“We’ve been receiving more and more [inquiry for] personalized kitchen designs. Usually, when our clients come to us, they’ve already looked at some kitchen designs available on various Instagram and Pinterest designer accounts,” Dewi Indrawati, an interior designer and founder of the Get Design interior studio in Cipondoh, Banten, told The Jakarta Post.

“Then, they will simply show the pictures to us while saying: ‘we want to have this kind of design, how much is the cost?’,” she continued.

According to Dewi, upon receiving the design customers want, the interior designers will usually help customers to adjust the design with the built-in kitchen spaces available in their houses or apartment units.

“Modern, minimalist kitchen design is in vogue right now, which makes sense because nowadays landed houses are much smaller than it used to be many years ago,” she continued.

Many urban observers, including those from the Rujak Center for Urban Studies, say increasing land prices and decreasing land availability, especially in Jakarta and its satellite cities, also explain why people have chosen to buy smaller houses over the years.

“Nowadays, kitchens in landed houses take space of only about 5 square meters; apartments, the space is even smaller – about 2.5 sq m,” Dewi said. Apparently, the minimalism trend reflects the “design meets function” adage.

She added that interior design would also help clients customize their kitchen design to the clients’ very own cooking styles, utensils and references.

“For instance, left-handed clients will need a very different design from right-handed ones. Clients who have big frying pans will require a very different design from clients using the small ones,” she said.

“Meanwhile, in terms of color, people tend to want their kitchens to be decorated in white, with a tinge of Scandinavian design these days. People have come to be aware that white is a timeless color, which gives their rooms a clean and bright look. No matter what era you’re in, this will always look beautiful,” she continued.

Well, our discussion on kitchens will not be complete unless we also talked about appliances. White blends relatively well with kitchen appliances of any color and this is where Modena comes in.

On Sept. 30, Modena held a press conference announcing that it had also launched new services to stay abreast with customers’ increasing demand for personalized and customized kitchen design.

Modena has led the way among Indonesian home appliances industry players to give customers a chance to design their own home appliances based on their own personal tastes and quirks through its Me by Modena service.

Bespoke services: Many companies have turned to offering customized design services for attractive and comfortable kitchens in the past few years, including this promotional display for kitchen appliance customization services launched in late September 2020 by Modena. People have become more aware than ever that they spend the longest hours of their day in their kitchen, especially as they spend more time cooking at home during the coronavirus outbreak, and are looking to spruce up their kitchen design, furniture and even appliances. (Courtesy of/Modena Indonesia)

“We want to give the public freedom to design their own kitchens to tailor their personalities simply by uploading their graphics or photos directly on our website. They can embed the design within their code of purchase through the website, which we will subsequently apply on any Modena product they’ve chosen,” Modena Indonesia Product Manager Munarko said.

He went on to say that Modena allowed customers to personalize the design of various products in the kitchen and beyond, including refrigerators, water dispensers, cooker hoods and water heaters.

Apparently, using the Me by Modena feature on its website is easy as one, two, three: Consumers can just upload a photo or any visual containing the design they covet, press the “save” button on the website and it will not be long before Modena delivers their customized products home.

Munarko, however, was quick to add that for its initial launch, the service would be available in Jakarta and its satellite cities only. “We will definitely expand to other areas to cater to emerging consumer demands,” he continued.

Now, comes this curious question: social media and functionality factors aside, why are people paying more attention to their kitchen design?

“More and more people have become aware that they spend most of their time at home in the kitchen. It can also be the trickiest room to maintain since it also involves lots of water and waste, not to mention sharp cutlery,” Dewi explained.