This weekend, we will launch our new furniture collection at Decorex interior design fair in London (September 26-29). The Modern Cottage kitchen is a coalition of opposing aesthetic concepts and it has been about playing with new ideas. We decided to build four new pieces of furniture, each one designed by a member of our design team. Miles designed the light dresser, Matt took the the sink cabinet, Leila created the cooking island (she also deserves credit as the mastermind of the entire show), and I was responsible for the Tree Corner cupboard and overall artistic direction. All pieces are experimental.

‘The Tree Corner cupboard. I designed this when I was around 7 years old. It has taken a while to gestate. The Holly trunk comes from my garden at my home in Hampshire, England.’

I am nervous about the outcome, but this is an exciting step in taking our design thinking to the next level, as happened with past shows in San Francisco, New York and Chicago. (See more on our exhibitions here.) Will it all add up to a coherent whole or feel like a bit of a hodge podge? I paid an early visit to Chris Height, who is building the Tree Corner cupboard, and chuckled. It had a sense of humour, but will anyone really want it in their home? Seeing the early progress on the cooking island also made me realize we have created a piece of furniture might feel at home in the Lord of the Rings with its craggy burr oak panels and glowing textured glass inserts.  The Light Dresser could have almost come out of 2001, A Space Odyssey. Light glows through its curved Corian back seamlessly into the countertop.

All in all, there is plenty to think about. If you manage to visit Decorex, please stop by and say hello.

See Designing a healthy kitchen: Part 1 - the Table and Designing a healthy kitchen: Part 3 - the Whole House for more on this topic.

• Include a multi-level central island or soft-edged peninsula to make the act of cooking a sociable, pleasurable experience. Cooking and prepping should occur facing into the room. Designing ergonomic but user-friendly furniture puts the cooking at the centre of the room and helps the cook feel in control. He or she is like the conductor of an orchestra, bringing harmony to the process along with effective delivery of the food. Cooking facing towards the wall is no-no
• Include a plating surface near the cooktop that can double as a food bar. In this way, you can catch those meals that might have ended up as snacks or one-person events. Today’s busy families have to accommodate an array of diets and activities. But the most important thing is not what you eat, but eating together, even if standing up. By serving tapas, mezze style, everyone can find something they like and still eat together, serve themselves with others looking on so that portions taken are reasonable and then take their plate to the table. Not enough kitchens have these serving bars. Ideally, they should be accessible from behind the range, and raised in height to separate them from the messier cooking surfaces.
• A sense of order is key to making cooking efficient. We have developed a concept called dedicated work surfaces that provides enough but not too much counter top space to do one task efficiently. These are positioned carefully so as to be adjacent to related tasks, but still leave enough space for sociable pieces of furniture like a sofa and hutch/dresser.
• Having a place to display family pictures and children’s pottery is a clear sign of hominess. Adding bowls of fruit is both visually delightful and offers children and adults a chance to assuage their mid-meal hunger with something healthy. It’s also a delightful place to show off home grown produce. No kitchen should be without one.