We’ll be posting something about design for the home (or architecture) every day this week.

Hansen Living offers a minimalist, natural approach to kitchens that’s worth a look. Apartment Therapy took a luck at the company’s interesting approach: 1. They get ideas by asking pro chefs what they hate about consumer kitchens and then doing the opposite. 2. They try to limit space intentionally so people don’t fill it up with things they don’t need. 3. When clients ask for more, they tell them to wait 6 months and see if the need is still there (it rarely is).

Knud explained that when he embarked on designing Hansen’s product line, he asked some of the best chefs in Copenhagen what made them ‘laugh at the typical consumer kitchen.’ Then he did the opposite. The result is a collection of free-standing units with no overhead cabinets, but rather drawers below counters. Each drawer is lined with a metal perforated bottom to allow air circulation. The base pieces are raised on legs to allow access for cleaning the entire kitchen floor.

hansen

The chefs and Knud agree that overhead cabinets decrease the use of available counter space, increase the chances of hitting one’s head while chopping vegetables, and make any space look smaller. They also agree not to “give people too much space” or they might try to fill it with things they don’t need. In fact, Knud told me, if clients, ask for more cabinets once the kitchen is delivered, he encourages them to think about it for 6 more months and if they still feel a lack of space, they can call him and he’ll concede. According to Knud, they never call.

One interesting design from the company: Instant Kitchen. It’s a kitchen unit particularly suited for small, studio-type dwellings. Just add water…

Place it anywhere, all you need is to hook it up to a water supply and connect the electricity. The kitchen unit contains everything you need: oven, gas jets, electric power, refrigerator and water. To find a suitable name for it was easy: Instant Kitchen.

instant kitchen