Modern U-Shaped Kitchen with Grey Fluted Cabinets

The hob sits on the peninsula, so the chimney has to come down over it as a black island chimney rather than hug a wall. An island model vents a cooktop that has no wall behind it, and the boxy black shape stands out against the grey cabinets on purpose. The trade-off is real. An island hob sends more cooking heat into the open room than a wall hob tucked in a corner would.

The upper cabinets are glossy fluted shutters, the base units flat matte, and both are handleless. Fluting was chosen for the uppers because vertical grooves at eye level scatter reflections and hide the fingerprints a flat gloss panel shows all day. The base units stay flat and matte so the lower half feels calm. Handleless fronts keep the run smooth and give nothing for sleeves to catch.

That is a roller-shutter appliance unit, a garage where the kettle, toaster and mixer live behind a pull-down shutter. It keeps small appliances plugged in and ready but out of sight, so the quartz-look countertop stays clear. Because the shutter rolls up rather than swinging out, it needs no door clearance, which suits a corner where a hinged cabinet would block the walkway.

The kitchen has a gas hob on the peninsula, a black island chimney above it, a built-in oven set into the tall unit at a comfortable height, and a free-standing double-door refrigerator. Open niches with plants break the run of shutters, and under-cabinet lighting washes the counter. Building the oven into the tall column keeps it off the worktop and saves you bending to floor level to use it.

The worktop is a white quartz-look surface with a matching glossy backsplash. A pale counter was set against the grey cabinets so spills and chopping marks stay visible and get wiped, and so the room reads bright under the profile lights. The seamless backsplash has few grout lines behind the hob and sink, which is the area that takes the most splashing and is the hardest to scrub if it is heavily jointed.

Most of the spend sits in the cabinetry and the appliances, not the layout. Fluted glossy shutters, a quartz-look counter, a built-in oven and an island chimney each cost more than their plain versions, so the finish list drives the figure far more than the U-shape does. Keep the layout and swap to a matte laminate and a wall chimney and the number drops sharply. Price the shutters and the counter first.

It works well if the chimney is sized right. Indian cooking throws up plenty of oil and smoke, so a strong island chimney over the peninsula is doing the heavy lifting here. The upside is you face the room while cooking instead of a wall. The honest catch is heat and the odd splatter reaching the open side, so wiping the peninsula edge becomes part of the routine.