Beautiful and Highly Functional Kitchens (And other spaces)
Today’s kitchens not only need to look beautiful, but they also need to function well. When it comes time to renovate your kitchen, you will be making a substantial investment in your home. Many renovations – especially since the pandemic – are spurred on by design flaws, lack of storage or poor kitchen layouts. No matter the shape of your space – galley, U-shaped, or L-shaped – you want spending time in your kitchen to be easy and enjoyable.
When designing kitchens, we think about specialty zones and the work triangle. Often our kitchen tasks are divided into categories:
Prep
Cooking or baking
Clean up
Entertaining/eating
Newton kitchen renovation - cooking zone
It doesn’t make sense for the sink or a sink to be far away from the dishwasher any more than it makes sense for the refrigerator to be far from the area where you prepare your meals and snacks.
Beginning in the 1970s, there has been more attention paid to user experience in all kinds of residential design – from furniture to appliances and from kitchens to closets. The science of this is called ergonomics – “an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely.” While these studies began in workplaces, more and more they have also dealt with how we live in our homes.
West Roxbury Kitchen - Clean-up Zone with dishwasher to the right of the main sink. Extra prep sink in island.
Efficient and functional design
We are big proponents of efficient and functional design. How do we achieve this? Well to start with, we ask a lot of questions about how you use your kitchen (or other spaces), who uses the space, and what needs to be used or stored there. We take an inventory of everything you own and plan to keep.
The work triangle is really just that – reducing the number of steps in any one direction to accomplish the task that needs to be performed. Smaller spaces require some deft optimizing while larger spaces may solve problems with multiple zones. The KV team works in all size spaces and all styles from traditional to transitional to modern to eclectic.
Although we do not cling to fads, we do not ignore trends either. Ten years ago you couldn’t find an open shelf in a kitchen and today, most people want some open shelves and more open space in general.
Wellesley kitchen remodel with open shelving for displaying items and easy access.
We find that in urban settings with high ceilings, rarely does the existing cabinetry take advantage of the height opportunities. Even kitchens designed in the 1980s waste a lot of useful space with unnecessary soffits and extra-large moldings.
Thoughtful Design
The reality is that we do not live in our homes the way we did in the past. Customizing your space means creating what works best for you and your family rather than some pre-conceived, cookie-cutter notion of what a kitchen should look like.
That’s why many of our kitchens do not look the same because the problems we are solving for clients are unique to those spaces and their personal preferences. When we design kitchens for people who like to bake, we often create zones with storage for mixing equipment near the ovens. For clients who like to entertain a lot, we make sure we provide plenty of surfaces for buffets and seating for gatherings. Sometimes, we design buffer zones so that the cooks can do their thing but still interact with guests – just not right on top of them!
South End condo with soaring ceilings
So Pretty
While highly functional kitchens (and other spaces) are one of the priorities, we also want to make sure that the design is beautiful and cohesive. As professionals, we know how important proportion is to make a space look good. Have you ever seen a small painting on a huge wall and you just know something isn’t right? We make sure that it looks as good as it works, and that the space is a true reflection of your taste and budget. Let us guide you with our expertise and great resources for creating award-winning kitchens, baths, and other spaces.