Eating behavior expert Brian Wansink explains in his book Slim by Design how the thoughtful design of our kitchens can actually lead to healthier eating habits. Good kitchen design promotes better health without you even realizing it. Your current kitchen design may be working against you. However, you only have to redesign your kitchen once to reap the benefits over and over again. Here are a few ways you can design a healthier kitchen.
Choose the Right Color
Do you have an all white kitchen? According to a Houzz survey, nearly 75 percent of homeowners prefer a white kitchen. However, this popular kitchen trend actually stimulates appetite and may subconsciously make you eat more.
Worse than white, though, are dark, moody colors. Dark rooms with low lighting and soft music tend to make people linger longer. Studies have shown that people in this environment will linger for 9 minutes longer on average, which means almost 10 minutes of extra eating. This is why restaurants are often dark with low lighting. However, your own kitchen does not have to be. Choose a good in between color that is not bright white but is also not too dark. Wansink suggests gold, green, blue, tan, and earth tones.
Incorporate Cooking Aids
The easier it is to cook, the more often you are likely to make healthy, homemade meals. You can make a kitchen more chef-friendly by carefully planning out the space. You should have designated work stations in the kitchen where you can easily prepare food to be cooked. Bright task lighting will make it easier to see what you’re doing when preparing food. If you can manage to install your fridge so that the door opens up next to the sink, then it’ll be easier to move fresh vegetables from the fridge to the sink for rinsing. Even a little step like this makes it easier to cook in the kitchen, which means you’ll be more likely to do it more often.
Limit Lounging
Do you have a television in the kitchen? How about plush, comfy chairs? While the kitchen is oftentimes the hub of the family home, studies have shown that the more time that is spent in the kitchen, the more likely family members are to snack. It’s not bad to snack occasionally, but if you find yourself snacking on cookies on a regular basis, then you may want to limit your time in the kitchen. Which means limiting the comfort of the kitchen and making it more or a work space than a space to lounge around.
Let Cossentino & Sons show you how good kitchen design promotes better health! Give us a call today!
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