10 Kitchens Bake Off Fans Will Love
The essential ingredients for a kitchen that’s the perfect venue for creating delicious cakes and bread
The Great British Bake Off is back and (sigh of relief) it hasn’t disappointed fans with all the elements we love still intact. Of course, there’s plenty of baking inspiration as ever, but there are also lots of other lessons to be had from the bunting-and-gingham-decorated tent in terms of the space in which you cook up your own treats. Why not try these design solutions and organisation strategies for your kitchen.
Keep like with like
The Bake Off contestants are provided with all they need, but to be equally prepped at home centralise dry ingredient storage and place stand-ins and alternatives alongside each other. A larder unit’s a boon, but simply dedicating units to the purpose would also work. Try to keep the most-used ingredients at an accessible height for the chief baker to avoid stretching and awkward movements.
Decanting ingredients into glass containers as in this kitchen also helps avoid crises, as it’s simple to spot when you’re running low on something and add it to your shopping list.
The Bake Off contestants are provided with all they need, but to be equally prepped at home centralise dry ingredient storage and place stand-ins and alternatives alongside each other. A larder unit’s a boon, but simply dedicating units to the purpose would also work. Try to keep the most-used ingredients at an accessible height for the chief baker to avoid stretching and awkward movements.
Decanting ingredients into glass containers as in this kitchen also helps avoid crises, as it’s simple to spot when you’re running low on something and add it to your shopping list.
Introduce marble
Marble’s renowned as a surface for working with pastry because it helps keep it cool. A whole surface of marble looks beautiful, too, and can wrap an island, as it does in this kitchen, for maximum impact. Marble does take a little TLC, so although you can flour and then work pastry directly on the worktop, protect it with a chopping board when you’re carrying out other tasks, and don’t get acidic substances – such as lemon or lime juice – on a marble worktop as they can cause erosion or etching.
For a cost-effective alternative, consider a marble insert within another material, or invest in a marble board for pastry work.
Marble’s renowned as a surface for working with pastry because it helps keep it cool. A whole surface of marble looks beautiful, too, and can wrap an island, as it does in this kitchen, for maximum impact. Marble does take a little TLC, so although you can flour and then work pastry directly on the worktop, protect it with a chopping board when you’re carrying out other tasks, and don’t get acidic substances – such as lemon or lime juice – on a marble worktop as they can cause erosion or etching.
For a cost-effective alternative, consider a marble insert within another material, or invest in a marble board for pastry work.
Light it well
Great light is a must-have for bakers, for intricate decorating tasks and working with sharp knives. This room uses a long skylight to maximise daylight and is combined with artificial lighting from the pendant, extractor and below-shelf lighting.
Task lighting can be retro-fitted to kitchens to boost safety and comfort when you’re working, even if you’re not revamping the whole room. To avoid compromising the clarity of the work area with your own shadow, position it under wall units or shelves to illuminate worksurfaces.
Read a beginner’s guide to kitchen extensions
Great light is a must-have for bakers, for intricate decorating tasks and working with sharp knives. This room uses a long skylight to maximise daylight and is combined with artificial lighting from the pendant, extractor and below-shelf lighting.
Task lighting can be retro-fitted to kitchens to boost safety and comfort when you’re working, even if you’re not revamping the whole room. To avoid compromising the clarity of the work area with your own shadow, position it under wall units or shelves to illuminate worksurfaces.
Read a beginner’s guide to kitchen extensions
Separate chopping boards
For good kitchen hygiene it’s vital to have dedicated chopping boards for different types of ingredients, and those for baking need their own, as do fruit and veggies, raw and cooked meat and so on.
Here, the collection of wooden boards have different shapes that’ll help distinguish them, but you might find it easier to go with colour-coded boards instead. This scheme also features a built-in board. If you incorporate a design like this in your kitchen, it should be kept clean with mild soapy water. Oil it regularly, but make sure you always use a food-safe oil.
For good kitchen hygiene it’s vital to have dedicated chopping boards for different types of ingredients, and those for baking need their own, as do fruit and veggies, raw and cooked meat and so on.
Here, the collection of wooden boards have different shapes that’ll help distinguish them, but you might find it easier to go with colour-coded boards instead. This scheme also features a built-in board. If you incorporate a design like this in your kitchen, it should be kept clean with mild soapy water. Oil it regularly, but make sure you always use a food-safe oil.
Major on work space
With lots of different processes going on for a show-stopping bake you may find you quickly fill up the worksurface with ingredients, cookware, scales, timers, cooling racks… If you’re fitting a brand new kitchen, it’s easy to maximise worktop space with a big island and a long run above the units, as this room does. Not starting from scratch? Fit shelves above the worktop or on a spare section of wall if you have the space, and keep decorative items in a limited area so the shelves can remain practical.
Wall-hung utensil rails and magnetic strips can be a boon in small rooms, and are widely available on the high street. Alternatively, make your own with salvaged rails and butcher’s hooks. If you have the space, you could hang baskets to help you to store more if you don’t have the room to put up more shelves elsewhere.
