IF you've always lusted after a Poggenpohl kitchen but could never bring yourself to spend the requisite $200,000, there are always more reasonably-priced alternative brands like Rational which look just as sleek and swish. And the bonus would be that you would have plenty of money left over to splurge on other high-end German home furnishings at Haus, a new tribute to Teutonic style at Palais Renaissance.

Haus is Kitchen Culture's first foray into the Orchard shopping belt, a savvy move by the high-end kitchen specialists to expand its product lines into other areas of the home.

Haus - German for 'house' of course - offers classic style beyond Italian flamboyance, for a timeless look embellished with a high-tech edge. Readily known for offering substance above style, the lines of furniture represented by Haus also inject an air of quiet elegance.

While the sartorially inclined may wonder why one would give up the playful lines and sensual curves synonymous with Italian furniture for a heavy-shouldered German sofa, Kitchen Culture's managing director Lim Wee Li is adamant that fashion may come and go but reliability will never go out of style.

'The market is saturated with Italian furniture brands which have very avant garde designs,' he says. 'But 18 years of experience with premium German manufacturers have convinced us of their long term quality. Over time, design will be forgotten whereas the durability and reliability of German products will be appreciated time after time.'

What Haus has that Italian furniture showrooms may not have, though, is that it is well connected to the current trend of high-end kitchen manufacturers creating integrated systems designed for other parts of the home, like the living room or bedroom. In other words, sleek to-die-for kitchen cabinets are now being modified in design to become uber-stylish wardrobes or shelving units.

For a peek at how cool these modular systems can be, check them out at the Haus showroom where beautifully finished wardrobes, chests and cabinets make stylish complements to the sturdy and reliable looking sofas and chairs.

Mr Lim explains that 'in Europe, there is already a growing trend of clients wanting to integrate their living space into the kitchen in order to achieve a homogenous and linear design intent; similarly, we hope to introduce this idea of integrating the kitchen system with the living elements in Asia soon'.

Currently, Haus features brands like COR furniture, Rational kitchens, Kuppersb????sch appliances, Draenert dining tables and chairs and Interl????bke wardrobes. 'Prices range from an affordable $960 for an Arthe glass coffee table to a Conseta sofa in leather at $30,000.'

Indeed, integrating kitchen and the other parts of the home is the direction that Kitchen Culture is heading towards, particularly with its stronghold in the market through its super high-end kitchens and now its line of home furnishings.

Mr Lim, who has been in the business for over 17 years, says, 'Years ago, people saw kitchens and furniture as completely different elements of the business. In recent years, you see more companies including kitchen systems into their furniture business to provide a more complete service. The inclusion of living elements integrated into the kitchen system is a trend that will have a significant impact on home buyers' purchasing patterns.'

He pretty much has the sales to back up his words, too. With the hot property market, business is on the uptrend and 'we are experiencing a good flow of booked orders of over $90 million'. Not bad, given his estimates that the current kitchen/furniture market is worth around $300 million. This has been a bumper year for Kitchen Culture, 'with double-digit growth on a year-on-year basis'.

And as people become more convinced about the reliability factor, that percentage may grow even higher. Besides, those wardrobes look really cool.