Oh, I agree that poorly laid out space is not a good thing. The problem I see in most kitchens though is just not enough workspace on countertops. I wish I had room for an island so I could lay out my prep and work without having to move each item so much. The idea is usable workspace not just space.

James Beard said in an interview years ago that "The only absolutely essential thing I need in a kitchen is a good dog to clean up my spills,everything else is negotiable"!

Think back to the good old days and all those fabulous homemade meals made with just a large stock pot, a cast iron skillet, a baking sheet, a wooden spoon, one pancake turner, no measurig spoons (you used a teaspoon and soup spoon from your flatware) and you had no measuring cups - you used a coffee cup. A good sharp knife and you were all set.

Sounds like Grandmas kitchen, but you left out the meatball pan Grandma had this huge skillet that as far as I've ever seen was used for frying meatballs early Sunday morning.

I still have "the meatball pan" and it's big enough for 2 burners! For smaller batches it was the huge cast iron pan - you just kept filling, frying, and refilling until you were done.