The Kitchen The Heart of the Home

By Lorie Thompson

With years of experience helping clients find their perfect home, I can tell you that the quality of the Kitchen is one of the top decision factors in a purchase. Typically, a home’s location and size are the top considerations, with the quality of the home’s Kitchen close behind.

Sadly, I often see significant things that could be improved in kitchen design, even in luxury homes. A recent home on the market in the mid- $700,000 range had a lovely modern kitchen with a nice cooktop, but there was no vent hood. That will make cooking morning breakfast miserable. You will only be able to cook bacon in good weather, allowing you to open the doors and windows. That same home had a huge walk-in pantry with no electrical outlets. I’m sure the builder thought of that pantry as storage. Still, it would have been ideal for a coffee bar area or wine cooler if it had electric outlets.

Other common design flaws are having the range against the refrigerator with no counter space in between. This leaves no place to put a hot pan out of the oven if your cooktop is in use. And one of the worst offenders in my mind is a misplaced kitchen island or bar. Walking around an island to access the sink or refrigerator makes kitchen time challenging.

A great kitchen is not all about high-end finishes with the most expensive appliances. The most important factors are in the initial design and layout of the work areas. Basic kitchen design begins with creating a work triangle between the cooking area, the sink, and the refrigerator: Not too many steps apart but with enough space between to create accessible walkways and enough countertops for easy landing spaces for hot pots and pans, food preparation and dish cleanup.

The open concept is a design trend that will remain popular. It makes sense in the daily routine of most families to have the living, dining, and food preparation areas open and adjacent to each other.

The newest trend in luxury design is the return of the “Butler’s Pantry”. This creates a second kitchen area hidden from the view of the main living spaces for dish cleanup and service. It commonly houses a second dishwasher and a sink. It is a great concept that allows you to cook in your new designer showcase kitchen and clean the dishes out of sight of guests. These areas make a great space for serving piece storage, drink preparation, and small appliance storage.

Kitchen islands are great if they are correctly incorporated into the overall design. One of the primary uses of an island is to create a physical barrier between the workspace in a kitchen and the guest space. It is wonderful to have your family and guest gather around the kitchen island, but miserable if you are trying to cook and they invade the kitchen work area.

The island in my Kitchen serves as a large countertop workspace and offers seating on the great room side for guests and family. There have been hundreds of meals served buffet style off of the kitchen island.

Many simple items will make your Kitchen more manageable for you to work in:

• Direct access to pots, pans, and cooking utensils while standing at the stove is essential.

• Storage of dishes, flatware, and table serving pieces should be centralized and accessible without being in the area of the range. Setting the table is a great job to allocate to another family member while you finish up that great saute’ on the cooktop.

• A garbage and compost receptacle within easy reach of the sink and dishwasher will make food preparation and cleanup easier.

• Counterspace beside the refrigerator is a big help when pulling items out for food preparation and stocking the fridge.

• Store your frequently used baking items, such as baking soda, baking powder, pan sprays, vanilla extract, and yeast, in a basket or tub that can quickly be brought to the kitchen workspace.

• Store most frequently used oils, spices, and herbs at or near your cooktop. I keep olive oil, avocado oil, salt, pepper, red pepper, and garlic powder/salt beside the cooktop.

• High-quality kitchen knives (kept sharp) and good pots and pans will help you more in daily kitchen tasks than the fanciest gadgets. I count my knives and my good pans as my most important tools.

What I find most important in my Kitchen is keeping what I have well organized and in good working order. Quickly locating what you need for each kitchen task will make cooking easier. Keep working to refine your cooking space. Make finding items for frequently prepared dishes intuitive. If you cook stir fry every week, keep your seasonings together in the spice rack. Keep a separate box in the refrigerator for soy sauce, peanut sauce, and chili paste that you can reach in and bring to the cooking area with one trip to the fridge.

If you are building new or remodeling your Kitchen, there are so many choices for your new Kitchen. Start with the basics, ensuring the flow is good between the food prep area, sink, range, and refrigerator. Pick appliances that are appropriate to the space you have and your cooking style. Make sure the huge refrigerator you want will not stick out into your workspace. It would be nice to have a 48” range, but not at the expense of losing adequate counter space between the range and fridge. Think through the cabinet doors and drawers in the corners. Are they blocked by the adjacent cabinet from fully opening, or are they easily accessed? Consider your storage needs. Do you have separate storage for brooms/ mops, or do you need a cabinet to house them? Are there adequate electric outlets near the countertop workspace that will be used for small appliances?

My advice is to get the basics right to start with. You can always upgrade an appliance later, but it is really hard to alter the electric and plumbing outlets from the initial build in a home. You can always add a warming drawer later, but you will need the electric wiring in place when you build. Think it through.

Rely on your cabinet company to help you make sound design decisions, but have an idea of your specific needs and wants before ordering.

My Kitchen is nearing 25 years old. I would change a few design items, but overall, it has served me well.

I hope you will love your Kitchen and it will be the heart of your home.