Luxury Kitchen Design for Entertainers

Luxury kitchens are not just for cooking; with the right design and planning, they can be the heart of entertaining guests at home. With the right flow and luxury appliances, the room can exude elegance and become a relaxing area to laugh the nights away.

A kitchen designed for entertaining can include multiple distinctive features to capture this social energy, with ease of use, a look of quality and some showpieces. With the experts here at Bayliss and these handy tips, it is easier than ever to achieve the perfect luxury kitchen for entertaining.

What To Consider When Designing a Kitchen for Entertainment

Design for Guest-Friendly Seating

With the plan being to spend a good amount of time socialising and gathering in a kitchen setting, seating will be crucial. Gone are the days of having a separate kitchen and dining room; most kitchens are now larger and more open plan, incorporating this space.

The main things to consider are the number of seats, the comfort levels and the materials used. Larger seating numbers could be solved by incorporating bench seating, which gives off a traditional Italian feel, where the kitchen is the heart of the home. The comfort level will need to be high for potentially hours of use, but not so much that the party gathers too much and slows down.

Using the correct seating material is also going to be crucial, as entertaining in the kitchen will lead to a spill or two. Being able to keep an open plan luxury kitchen will be that much simpler with hard-wearing and easily cleaned materials all around.

Use Lighting To Set the Mood

The correct lighting can make or break the feel and use of a room. Having brighter and cooler lighting can be perfect for day-to-day tasks where clarity is crucial, but it can become tiring. A warmer hue of light is far better to spend extended periods of time in while entertaining. We here at Bayliss can take both needs into account, with various levels of lighting throughout the kitchen.

One size doesn’t fit all with any kitchen, and our designers can use their expertise to advise where best to use different forms of light. This can include spotlights, hanging lights and under-cupboard lighting.

Create an Easy-To-Navigate Layout

An open-plan luxury kitchen for entertaining will also require the right layout for ease of access and smoother movement, accommodating a party of guests. Whether gathered around a central point in the kitchen or having divides set up between a kitchen area and a seating area, the right set-up will help with the flow of the evening.

Many of the design choices available here at Bayliss can fit specific needs. For instance, if entertaining in your kitchen tends to consist of you cooking for guests, a kitchen island will be a great choice. These extra work surfaces create a natural divide between the kitchen and diners, can provide extra seating and even be fitted with various appliances. If fitted with a hob, then the cook will be able to look out into the room and be a part of the conversation, instead of facing the wall.

We have a whole guide on kitchen diner layouts with some of the best ways to maximise space in the kitchen.

Add Interesting Features

Every room in the home can benefit from having a stand-out feature, and it is this part of the design process where the kitchen will really become your own. These features can range from stunning pieces of design, practical additions and even interesting technological advancements that will be memorable to visitors.

The ultimate statement of entertaining in a luxury kitchen would be the inclusion of a standalone or integrated drinks cabinet. Having an addition like this can be incorporated with a drinks fridge and set up like a bar. Internal lighting can show off the various bottles and all the implements, to mix up a variety of cocktails.

Siemens is one of the most recognisable names in appliances, and their Home Connect technology would be sure to wow guests. Providing innovation, convenience and flexibility, ovens and dishwashers can now be controlled via your phone or even a connected Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant system. An excellent feature that will allow for more time entertaining.

Choose High-Performance Appliances

Regardless of lifestyle, an open plan luxury kitchen is an area of the home that will be used every day. Choosing high-performance appliances is key to ensuring consistent quality over an extended period of time. As well as being long-lasting, investing in high-quality appliances can totally transform how you entertain guests.

Bayliss Bathrooms and Kitchens has partnered with the finest suppliers of kitchen equipment to guarantee every kitchen design will live up to our rigorous standards. NEFF has over 140 years of experience in kitchen innovation; their patented NEFF Circo Therm® cooking system allows for multiple dishes to be cooked at different levels of the oven with no flavour transfers between dishes.

The innovations made by NEFF aren’t just with the hob; they have also patented Zeolith® drying technology. These dishwashers use natural minerals to perfectly dry dishes at the end of the cleaning cycle. As a bonus, this technology increases efficiency and reduces energy usage and cost.

Create Divides Without Closing Off

While having an open plan luxury kitchen offers increased ability to host and remain a part of the evening, it is a good idea to introduce certain elements to function as zone partitions, such as having a cooking/preparation zone, an eating zone and a more relaxed zone.

Kitchen islands can act as a good buffer zone between the cooking area and the rest of the kitchen, as can sliding or part-partitions. These create the illusion of a separate room and will allow some privacy and concentration for the cook. This is also certain to be the loudest area with various appliances rumbling away, so detachment will reduce interruptions.

The ‘eating zone’ should be focused on the table, with warmer natural lighting and enough space for food to be served and presented. A more relaxed area is where the evening can start to wind down. Comfier seating, set away from the noise of a dishwasher and the smells of cooking, can be the perfect end to an evening.

Add a Kitchen Island at the Centre

A kitchen island or a breakfast bar can add more flexibility and counter space to any kitchen. These independent worktop sections can be used by families to discuss the plans of the day in the morning or as an almost bar-like area in the evenings. Even calling back to lighting, having a section like this can have its own type of lighting to split it from the rest of the room.

If not used for seating, then a breakfast bar can be used as a central table, with a spread laid out for guests to take what they please. Many higher-end kitchen islands can also be fitted with fridges and other appliances built into them, allowing for an even higher level of usability.

There are multiple flexible options to choose from for a luxury kitchen island. A peninsula breakfast bar forms part of the rest of the kitchen surface, creating what could be a ‘chef’s table’ experience in the home. Waterfall and contrasting panelled breakfast bars can serve as a feature of the kitchen and become its own talking point. More details can be found at our breakfast bar ideas guide.

Include a Drinks Fridge or Wine Cooler

A kitchen is not complete without a quality fridge that blends into the design and has enough space for the household size. But a luxury kitchen for entertaining is the perfect place to introduce another form of refrigeration.

Incorporating a drinks fridge or a wine cooler can help with a number of aspects of entertaining. These can both be installed away from the core cooking areas, meaning that it is more communal and can be accessed at any time. It is also a great, organised storage solution.

Another brilliant feature is the ability to alter temperature settings different to the main fridge. A drinks fridge/wine cooler can be kept colder than the normal fridge for more refreshing drinks or kept at a more ‘chilled’ temperature for wine.

Plan for Smart, Stylish Storage

While storage solutions may not be as glamorous as state-of-the-art hobs, controlling appliances from your phone or having a wine cooler, it is still essential. What we can do here at Bayliss is craft a design that will provide smart and stylish storage options.

Including the previously mentioned drinks fridge and wine coolers that can free up space on shelves and inside the main fridge, there are multiple solutions. Kitchen islands can be fitted with sleek and seamless cupboard space. These modern islands could be made to have a more traditional and rustic look with a hanging pot rack.

Every open-plan luxury kitchen can be a bespoke design that best utilises the available space.

Choose Bayliss for Luxury Kitchen Design for Entertainers

At Bayliss, luxury kitchens are what we do, regardless of use. Our spacious 2,500 sq. ft showroom in Sutton Coldfield is just a short trip from Birmingham, Lichfield and Solihull. We’d love to show you our full level of kitchen design capabilities and answer any questions you may have about crafting a luxury kitchen for entertaining, and how much a designer kitchen could cost.

Reach out to us and book a visit to chat with a member of our expert team, so that we can bring your design for a luxury kitchen for entertainment to life.