Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Smart Home
  3. News

Japanese kitchen manufacturer unveils minimalist units for the city dweller

Add as a preferred source on Google

For city dwellers, living space can be limited, and cramped at times. But why should you sacrifice comfort just to keep the morning commute a bit shorter?

With a new set of kitchen units from Japanese kitchen manufacturer Sanwa, you’ll never have to compromise again. The collection offers a combination of usability, flexibility, and style, designed specifically for those with small living spaces.

Recommended Videos

The company’s four models provide those in cramped apartments varying benefits, starting with the Affilato Hide unit. This model’s value lies in the name, with affilato translating to “razor-sharp,” with the unit’s concealed sink and cooking area (behind two steel folding doors) giving a hidden kitchen look. And when you’re not using the kitchen, you can easily close it up and keep it out of sight.

The Ceragino kitchen is freestanding and offers the same benefit of the Affilato Hide, taking up minimal space. But the primary benefit of the Ceragino is its fit in open-plan areas, where the unit fulfills multiple uses, whether it be an island, wall unit, or kitchen.

A Sanwa spokesperson told Dezeen architecture and design magazine that this unit is “the answer to the need for creating a comfortable space according to a veritable minimalist philosophy: doing away with all that is not strictly necessary.”

The third unit from Sanwa, Kanade, it much larger, but also offers further functionality, including standing and overhead units.

“It pairs worktops covered in thin ceramic panels with cupboard doors coated in synthetic leather — which has been processed with antibacterial and antifungal treatments,” Dezeen wrote.

Sanwa’s fourth and last unit of the minimalist kitchen collection, Zan, offers a stainless steel look covered by thin aluminum panels. A streaked finish inspired by handmade Japanese Washi paper — typically made from fibers of the gampi tree, mitsumata shrub, or the paper mulberry — tops off the design.

Sanwa told Dezeen that “Zan combines technological details with the cultural traditions of Japan.”

Harrison Kaminsky
Harrison’s obsession in the tech space originated in his father’s electronics store in Denville, New Jersey, where he…
What Mattress Firmness Is Right for Back Pain?
Why the right balance of cushioning and support matters for better sleep
Sleeping

This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Sleep Number.

Waking up with a stiff back is a miserable way to start the day. The usual advice is to buy the firmest mattress you can find. It sounds reasonable, but your spine, shoulders, and hips don’t work that way. The needs differ for each person, but there are a few ways you can get that healthy sleep with the right mattress.

Read more
How to Choose the Right Mattress for You
sleeping

This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Sleep Number.

Shopping for a new mattress sounds simple until you start looking. Memory foam or hybrid? Soft or firm? Cooling covers, pressure-relief zones, motion isolation, sleep tracking — suddenly, you're comparing features that barely existed the last time you bought a bed. Even the most expensive option could be a poor match.

Read more
Amazon unveils Alexa Home Map, letting you control your smart home in 3D
Alexa Home Map lets users control individual smart home devices from one place, without remembering their names or searching through menus.
Alexa Home Map on a smart home hub display

Amazon has been a major player in the smart home market for years, but fresh competition from Apple may have lit a fire under it. The company has just unveiled a new lineup of Alexa devices, including Echo speakers, a smart alarm clock, a photo frame, and the Echo Show 16. On the software side, Amazon also introduced Alexa Home Map, which puts your connected devices on an interactive 3D model of your house, letting you monitor and control them from one place.

Your entire smart home on a 3D map

Read more