The most used, busiest room in the house
The most used, busiest room in the house
The most used, busiest room in the house
Any realtor will tell you that the most important room in a house for resale is the kitchen. Any homeowner will tell you that the most important room in the house for the family is the kitchen.
Originally, the kitchen was the skullery that the lady of the house rarely entered. The kitchen was simply the workroom where the meals were prepared. Today the kitchen is the heart of the home. No matter how many rooms there are in a house, everyone always ends up in the kitchen. That's why the kitchen has become so large, so that the size reflects and allows for all the different ways it is to be used. Ofcourse the food will still be prepared in today's efficient kitchen, but there also has to be room for a message center to organize all the activities that a busy family is involved with; a computer center; a television; a functional island, that incorporates cabinets as well as work counter and eating.
Each kitchen is unique to the user, or users. And making it so is the key to a successful kitchen design, and a happy client(s). How will this kitchen be used, and by how many people? What style does the customer, or customers prefer? Is it to be a sleek, modern jewel of a small kitchen in Manhattan overlooking Gracie Mansion, where the view is everything? Or is this kitchen soo tiny that we will we be taking down walls to create some room for eating. Is it to be a "Great Room" that incorporates , not only counter seating, but perhaps a table and chairs and entertainment elements to accommodate a growing family, with a warm and enviting feeling; Is it to be elegant, or casual?
The "Great Room" may seem like a new concept, but I actually created my first "Great Room" over twenty years ago. I was called in to design a kitchen for a magnificent older home in Westchester. The original kitchen had a dividing wall for a laundry room, and, what was very common in those days, a small room to be used as an eating nook. This very small eating nook was completely inappropriate for this magnificent, and rather large home, which incidentally, had a beautiful backyard- a real bonus in Westchester. I recommended taking down all those interior dividing walls. The laundry was moved to the basement, so that we were now able to create enough space in the kitchen to incorporate a table and chairs, as well as a sofa, chairs and t.v., to be used as a den. And best of all, we added sliding doors to not only add much needed light to the space, but also allow direct access to their beautiful yard. This was the prototype for the current "Great Room", and made for a very satisfied client.
Even when there isn't enough room to make the kitchen a grand masterpiece, the kitchen is still the only room in the house that has to be beautiful, as well as functional, as dictated by the needs of each individual client.
Not long ago, I designed a small galley kitchen for a single user in a beautiful large apartment in Riverdale. This lady wanted a very contemporary, modern kitchen, but also one that was warm and inviting. And, she did not want to feel trapped in this small galley kitchen, no matter how beautiful it was to become. This clien also had beautiful art work that was to hang in the living room, which was separated from the kitchen by a dividing wall. I recommended taking down the wall between the kitchen and the living room. In most apartments this is not a very costly process, since these dividing walls usually don't have any major plumbing or electrical in them; they are usually just dividers between areas. This is something that needs to be confirmed before the project begins. It was confirmed that that was the case in this apartment. In order not to lose cabinet storage that would have been on the dividing wall that was coming down, I recommended the following. First, we added an elegant granite countertop that would incorporate lower cabinets for storage, and that would allow for seating, so that the client could have a quick cup of coffee, or a meal while looking at her art work. Attached to the ceiling I added a bank of short wall cabinets with glass doors on the front, as well as the back. These cabinets would hold glassware, and beautiful serving pieces, while still being short enough to allow all of the light emanating from the previously blocked living room windows to brighten the previously tiny, dark kitchen . All of these cabinets created a visual divider between the living room and kitchen, while incorporating it into the overall space. Needless to say, the client couldn't have been happier with the results.
In the 25 years that I have been designing kitchens and baths, many things have changed. Although everyone still wants a beautiful and functional kitchen, most people want flexibility. In this economy, people want the ability to shop for the best prices on everything. Although I can design and sell high quality cabinets in a vast variety of styles and prices, I understand that for some people it may be inconvenient to purchase cabinets directly from me. However, many people still want the benefit of my many years of design know-how. For those wanting a one stop shopping experience, there would be no separate design fees- all fees would be deducted from the purchase price of the kitchen. For those wishing to buy elsewhere, the kitchen would still be designed to the clients specifications, and with a non-refundable fee. That design could then then be shopped around. If at the end of that process the client would prefer to buy the kitchen from me, the fee would again become applicable to the purchase of the kitchen.
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