Summary
Proper selection of kitchen cabinets can help make your day-to-day activities easier while cooking and storing things in your Indian home. Base cabinets, wall cabinets, tall pantry cabinets, corner cabinets, and open shelving cabinets each have their own significance for a specific reason. Choosing the best ones for you will depend upon the size of the kitchen and other requirements.
Introduction
Kitchen cabinets do more than hide utensils and appliances. In an Indian home, they may need to hold pressure cookers, spice boxes, serving dishes, groceries, and everyday cookware without taking over the available worktop. The right cabinet style should follow the room’s size, storage needs and cooking habits.
A useful interior design cost calculator can help homeowners compare cabinet choices before decisions are finalised. A cabinet that is difficult to reach or poorly suited to the kitchen can create daily frustration.
1. Base Cabinets for Heavy and Everyday Items
Base cabinets come under the worktop, and they are generally used as storage space for heavy things. The deep drawers can be used for storing pots, pans, and pressure cookers, and cabinets beneath the sink can store cleaning materials. In case of Indian kitchens, it is necessary to have easily accessible storage.
Useful choices include:
- Use deep drawers for heavy cookware so items can be lifted out easily.
- Keep cleaning products in a separate cabinet below or beside the sink.
- Reserve an accessible drawer for everyday tools such as ladles and knives.
2. Wall Cabinets for Frequently Used Kitchenware
Wall cabinets use the space above the worktop without taking up additional floor area. They work well for plates, glasses, spice containers and other lighter items that need to remain within easy reach.
Their height should be planned around the people who use the kitchen. Items used several times a day should not be placed so high that reaching them becomes uncomfortable. Higher sections can hold less frequently used serving pieces.
3. Tall Cabinets for Pantry and Appliance Storage
Tall cabinets use vertical space for groceries, large appliances and other bulky kitchen items. A pantry-style unit can keep packets, jars and larger containers organised instead of leaving them on the worktop.
A tall cabinet can hold:
- Bulk groceries and larger containers in one organised section.
- Appliances that are used only occasionally.
- Tall bottles or other items that need dedicated storage.
The internal shelves should match the items being stored. Otherwise, the extra height can become difficult-to-use empty space.
4. Corner Cabinets for Hard-to-Reach Areas
Kitchen corners are easy to waste because standard cabinet doors can make the back difficult to reach. Corner cabinets with suitable internal mechanisms can make this space more useful without adding another cabinet elsewhere.
The right solution depends on the kitchen’s shape and what needs to be stored. For homeowners planning home interior design, the corner should be part of the storage plan from the start rather than filled after the rest of the cabinetry is decided.
5. Open Shelves for Everyday Kitchenware
Open shelves work well when frequently used items need to remain visible and easy to pick up. Plates, cups, or a small collection of everyday kitchenware can be kept within quick reach, especially when opening cabinet doors repeatedly feels inconvenient.
They do require more organisation. Since everything remains visible, shelves can look untidy quickly if too many items are placed on them. A few carefully selected shelves can be more useful than covering an entire wall with open storage.
A 2017 study, A Study on the Awareness and Usage of Modular Kitchen Furniture by the Home Makers, surveyed 40 homemakers and examined the types of modular kitchen furniture, shutter materials, and trolley designs they used. The study shows why kitchen storage should be chosen around actual household use rather than treated as a purely decorative decision.
How Should You Choose Cabinets Around Your Household?
A family that prepares elaborate meals may need more deep drawers and pantry storage, while a smaller household may need simpler, accessible storage. Older family members may also need frequently used items positioned within comfortable reach.
Bonito Designs follows a Life Design approach, where spaces are planned around Daily Rhythms, Family-First Design, Senior-Safe Comfort and the principle of being Built Around You. In the kitchen, this could mean designing the cabinetry based on the people using it, their cooking preferences, frequency of use, and accessibility of the items. In doing this, it would make storage efficient while at the same time incorporating the cabinetry into the interior design of the kitchen.
FAQs
1. What type of cabinet is best for heavy kitchen cookware?
Base cabinets with deep drawers are ideal for storing heavy cookware, pressure cookers, pots and pans while keeping frequently used items accessible.
2. Are open shelves suitable for Indian kitchens?
Yes, open shelves can suit Indian kitchens when used selectively for frequently used items and maintained with regular organisation.
3. How can I maximise storage in a small kitchen?
Use vertical tall cabinets, practical wall storage, deep base drawers and well-designed corner solutions to maximise available kitchen space.
4. Should kitchen cabinets be customised for the family?
Yes, cabinetry should reflect household cooking habits, storage requirements, accessibility needs and the frequency with which different items are used.
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