b'pictures: Kallan MacLeodout with the old airNo doubt that chicken korma you cooked for dinner last night smelled and tasted delicious. However, when the aroma is still lingering throughout your house the next day, its not quite as appealing.And with the modern home-design trend for open-plan kitchens and living areas, installing the right extraction system is more important than ever.Mark Jones, owner of Applico Group, which imports and distributes Italian Smeg appliances, says there are many misconceptions about rangehoods and ducting. Its an area of kitchen design that people often dont give much consideration tofrequently its a bit of an after-thought and that can be a mistake, he says. As soon as you attach more than 1.5m of ducting to a rangehood, you signicantly reduce its extraction performance. The same is true when you have bends in the ducting.So, when she briefed designer Sandra Grummitt for the kitchen in her veryWhats more, when it comes to extraction, size really does contemporary new home, she knew exactly what would work for her and hermatter and bigger is denitely better.teenage son. Hot air and steam dont just go straight up, so your With the proper layout in a functional kitchen, you dont need a big space,rangehood should always be wider than your hob, says Chris explains. I wanted a good work area, where I could stand at theMark. If you have a 60cm hob, you should put in a bench and get to the fridge and the dishwasher. The walk-in pantry is also90cm rangehood. If the hobs 90cm, you need a 120cm to hand.rangehood.And Sandra quickly got the message that stark white would not do forMark has noticed a real shift in the local market toward Chris. For a start, the house is black cedar with silver joinery and polishedthe 120cm-wide hoods, which is in line with the new concrete oors, so Chris wanted the contrast of colour in her favouriteEuropean look for very long or even round extraction room. Together, they looked at pictures of kitchens in strong blues, withsystems. Appliance manufacturers are also responding to contrasting orange or aubergine and beech, and Sandra quickly knew whatconsumer demand for better performance and smarter would appeal to her client.products with more functions.People have to understand that colour will override the rest of the design,Most of the latest Smeg rangehoods have six speeds and explains Sandra. A lot of clients want to be conventional, with neutrals, butextraction rates of more than 1000 cubic metres of air per using colour can dominate and create a high-impact focus. The rest of thehour. They also incorporate features such as a timer, and house was neutral, so we could afford to draw attention to the kitchen.a light that tells you the lters need cleaning, he says.So what about aesthetics? It would seem weve come full Sandra quickly got the message that starkcircle and that the latest look is for concealed rangehoods, white would not do for Chris. rather than the canopy hoods that were popular ve years ago. The styling is also much slimmer now, to complement The palette of Resene Groovy and Resene Resolution Blue, which they settledthat of the kitchen cabinetry. on together, sings against the Resene Half Tea walls. Even the fridge is aMark advises those renovating or planning a new kitchen sculpture of blue in its integrated cabinet next to the pantry. Sandra thentofactorintheirextractionandductingrightfrom added beech techno-ply to the front of the bar and the countertops, as athe start. That way, youll ensure your rangehood is as warm counterpoint to the concrete oors and the glossy lacquer and stainlessefcient as possible, and friends coming over for brunch steel of the working areas. wont instantly know what you had for dinner last night.'