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By Sherry Hinman
Guests slide up onto a barstool at a curved glass table, lights glowing behind textured glass, and there you are at your six-burner professional cooktop, pulling together a fabulous meal, right in plain view.
Anthony Binns, kitchen designer for Binns Kitchen and Bath Design, views the kitchen as a place to entertain, not as the behind-the-scenes room it used to be. Guests join you in the kitchen and want to be close to you while you’re cooking, so kitchen designs have had to adapt to this trend.
Cooking as entertainment is not the only development to influence recent kitchen design. We’re entertaining more at home, so kitchens have changed to meet this social need. Now we see the “great room” concept, where walls are taken down between family room and kitchen bringing in more furniture and drawing the former “backroom” kitchen into full display.
How has this impacted on the design elements of the kitchen? There are two recent trends. The first is that the kitchen has become a showpiece. Cabinetry reflects our style, whether it be sleek and contemporary, with flat panels and straight, linear surfaces, or more traditional, with moldings reminiscent of Greek architecture. Appliances may be spectacular, like the stainless steel fridge with smoked glass door and interior light that stays on all the time. Or like the work-centre sink: instead of the traditional three-foot area, it covers five or six feet, including drain areas and countertop, all gleaming stainless steel.
Alternatively, appliances may be completely hidden, allowing other elements of the kitchen to take centre stage. We may conceal the fridge, for example, behind an undisturbed line of cabinetry.
Kitchens designed for entertaining; the use of cool stainless steel, glass and flat–panelled cabinetry creates a sophisticated urban look in these kitchens.
The second shift in kitchen design has been to bring in other elements of the house so that it truly becomes the centre of home: the hearth concept. We are building sound systems into our kitchens. Laptops allow us to quickly check our email with out leaving the room. Comfortable chairs and ambience lighting are a must.
Despite our keen desire for asthetics, we’re not prepared to give up function. Even in an old-fashioned, traditional-style kitchen, superior quality and ergonomics lay just beneath the surface. Binns described a stove from Heartland Appliances that looks like it’s from the 1920c. But behind the retro look is the most efficient burner system made in Canada.
And we do enjoy our gadgets, from built-in espresso makers and huge warming drawers that keep food and dishes hot, to recessed cabinets that fold out with the touch of a knee, revealing garbage and recycling containers. You can even install a beautiful old-style wooden ladder that slides across the room to take you to your cookbook shelf above.
How do all these design advances affect the homeowner? Harriet Cymbalista and her husband built their dream kitchen from scratch three years ago, when they moved into their luxury condominium. They chose everything from the details in the ceramic floor tiles to the edging on the deep green granite countertop right down to the little lion-head doorknobs on the cabinets.
Cymbalista enjoys all the built-in kitchen features that make for easy access: the pull-out drawers that hold her pots and pans high enough so she doesn’t have to bend, the roll-top “garage” behind which she stores her bread , and the recessed fridge that is oversized yet unobtrusive.
“To me, it’s a pleasure,” she says. “When people come over, sometimes I’ll entertain in my kitchen rather than setting up in the dining room. Everyone feels so comfortable here.”
Today’s kitchen: a place to entertain, to dine and to feel divine. |
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