Designing the Eco-Conscious Home: How to Design an Environmentally Conscious Kitchen

In our recent blog, we discussed how to create a spectacular vegan kitchen adapted to suit your specific needs. Becoming a vegan means you need to make deliberate choices which involve taking ownership of your nutrition. Embarking on vegan kitchen design looks at one aspect of eco-conscious design. What if you want to contemplate a kitchen redesign that is cruelty-free, vegan-centered and environmentally conscious? Zooming out to consider how the kitchen is integrated with the rest of the home and how it can work with the environment invites us into the considerations of biophilic design – what we are impacted by and how we impact the environment.

If you are a home design buff you might have glanced at the Bertazzoni kitchen trend report which informs us of some of the choices people are making in kitchen design. Biophilic design and responsible eco conscious design is a strong trend (long may it continue). Another trend is the demarcation of space in the kitchen. Your food preparation and dining doesn’t have to take place in a single room. You may want to divide your kitchen between work areas, like pantries, or “prep kitchens,” and dining areas. Some areas of your kitchen might be designed to receive more natural light. Wherever you are more likely to spend time you can save on energy bills by creating dedicated areas in parts of your house where natural light and heat is more abundant. 

The Bertazzoni trend report indicates that people are spending more and more time in their kitchens. If this is the case for you, then deliberate and conscious kitchen design and vegan kitchen design should be a priority in your home design or redesign. The trend report also indicates that people want to use more environmentally friendly appliances like induction stoves and energy star rated appliances. Since people are spending more time in their kitchens, they want them to have more character, yet be less cluttered. All-white kitchens are out, but closed shelving and clever storage solutions are in. In general, people want to be more intentional about kitchen design, since this is where they are spending more of their time.

The Elements of Vegan Kitchen Design and Conscious Kitchen Design

Some things to think about if you are designing or redesigning an environmentally conscious kitchen and/or a vegan kitchen include:

• How to divide the space and situate the kitchen so that it can be energy efficient and well organized. Smaller rooms usually use less energy, especially if you have a smart thermostat, so dividing the kitchen into food prep spaces, dining spaces and mudroom areas can achieve both order and energy efficiency.
• Accessible but discreet storage. As a vegan who is using multiple grains and spices in a meal, built-in pull out organizers can be a must. 
• Energy efficient appliances such as an induction stove and energy star rated blenders which are essential for vegan cooking.
• Natural sustainable materials such as stone work-tops, reclaimed wood and upcycled furniture. 
• Flooring and insulation that suits the climate. Stone floors can suit a warm climate because they reflect heat whereas wood flooring or other flooring might suit a cooler climate.
• Allow for access to a kitchen garden so you can use fresh, natural ingredients in your meals. If you spend a lot of time in your kitchen, orienting the kitchen to face into a garden or the natural world can be a peaceful and healing design decision.

If you are thinking about designing or redesigning your vegan, eco-conscious kitchen, the possibilities are endless and can be refined for every lifestyle. Our biophilic design consultants have ten years of research into the science of eco-conscious design to share with clients who are curious about how to have the perfect kitchen or eco home design. Redesigning your kitchen can be part of a biophilic design remodel focusing on one room or a larger project like a total home redesign and energy efficient retrofit. Or it could be part of the plans for the design of a brand new home. Our La Jolla green interior design consultants work with people and businesses to realize their eco conscious design dreams whether big or small. We have offices in La Jolla, CA but can also consult with you remotely on your design project. Please contact us to find out more about our biophilic design services and vegan kitchen design services.