With lots of different processes going on for a show-stopping bake you may find you quickly fill up the worksurface with ingredients, cookware, scales, timers, cooling racks… If you’re fitting a brand new kitchen, it’s easy to maximise worktop space with a big island and a long run above the units, as this room does. Not starting from scratch? Fit shelves above the worktop or on a spare section of wall if you have the space, and keep decorative items in a limited area so the shelves can remain practical.
Wall-hung utensil rails and magnetic strips can be a boon in small rooms, and are widely available on the high street. Alternatively, make your own with salvaged rails and butcher’s hooks. If you have the space, you could hang baskets to help you to store more if you don’t have the room to put up more shelves elsewhere.
Think flooring
Kitchen flooring has to tick the practical, as well as the good-looking box. It’s wise to think about how it responds to a dropped item as well because it’s not just the bakers who sometimes miss their grip. A rubber floor like this one is more forgiving than tiles when an object hits the deck.
Consider, too, how the floor will feel when you stand on it for long hours during your baking. Rubber scores well for comfort, too, as do luxury versions of vinyl, cork or linoleum, while wood is more forgiving than concrete, stone or ceramic.
Kitchen flooring has to tick the practical, as well as the good-looking box. It’s wise to think about how it responds to a dropped item as well because it’s not just the bakers who sometimes miss their grip. A rubber floor like this one is more forgiving than tiles when an object hits the deck.
Consider, too, how the floor will feel when you stand on it for long hours during your baking. Rubber scores well for comfort, too, as do luxury versions of vinyl, cork or linoleum, while wood is more forgiving than concrete, stone or ceramic.
Stay plugged in
If an island unit is your baking station, make sure plugging in small appliances isn’t an issue. Sockets can be planned for the end of worktops, or – as in this kitchen – pop-up sockets can be fitted into the island worksurface and concealed when they’re not in use.
Make grabbing countertop appliances hassle-free, too, by dedicating storage in the island to them to cut down on time spent crossing the room when baking’s on the agenda.
Browse baking accessories in the Houzz shop
If an island unit is your baking station, make sure plugging in small appliances isn’t an issue. Sockets can be planned for the end of worktops, or – as in this kitchen – pop-up sockets can be fitted into the island worksurface and concealed when they’re not in use.
Make grabbing countertop appliances hassle-free, too, by dedicating storage in the island to them to cut down on time spent crossing the room when baking’s on the agenda.
Browse baking accessories in the Houzz shop
Work the triangle
Sharing a fridge with fellow bakers isn’t generally an issue in your own kitchen, but do consider its placement in the room. Here, the kitchen designer’s triangle is observed to make the layout efficient – that’s sink, hob and fridge at each of the three points of the shape and easy passage along the straight sides between them. A single line kitchen makes a triangle impossible, of course, but there’s a solution: a straight line of the three points will function just fine if you leave worksurface space between the areas.
Read expert tips on getting the best from your single wall kitchen
Sharing a fridge with fellow bakers isn’t generally an issue in your own kitchen, but do consider its placement in the room. Here, the kitchen designer’s triangle is observed to make the layout efficient – that’s sink, hob and fridge at each of the three points of the shape and easy passage along the straight sides between them. A single line kitchen makes a triangle impossible, of course, but there’s a solution: a straight line of the three points will function just fine if you leave worksurface space between the areas.
Read expert tips on getting the best from your single wall kitchen
Build in a bin
A missed ingredient or a mis-timed turn in the oven can result in a baker consigning their first effort to the bin. Even if you’re not under the pressure of performing on the TV, a convenient-to-use bin is a kitchen must-have, and how much easier if it’s positioned right by the chopping board like this one? Putting a bin into a cupboard will free up floor space to boot. Why not follow this kitchen’s lead with knife storage where you chop, too?
Are these the best kitchen storage solutions on Houzz?
What do you think of the new Bake Off series and how has it inspired your kitchen? Tell us in the Comments.
A missed ingredient or a mis-timed turn in the oven can result in a baker consigning their first effort to the bin. Even if you’re not under the pressure of performing on the TV, a convenient-to-use bin is a kitchen must-have, and how much easier if it’s positioned right by the chopping board like this one? Putting a bin into a cupboard will free up floor space to boot. Why not follow this kitchen’s lead with knife storage where you chop, too?
Are these the best kitchen storage solutions on Houzz?
What do you think of the new Bake Off series and how has it inspired your kitchen? Tell us in the Comments.
Bake Off contestants can’t avoid visitors on their side of the bench, however stressful their creation is becoming, but at home there’s no requirement to welcome all-comers to your work area. This kitchen’s generous island unit means those who drop by while you’re working can pull up a pew – far enough away to take the pressure off – without making your dedication to baking anti-social, and be ready to test the results.
Industrial-style fans take note: this room’s exposed brick wall is beautifully complemented by the materials of the bar stools and worktop.