Contemporary decor is synonymous with minimalism. This principal of minimalism also applies to kitchen decor and structuring. If your house has contemporary interiors, it is important for the kitchen space to merge well with the rest of the house. Your way of life and your choices are most prominently reflected in the kind of kitchen space you maintain.

The kitchen space must be presentable and aesthetic in its physical appearance, and must also be practical for cooking purposes. In India, however, there is one more consideration that must be kept in mind - your kitchen must also have a lot of storage space.

What follow are some characteristics of a contemporary kitchen.

Cabinets

Cabinets are the most definitive feature of your kitchen's design style. A contemporary kitchen decor calls for full overlay cabinets where none or little portions of door frames show. The idea is to display a seamless layout of the kitchen.

You can choose to add hardware to the cabinet doors but you must avoid over use. Usually, rectangular-shaped hardware (bar-shaped knobs etc.) is associated with the contemporary style because it gives a cleaner look. To maintain the minimalism that contemporary decor is famous for, all finishes are usually in stainless steel. Brushed nickel and chrome are also some popular choices.

Horizontal lines and geometric forms

As is characteristic of contemporary decor, the design of a contemporary kitchen focuses on linear congruence. Horizontal lines are ideal for layout of cabinets and counters, flooring and tile accents. When choosing counters, furnishings, lighting fixtures and wall decor items, geometric forms like angles, curves, circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, diamonds, boxes etc. are preferred.

Appliances

Most contemporary layouts go best with stainless steel or white appliances because these give an over-all sleek look. Steel appliances have sharp edges, hence provide geometric accents in the room. To add some colour, you can also have futuristic looking control panels for your appliances. But, these panels must be in accordance with the other lighting fixtures of the kitchen.

Among other things to keep in mind, you must also note that to keep countertop clutter to a minimum, stow away excess appliances in storage areas.

While it is a good idea to introduce different second and third colours in the kitchen layout, too many colours could spoil the visuals and wreck the entire look. What one could experiment with, in terms of a different colour or pattern, is introduce a backsplash in the kitchen. This could work well if your kitchen has white walls, and one wall has a backsplash featuring tiles, stones, mosaics or ceramic.