I agree with everything IC said, about all I could ever dream of for my own kitchen would be counter space and plenty of it. I have yet to have a kitchen with enough counter space. Most of the kitchens I've worked on, people want to cram in every little thing they can and like IC said most of it is for show, not practicality.
I really think the one essential to consider is workspace. I don't care how fancy you get with a kitchen design, it's worthless if you don't have enough counterspace and a good work area like a solid table or island.
Mama Mangia wrote:I can't understand for the life of me why some put in the biggest kitchens and show off everything that they don't use. Who are they fooling? I've seen my share - and I have several friends that never even walk into their kitchens. The fridge is stocked with beer and a few microwaveable things. And they put in elaborate kitchens. total idiots - and they even brag that they don't use the room! I even have a friend that buys every kitchen gadget there is - hey - I have tons of them myself - but atleast mine get used - they aren't packed in boxes lined up down the hallway to the bedrooms like hers are. Now that is a sickness!
That is a sickness. It's called hoarding. There is even a show for it now where you can get help. What's next a show about cleptomaniacs?
This woman has her house so packed with boxes that are loaded that she has very thin paths to rooms - even her cellar and garage are packed - her kids and hubbie left her - and she just can't stop. When VCR's came out - she hooked up 4 TV's in her living room to tape everything she possibly could. she taped everything all day and all night - it's beyond disease - there is no help for her
I agree that too little space can be a problem- but for ME too much space is also bad. I've worked in kitchens of all sizes and occasionally I worked in kitchens that were huge-much bigger than they ought to have been. When cooks/chefs already work 12-18 hour days in arenas that can already be full of dangerous risks (slick/wet floors, hot surfaces, sharp knives, etc) why add to their fatigue by making them hike extra miles and cover additional acreage to run and fetch stuff? Needless!
Same- to a degree- with home kitchens.
Many folks equate space and square footage with luxury- but be careful what you wish for. While adding extra steps between your sink, your fridge and your stove can seem like a joy- surplus space- or needlessly extra distance can be burdensome, and in some cases aggrivate injury or increase risk.
Once I worked between two different logging camps- one had a huge kitchen w/ every corner a mile from the next. The other had a much smaller, better laid-out floor-plan. I suffered a knee injury and was abale to keep working with few problems when it worked out that I could be kept at the one, smaller kitchen that required me to hike around far less. If I had been kept at that second, much larger kitchen, it'd have killed my knee and probably worsened my injury and eventually may have done enough damage and caused enough pain to put me outta commission, and send me home for a while. So- extra space can be good- but there's also a fine line, there. More space doesn't always equal a good thing!
Same- to a degree- with home kitchens.
Many folks equate space and square footage with luxury- but be careful what you wish for. While adding extra steps between your sink, your fridge and your stove can seem like a joy- surplus space- or needlessly extra distance can be burdensome, and in some cases aggrivate injury or increase risk.
Once I worked between two different logging camps- one had a huge kitchen w/ every corner a mile from the next. The other had a much smaller, better laid-out floor-plan. I suffered a knee injury and was abale to keep working with few problems when it worked out that I could be kept at the one, smaller kitchen that required me to hike around far less. If I had been kept at that second, much larger kitchen, it'd have killed my knee and probably worsened my injury and eventually may have done enough damage and caused enough pain to put me outta commission, and send me home for a while. So- extra space can be good- but there's also a fine line, there. More space doesn't always equal a good thing!