Times were when a kitchen was merely a necessity in American homes. It was self-contained and oftentimes stuck in a corner or the house, perhaps attached to a dining area by a swinging door. Busy "housewives", pleasantly chased their visitors back to formal living rooms and served from trays, modestly "excusing" the condition of their kitchens when invaded by well-meaning guests.

Kitchens, for years called the "heart" of the American home, have now come to take center stage in new home construction, with more bells and whistles, style and statement being injected into their gleaming surroundings each year. With formal living and dining rooms going into and out of vogue, kitchens remain the "core" of domestic life; the gathering place, the receptor of our joys and consolations and the stage of sustenance in our existence. Even those in the market for a modestly sized home seem to choose a spacious, well-planned kitchen over a formal living or dining room (or both) if the space must be sacrificed. With couples and families spending less and less time in relatively unused areas such as these, it's no wonder builders are all but eliminating formal areas from their floor plan designs.

American homebuilders have been ratcheting up the proportion, storage, features, layout, and varied finishes of kitchens to meet the demands of today's homebuyers. With so many elements to incorporate, it's important that builders and architects keep designs simple, yet within the budget of the average home buyer.

First, builders consider the most practical elements of kitchens; appliances and their locations relative to the user's needs, counter top space for food preparation and "overflow" functions, all-important storage space, eating area(s) and last, but certainly not least, attractiveness.

This last element has no doubt become more and more important over the past ten years or so of new home construction. The need for attractively presented kitchens may primarily be due to the trend to open kitchens to living areas. New designs now allow the chief cook and bottle washer to stand over a sink while watching the big screen, manage a collection of active kids and cook dinner at the same time. This incorporation of function into leisure space has resulted in the kitchen as both a personal lifestyle statement and a Mecca for family life.

Some of the trends for kitchens in the new American home include:

Published: November 10, 1999

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