Kitchen..The Hub of the Home
They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home. And we have to believe it’s true. Whether small or large, the kitchen is the hub of the home. It is where the meals are created – it fuels the bodies, minds and souls of friends and families all over the world. For both Sandy and Kayt it is their hub of the home, a bit like Grand Central Station
Much of the importance of this room seems to depend on the size of the kitchen, the family, and on lifestyle. In older homes, kitchens were smaller, separated and removed from the rest of the home. It was a contained space used almost exclusively for cooking that could be closed off to conceal the mess. Family and friends would eat and congregate in the dining and living rooms that were situated nearby. In older homes more importance was given to the dining and living rooms. Kitchens were utilitarian and that was about it.
Kitchens were for cooking. We all have memories of our mothers (in some cases the father or both parents) slaving over a stove, working tirelessly over countertops, preparing delicious, filling and nutritious meals that the family enjoyed and savored together. In some cases children were told to keep out of the kitchen – mother’s workspace – so that mother could prep and cook. In most cases children were encouraged to join and learn the art of cooking, the joy of preparing a family or holiday meal together, thus creating true memories of a lifetime. Kitchens are not sedate and quiet rooms. They are rooms filled with energy, aroma and texture. They were created with a purpose, one purpose in mind. They were created to be utilitarian spaces.
The kitchen was not always where the family congregated
In medium sized and larger homes, these rooms were often large enough to house a table large enough to seat a family for breakfast, a snack or a light meal, with the important meals still meant to be served in the dining room where the family congregated at the end of the day. The family meal had much more importance and significance in past generations than it does now – much of this, again, due to busier lifestyles of modern times.
The kitchen is the new living room
Over the course of the past 20 years or so, kitchens started to become living spaces with more time spent in these spaces and where more was done than just cooking. Newer homes were designed with kitchens as living spaces in mind and so these rooms became larger to better accommodate family and friends as an additional space for entertaining. Many kitchens began to open up to other rooms, yet some remained separate spaces. These newer, larger, more accommodating kitchens now had space for large tables and islands were planned in to create a natural flow for those coming and going. Much more thought was being given to kitchen design and functionality. The idea of the kitchen as a living space was becoming more and more popular and those with smaller kitchens in older homes started to take notice. As a result homeowners started to alter and enlarge their own kitchen spaces to follow the “trend,” both for lifestyle and resale purposes.
Today’s kitchen is much more than a kitchen
Newer kitchens, while called kitchens, are really so much more. Today’s kitchen is today’s family living space. These large rooms house several areas within. There is the kitchen area – the designated cooking space – thoughtfully, carefully planned and laid out. Then there’s the dining area within the kitchen, usually large enough to hold a table that comfortably seats 6 or more, and finally, in many of these larger kitchens, is the sitting area, so that in effect, the whole family can hang out together while cooking, working or relaxing. Many new homes embracing the more casual lifestyle are being built without a dining room or formal living area. For those who enjoy entertaining and do so often, even the homes with formal dining and living areas find that the crowd usually gathers in the kitchen.
