Could your Kitchen Design be affecting your eating habits in 2012?

 There are many different factors in our environment that affect the way we live. Just like a well-designed office has been proven to increase employee productivity, the design of our kitchen may also affect our behavior when it comes to our eating habits. We have come up with a few strategies in kitchen design that could affect or change these habits.

 

Many contemporary kitchens today reflect more of a “great room” style which combines the living, dining, and kitchen space into one. This serves as the central hub for families and friends. Many other activities often take place here. While many of us enjoy this design, we may not realize that it may actually contribute to more frequent snacking or larger meals being that we never really leave the kitchen.

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Traditional home design incorporated more of a closed off kitchen design that was used primarily for food preparation. Other than food prep and cleaning up after meals, essentially the kitchen was closed down in between or after meals.



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As you can see from this comparison, the square footage devoted to the kitchen has definitely changed over the years as well.



Cabinets with transparent panels may also stimulate your appetite by providing visual access to food in your cabinets.



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Last but not least, color may affect your appetite as well. Have you ever noticed how you often find warmer colors such as reds and oranges in many popular restaurants? They often incorporate these hues into their signage as well because these colors have the ability to stimulate your appetite. If you want a strategy to suppress your appetite at home, paint your kitchen blue or green. Blue is calming and can often suppress your appetite, while green has a healthy connation to it which could support incorporating healthy eating habits into your life.



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