A kitchen is just place to prepare food. Greed, I think, is the main incentive for telling people that a kitchen is anything else. Also, constantly "updating" appliances is purely driven by greed. If that refrigerator or range you just bought last year "needs" to be replaced this year, you get taken for a ride if you, pardon the pun, buy into that. A fridge is just a box to keep food cold, not a work of art.
All those flowery words about "wellness, sustainability and calming earth tones" coming from NAKB is meant to disguise their main intention: that being we want you all to love these huge kitchens because we can sell you a boatload of new cabinets, appliances and tops! Capitalism at it's finest.
I will push back a bit on the huge island critique. I and two of my sibs live in the same town and we all get along well. I have 2 adult children w/ spouses and young kids. My brother also has 2, both who just got engaged. My widowed sister has 3 adult kids and 2 also just got engaged, plus she's remarried and her hubby brought 2 adult kids and his extended family into the fray. Family events and holidays are celebrated at their home which has one of these kitchens w/ the continental island. It's the center of the party while the meal is prepped, becomes the serving buffet for all those folks, and provides seating for five of us who don't fit at the table of 14. Point being, this is really the perfect design for our big happy family.
These kitchens are gold mines for suppliers and installers, probably average $100K plus. Obviously all families don't require these monster kitchens and there's no escaping the facts that they are probably the last place we should all be hanging out. We are all pretty health conscious, but I'm pretty sure my sister would say it was worth the risk for the quality time we have at family gatherings.
I'm a proponent of open kitchens with an island. Cooking in our house is a team event. The kitchen is close to the deck where the BBQ sits and our work triangle is efficient with a prep area beside each appliance. Counters are granite. We have a range hood above the range and our dining table opens to seat maximum 10. We have a wall of windows & patio doors lighting our kitchen, dining & living room in one open space.
Disclosure, I have a degree in Architecture and my husband is a cabinet maker, however we both like the Ikea 32 mm system on their cabinets and therefore we have Ikea cabinets. Efficient and minimal. Natural bamboo flooring was the choice for all three rooms as its one open space. The space is efficient to heat in winters and window shades and a deck cover modulate south/west sunlight and heat in summers. I would agree that the kitchen is the subject of design marketing and is one of the most expensive spaces in a home. Also, appliances are designed to fail and many are difficult to repair - especially the electronics on dishwashers.
“the muted mid-century modern aesthetic of the 1950s will see a resurgence.” ... “My favorites are golds and peaches..." & the photos are devoid of colour looking like the they came from a Home Sense / Marshals / Winners store. So I guess it's not just "wellness" that's lost its meaning. PS, when did gold & peach become "muted"? PPS I recall cars & furniture in the 1950's being anything but muted.
I smile whenever I read mention of Lillian Gilbreth, who made many contributions to efficiency with her work in time and motion studies. She and her husband Frank applied the industrial practices they researched to raising their twelve children-the subject of the book and movies "Cheaper by the Dozen." My Uncle Phil, a graduate of Cornell University's engineering class of 1933, was a friend and colleague of Lillian's (Frank died in 1924). Phil taught me well--to this day I am loathe to waste motions, regardless of the task.
My wife and I designed, and I built, the kitchens in our last two houses. We had a pretty good idea of how much space we'd want, where the sink and appliances would go. We had drawings, but once the empty space was built, we collected lots of cardboard and saw horses and laid out the entire space. The sort of standard space between counter and island is usually 36" but 42" works better.
I think there's an inverse relationship between kitchen size and how much cooking gets done in it.
A kitchen is just place to prepare food. Greed, I think, is the main incentive for telling people that a kitchen is anything else. Also, constantly "updating" appliances is purely driven by greed. If that refrigerator or range you just bought last year "needs" to be replaced this year, you get taken for a ride if you, pardon the pun, buy into that. A fridge is just a box to keep food cold, not a work of art.
All those flowery words about "wellness, sustainability and calming earth tones" coming from NAKB is meant to disguise their main intention: that being we want you all to love these huge kitchens because we can sell you a boatload of new cabinets, appliances and tops! Capitalism at it's finest.
I will push back a bit on the huge island critique. I and two of my sibs live in the same town and we all get along well. I have 2 adult children w/ spouses and young kids. My brother also has 2, both who just got engaged. My widowed sister has 3 adult kids and 2 also just got engaged, plus she's remarried and her hubby brought 2 adult kids and his extended family into the fray. Family events and holidays are celebrated at their home which has one of these kitchens w/ the continental island. It's the center of the party while the meal is prepped, becomes the serving buffet for all those folks, and provides seating for five of us who don't fit at the table of 14. Point being, this is really the perfect design for our big happy family.
These kitchens are gold mines for suppliers and installers, probably average $100K plus. Obviously all families don't require these monster kitchens and there's no escaping the facts that they are probably the last place we should all be hanging out. We are all pretty health conscious, but I'm pretty sure my sister would say it was worth the risk for the quality time we have at family gatherings.
I do get a lot of pushback about islands. Our dining room table holds 10 and that is our limit.
I'm a proponent of open kitchens with an island. Cooking in our house is a team event. The kitchen is close to the deck where the BBQ sits and our work triangle is efficient with a prep area beside each appliance. Counters are granite. We have a range hood above the range and our dining table opens to seat maximum 10. We have a wall of windows & patio doors lighting our kitchen, dining & living room in one open space.
Disclosure, I have a degree in Architecture and my husband is a cabinet maker, however we both like the Ikea 32 mm system on their cabinets and therefore we have Ikea cabinets. Efficient and minimal. Natural bamboo flooring was the choice for all three rooms as its one open space. The space is efficient to heat in winters and window shades and a deck cover modulate south/west sunlight and heat in summers. I would agree that the kitchen is the subject of design marketing and is one of the most expensive spaces in a home. Also, appliances are designed to fail and many are difficult to repair - especially the electronics on dishwashers.
It actually sounds lovely, and I am glad you have a dining room table.
"Quartzite is porous and has to be sealed every year, or it can harbour bacteria. This is wellness?"
What happened to granite and marble? I would go with poured concrete of some dynamic before I would ever use quartz or quartzite.
Then again, what do I know, I'm just a dumb pharmer .....
And lots of money.
“the muted mid-century modern aesthetic of the 1950s will see a resurgence.” ... “My favorites are golds and peaches..." & the photos are devoid of colour looking like the they came from a Home Sense / Marshals / Winners store. So I guess it's not just "wellness" that's lost its meaning. PS, when did gold & peach become "muted"? PPS I recall cars & furniture in the 1950's being anything but muted.
I smile whenever I read mention of Lillian Gilbreth, who made many contributions to efficiency with her work in time and motion studies. She and her husband Frank applied the industrial practices they researched to raising their twelve children-the subject of the book and movies "Cheaper by the Dozen." My Uncle Phil, a graduate of Cornell University's engineering class of 1933, was a friend and colleague of Lillian's (Frank died in 1924). Phil taught me well--to this day I am loathe to waste motions, regardless of the task.
She was pretty amazing. I link to Alexandra Lange’s great 2012 article about her.
It's good to know I'm not the only one questioning (laughing at) these studies.
Unfortunately, these are the type of studies that influence the govt. in decision making policies.
My wife and I designed, and I built, the kitchens in our last two houses. We had a pretty good idea of how much space we'd want, where the sink and appliances would go. We had drawings, but once the empty space was built, we collected lots of cardboard and saw horses and laid out the entire space. The sort of standard space between counter and island is usually 36" but 42" works better.
I think there's an inverse relationship between kitchen size and how much cooking gets done in it.