giovanna says with amazement. "I didn't expect your kitchen to have such a streamlined and modern design, because you kept saying that its what's inside that counts," the younger twin teases the elder.
"That's true – the practical aspects were hugely important to me during kitchen planning," agrees Ricarda. "But the minimalist design and handle-less fronts are actually also extremely practical. I want my new kitchen to be like my favourite dress – it has to look good, but I also need to feel comfortable in it and it has to reflect my personality."
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As they cook together, Giovanna discovers that Ricarda's kitchen has a wealth of details she never expected.
When good engineering allows for appealing design
Ricarda casually taps her foot against the handle-less front of a pull-out and sweeps the onion skins into the bin. Thanks to , all pull-outs open electrically with a light touch:"Even the most stunning kitchen is rather pointless if working in it is awkward, if there's not enough storage space, or if the cabinets are difficult to use," remarks Ricarda as her sister looks on in surprise, before adding with a smile: "If good engineering allows for an appealing design, then sophisticated solutions come into being almost by themselves."
She gives the waste bin pull-out a good push, and it closes softly and effortlessly with . She also needs hardly any effort to open the big, heavily laden handle-less drawers. They move with almost gravity-defying ease. Giovanna is clearly speechless. She hadn't even spotted these details in her sister's kitchen. "I always thought that a skilful combination of interesting materials and refined surfaces would make an appealing design," she says thoughtfully. "But it would seem that there's a whole lot more behind it."
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Thanks to BLUMOTION and SERVO-DRIVE, the waste bin pull-out opens and closes with supreme ease.
Efficient movement thanks to clever planning
As she watches her older sister cooking, Giovanna is stunned to realise that there is something very aesthetic about the scene before her: every movement is fluid, everything comes easily and readily to hand. She thinks back to her teenage years, when Ricarda earned extra pocket money working as a kitchen assistant in an award-winning restaurant. Even back then she had talked about how fascinated she was by the perfect organisation in the professional kitchen.
Ricarda stands in the middle of the kitchen: "Look – I barely need to move when I want to prepare, cook and even wash up. Everything has its dedicated place."
The items required for certain tasks can be found exactly where they are needed:
Pots and pans at the hob
Knives close to the worktop
Sponges and cleaning products stowed by the sink
The older twin has also included sufficient storage spacein her kitchen plan to avoid things having to live on the worktop and ensure that the modern kitchen design delivers to maximum effect.
More about perfect kitchen planning:
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Cooking and living space merge into one
"So I guess the plates are near the dining table," Giovanna speculates. She wants to lay the table and cheerfully heads for the drawers with walnut veneer. "Can you read minds, or are you just getting a feel for the processes?" Ricarda asks with a chuckle. "You're spot on – the kitchen flows into a homely sideboard here. The plates inside are near to both the table and the dishwasher," she explains – not without a hint of pride.
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The kitchen is so carefully and cleverly designed that Giovanna instantly and intuitively knows where items will be stored. The table is laid in next to no time.
Who's the better cook now?
"Once you've grasped the principle behind it, it's actually entirely logical," gushes Giovanna. "I would never have thought that such simple details when planning a kitchen could instantly make it so much more functional." Ricarda smiles, remarking: "And you probably also never thought that such a practical kitchen could look so good." "Yes, that's true," agrees Giovanna. "And when I really think about it...," she pauses briefly, "you're not actually a better cook than me at all. You're just better organised." "Haha that's what you like to think," chuckles Ricarda and gives her sister a hug. "You're welcome to prove it by cooking a meal in my practical kitchen!"
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The question of whether Ricarda's kitchen is beautiful and practical in equal measure has been settled. All the sisters need to do now is decide who's the better cook.
All advantages at a glance:
Functionality paves the way for design decisions, such as handle-less applications.
Thanks to SERVO-DRIVE, a light touch is all that is needed for each pull-out to open.
Even large and heavily laden drawers close softly and effortlessly with BLUMOTION.
Good planning minimises walking in the kitchen, as pots are stored next to the hob, knives close to the preparation area, sponges and cleaning products by the sink and plates near to the table and dishwasher.
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