Furniture fittings evolve with you

It used to be simple. The kitchen in a separate room, the living room next to it in a separate room and also the bedrooms, dining room, bathroom and toilet were all arranged separately from each other. The functions were clear and they were limited to that space itself. And then "open living" became popular. Walls were sometimes literally torn down and everything became one.

Times change, and those changes also bring changes. The interior world has also undergone (or is still undergoing) these changes with the fusion of the kitchen and living room into one continuous whole. Of course, the kitchen is still the kitchen and meals are prepared there. But the kitchen is now more than that, it is the beating heart of a household.
Hettich, as one of the world's leading manufacturers of furniture hardware, quickly saw that "open living" was here to stay and immediately set about developing solutions to adapt furniture hardware to this new interior situation as well. But also the trend of houses and apartments becoming somewhat smaller did not escape the attention of Hettich's product developers.

Flexibility of furniture

Smaller housing units of 50 to 60 square meters are more and more common. And yet families also make use of these. Flexible use of furniture and optimal use of the available storage space is therefore necessary. "We have developed numerous solutions for tiny houses and one-bedroom apartments in recent years," echoes Elke Meyer, Hettich Marketing. "For example, drawers in unusual formats make it possible to start using unused spaces as well. Our ComfortSpin turntable also helps to move the contents in the cabinet from front to back and back. Moreover, with sliding and folding doors, no space is lost that is required to open a traditional cabinet door." Hettich also puts forward movable walls as a great solution to use in smaller living units. The manufacturer gives the example of building a utility room under a pitched roof. "We create temporary spaces with movable walls that are only used when needed," Meyer explains. "If the space is no longer needed then the wall is returned to its original position and the space is again available for living, sleeping or the 'regular' kitchen."

Minor interventions

The flexibility and multifunctionality we expect from furniture today means that Hettich is developing solutions to allow furniture to serve multiple functions. "Just think of tables that can move sideways to create extra space when needed," Meyer outlines. "You can transform a small kitchen table into a dining table for a larger group of guests in no time. And our height-adjustable Steelforce desks can be used as both a dining table and a desk. But we also respond to the smaller areas available with what we call comfort functions. Push to Open Silent allows handles to be omitted, and with the right lighting solutions we ensure, on the one hand, that contents can be found more quickly and, on the other, that the light switch is not needed. Efficient organization in the drawers with an organization system also supports the multifunctional use of kitchen drawers."