Don’t grimace, it could be coming sooner than you think. The pressure is on. Cooking in your kitchen is the new ‘right-on activity’, the new black in fashion terms. Wholesome, socially and morally correct behaviour, it makes a virtue out of the downturn, a return to behaviour inspired by instinct and pure of motive, both creative and productive. Short of growing the food yourself (although you can also shop to match the ethos), it’s the ultimate way of nurturing your family and friends, rewarding your appetite and being economic. Sleeping might be the longest activity we undertake in our home habitat and where we are the most vulnerable, but cooking is the ultimate expression of our nesting instinct. It’s the core activity bringing rhythm to our day, satisfying our hard wired needs for sociable activity—a key component for our happiness, well being and survival.

Where we do this affects our enjoyment and efficacy of cooking and its related activities. So kitchen design is more important than ever. Is the kitchen attractive to other family members than just the cook? Do they want to linger? Does it establish eye contact to encourage chat and provide a comfortable place to perch? Is the lighting designed for high octane use and for diners to relax? Can the fumes get out and can the children play within an easy distance or be visible in the garden from the cook’s action spot? Cooking maybe back in fashion, whether it’s the new black or simply because of back to basic necessity, but things are heating up for kitchen designers (please forgive the pun).

It’s finally happened; as house prices fall, home ownership is no longer about making money. As people stay put out of necessity, this could be a silver lining to the economic downturn. It will make for a greater sense of belonging, with closer emotional connection to one’s house and neighbourhood. For domestic designers like ourselves, this is both valuable and appreciated. So how can designers get in tune with this new mood? If you are going to make home improvements during an economic downturn, the money needs to be wisely spent. Quality, craftsmanship and good value become important. Heritage, thoughtfulness and authenticity are a few of the abstract nouns that describe the upcoming mood.

Here at JG studios, we will continue to provide holistic service, using our spread of skills across architecture, kitchen and interior design. We also apply emotionally intelligent thinking to create living spaces that establish connection with nature, views, light and the needs of the brain. Some of the techniques we use include encouraging eye contact whilst cooking, establishing feelings of calm and security with our neuroscience analysis, and using more creativity to have fun and respond to individual tastes through colour and eclectic furnishings. We make this happen by carefully choosing individual artisans, craftspeople and artists – all of whom have unique talents to offer. We will be working out ways that clients can get this less expensively and provide choices as to which of our services are right for them.

In the last few weeks, we have had requests for a lot of smaller but exciting design projects. These range from redesigning children’s bedrooms with heirloom pieces to making modest extensions that will bring space and light into a kitchen so you can eat within the arc of sun. And as winter fast approaches, we’ve also been asked to design a pair of fire seats so that more people can huddle up close to the fire at the same time.