The organisers of the Cologne annual international furniture trade show also see kitchen living space as a current focus. The new kitchen style is regal with a distinctive design.

One example is the Waldstetten, Germany-based company Leicht, which has said goodbye to the conventional kitchen looks for floor cabinets, wall cabinets and niches.

The idea is called Concept 40 and it involves closed cover panels with rectangular-shaped grates that are used to hide storage space and things like the stove ventilator.

'We wanted to get away from the kitchen's visual appearance and put the focus more on living,' said Ulrike Kolb of Leicht.