What' So "Great" About Today's Kitchen?

More and more, the modern family lives there – in a kitchen that incorporates such non-traditional kitchen activities as working on the computer, watching movies and just hanging out.

Kitchen as great room is a concept that would have stumped our turn of the 20^th century ancestors. At that time kitchens were generally disconnected from what was considered the family’s living quarters.

In recent decades, the kitchen has been evolving into a gathering place. But it didn’t really expand to easily accommodate new activities for quite a few years. Think of all the parties you have attended where everyone ends up crowded into a standard kitchen.

Enter the open kitchen, no longer walled off and isolated, it invites participation and conversation while food preparation and cooking is underway.

More than a kitchen. In this family-friendly room, an island provides informal seating and a kitchen canopy defines the island area while providing cooktop ventilation. Across the room, a comfy seating area gives family and guests a place to relax. The unit includes outlets for electronic devices and storage for books, newspapers and games. Close by, on the other side of a short wall, is a formal dining area.     

The next step in kitchen evolution has been the addition of non-traditional functions and furnishings, turning the kitchen into an all-day family area and entertainment center.

When possible, homeowners are choosing to physically expand the space by removing walls and combining less used areas– a den or dining room – into a greater kitchen complex.

One design strategy for this new great room is to create a unified look. Extending the same flooring throughout, and matching the lighting fixtures, trim and cabinetry wood across the different areas downplays the separateness of the working kitchen portion. Another tactic would be to create a distinct but complimentary kitchen identity within the expanded living space.  

Maybe tearing down walls is not an option. An existing kitchen can still be redesigned and refitted to create living space that works for your family, perhaps incorporating some of the elements shown in the kitchen pictured above.

Call it great room or family room or entertainment center, the “new” kitchen certainly has become the “living room” in many modern households.