Photography & Article by Joe Salvino, Studio 960
© September, 2007 All Rights Reserved

It was only a few decades ago that the typical kitchen was a small room with a stove, refrigerator and some cupboards for storage (of which there was NEVER enough). It was mom's "work" area, where she worked behind closed doors while friends, family and guests waited in the front room or dining room until she had everything prepared and would graciously bring out the fruits of her labor.

Much has changed since those days. We've gone from "Stay out of the kitchen!" to "Meet me in the kitchen." With more women working career jobs, men partaking in cooking, food preparation and cooking has become more of an art than ever before. Social customs have changed dramatically as well. With the move for more open floor plans, family and guests don't tend to wait in the front room while the cook works. Everyone loves to hang around the cooking area to visit and sometimes give a hand with the food preparation.


Larger and more graceful.
With these cultural and social changes, it's no surprise that the kitchen has a more prominent position in today's homes. Today's kitchens have come from that small room behind a closed door to the forefront of attention.

They take up a larger percentage of the home's square footage than ever before for several reasons. Room to work, room for guests to get involved and simply to allow more storage space, just for a few factors behind this change. And let's not forget the all-popular "island." Great for more work area, but also serving as a seating area while friends and family visit with the "chef."


Combining business with art.
Now that the kitchen has moved to the forefront for entertaining guests, it's not much of a surprise that the design, construction and materials used has become more artistic, creative and exotic. The selection of appliance construction and materials has grown with demand. Stainless steel refrigerator doors and stove tops that used to be seen only in commercial kitchens, are skillfully integrated into the art of today's kitchen with exotic marble and granite tops.

Connecting to the activity.
Since the family and guests always want to be in or near the kitchen, it only makes sense to connect the areas you want them to be to the kitchen. The solution: Keep the kitchen adjacent and open to the kitchen.

Close to the action.
For Desert Homes, the next most popular area is the patio and pool. Here we see (above) how kitchens are located with quick and easy access to them.

Uncompromising situations.
So what can you do if you're stuck with a floor plan that's not forgiving to the "open" look? Here we see (above), a penthouse apartment with just that situation. The elevator shaft is in the center of the unit, strictly limiting the diversity of connecting open spaces. Their solution: Go "all out" with color, design, exotic materials and appliances.

Updating an older home.
Even the older homes with those "back door" kitchens can still get a remarkable makeover. Similar to the penthouse apartment example, the owner of this 50's home used the same concept of incorporating a lot of stainless steel materials and appliances to give a chic, commercial, professional "line cook" feeling to this kitchen.


With so much love, attention and function of today's kitchens, they really are the "heart and soul" of today's home!