Italian design meets functionality

It's Saturday night and Ricarda has invited her sister to dinner in her new apartment. She awaits Giovanna's initial reaction with interest, because her sister can often be rather critical. The visitor checks out the kitchen while Ricarda prepares onions for the main course. "I'm impressed," says Giovanna. "I didn't think that your kitchen would have such a linear and modern design, because you just kept talking about inner values before," the younger twin teases her older sibling.

"That's true – the practical aspects were hugely important to me during kitchen planning," agrees Ricarda. "But the minimalist design and handle-less fronts are actually also extremely practical. I want my new kitchen to be like my favourite dress – it has to look good, but I also need to feel comfortable in it and it has to reflect my personality."

Ricarda casually taps her foot against the front of a pull-out and sweeps the onion skins into the bin. Thanks to SERVO-DRIVE, a light touch is all that is needed for each pull-out to electrically open. "Even the most stunning kitchen is rather pointless if working in it is awkward, if there's not enough storage space, or if the cabinets are difficult to use," remarks Ricarda as her sister looks on in surprise, before adding with a smile: "If good engineering allows for an appealing design, then sophisticated solutions come into being almost by themselves." She gives the waste bin pull-out a good push, but it closes softly and effortlessly with BLUMOTION. Giovanna is clearly speechless. She hadn't even spotted these details in her sister's kitchen. "I always thought that a skilful combination of interesting materials and refined surfaces would make an appealing design," she says thoughtfully. "But it would seem that there's a whole lot more behind it."

Giovanna is stunned, and as she watches her older sister cooking she realises that there is something very aesthetic about the scene before her: every movement is fluid, everything comes easily and readily to hand. She thinks back to her teenage years, when Ricarda earned extra pocket money working as a kitchen assistant in an award-winning restaurant. Even back then she had talked about how fascinated she was by the perfect organisation in the professional kitchen.

Ricarda stands in the middle of the kitchen: "Look – I barely need to move when I want to prepare, cook and even wash up. Everything has its dedicated place." She needs hardly any effort to open the big, heavily laden drawers. A simple nudge and they open with almost gravity-defying ease, before closing gently thanks to the soft-close mechanism. Everything required for certain tasks can be found exactly where it is needed: pots and pans at the hob, knives close to the work space and the sponge stowed by the sink. The older twin has also included sufficient storage space in her kitchen plan to avoid things lying around on the work surface and ensure that the modern kitchen design delivers to maximum effect.

"So I guess the plates are near the dining table," Giovanna speculates. She wants to lay the table and cheerfully heads for the pull-outs with walnut veneer. "Can you read minds, or are you just getting a feel for the processes?" Ricarda asks with a chuckle. "Spot on, the kitchen flows into a homely sideboard here and I wanted to store the plates as near to the table as I could, while also making sure the dishwasher was close at hand," she explains – not without a hint of pride.