I overhead two ladies today talking about houses they and their husbands were building. I'm interested in that sort of thing, although we opted (and our finances demanded) that our first and current house be modest and old. We've done a lot to make it feel like home, though, much of which I've chronicled off and on here. There are bold colors throughout ... reds, yellows, greens, blues and – in what is obviously an argument I lost – a light purple bedroom. New flooring. New plumbing. Gutters. Vinyl siding. An extra large shed in the back yard. Sorry excuses for landscaping. Wild tree removals. New garage door. New front door. I'm just getting warmed up!
Anyhow, they were discussing that during get-togethers and parties at their homes of the past that everyone tends to end up in the kitchen where the food is. Reminds me of an article I read just a month or so ago about how large kitchens could be leading to our nation's growing obesity problem. That, of course, is utterly silly unless we are actually eating the square footage itself. It all goes back to the things we cook in our kitchens, how often we eat and how often we get our butts in gear to do something other than watch TV or consume entire buckets of Cool Whip™ at one sitting.
I looked at our smallish-yet-efficient galley kitchen and wondered that if the article has any truth in it ... why am I not in better shape? Then I looked inside the refrigerator, which was mostly empty. Must be because we've been eating out too much lately ... and those restaurants must have big kitchens.
The whole kitchen thing drives me nuts. I design houses (mostly vacation houses) where the kitchens are gi-normous....and every appliance is the top of the line, plus all kinds of extras like warming drawers and more than one range top, two sinks minimuim, TONS of storage...yada yada yada.... And the people don't cook! It's just sad! Big granite/ stainless kitchens have become the new status symbol. It really bugs me because I LOVE to cook...it's a sin not to use those nice, new kitchens.
And I agree, it's all the eating out that's making us unhealthy.
I have one of those kitchens, and I am a cooking fanatic. It is true that people end up in the kitchen, and what I have found is that people want to enter the house through the door closest the kitchen. So we made our front door open into an entry way that has a pass-through view into the kitchen, and then you walk into the kitchen/dining area from there. We designed our public living spaces so that when everyone gathers around the island in the kitchen, they are in the main part of the house. It's all very groovy, and it all works just like I planned.
I agree with Lainey about the trend in kitchens. I work in construction and we're doing high-end condos and they are ALL stainless and granite. Gorgeous!! But, people aren't using them to cook, so much as using them as a status symbol. And, as a cook also, I agree, it's a sin!!
As for the obesity due to large kitchen issue, let's say that in my family the kitchen was a gathering point and much noshing was always done while we were visiting. And that is definitely not going to help the situation!!
I have a big kitchen now, but it's not the gathering center in my house. It's my even bigger living room.
I have a large living room, a comfortable dining room and my kitchen is fairly large (though not stainless steel and granite by any stretch). My dining room table seats eight, but I am now looking for a kitchen table that will seat ten because no matter the occasion or the time of day, everyone gathers in the kitchen and won't move on. As my family has grown, I have decide to give them what they want. A huge table they can sit around and watch me work. :)
Not necessarily "big", but perhap more "homey" is the way I would like to view my kitchen.
I am not neat, not orderly, and you will find all sorts of old-timey gadgets in my kitchen. I even recently bought a Ronco Veg-a-matic like new in its original box!
I've had large kitchens and small kitchens. Small ones are easier to keep clean.
And my weight is just fine - and didn't vary because of the size of my current kitchen.
Cas
Happy Cinco de Mayo day