If you’ve been involved in the design or construction of a new kitchen in the last 20 years, you’ve probably heard the terms “unequipped kitchens” or “kitchen workstations” or simply “kitchen cabinets.” These terms do not refer to a dining set, but to a completely different way of organizing a kitchen by using some specially designed furniture instead of installing continuous lines of cabinets and countertops. For some people, a ‘furnished’ kitchen is an intriguing idea, but others might say “Why bother fixing something that isn’t broken?”

Sometimes we get so caught up in accepting the way things are that we don’t take the time to question whether we’re headed in the right direction. Technology has a way of pushing us forward, but sometimes we need to take a break to figure out what form of progress is best. For example, when electricity first came to New York City, there were layers of power lines connected to every building and power poles everywhere. If we look at old photos of Manhattan, we can’t believe how ugly everything was, but for most New Yorkers of the time, they didn’t even notice the chaos. It took someone with a little forethought to realize that burying all power lines underground was a better way to go.

Kitchen design using cabinetry has become the universally accepted method of creating a kitchen. But in the last 20 years, designers have begun to ask, “Are cabinets really the ‘best’ shape for all design situations?” To answer this question, we first need to figure out why it would be beneficial to switch from cabinets to something else. Hopefully, by illustrating how kitchen design has evolved, you’ll begin to discover ‘Why’ kitchen cabinets can be a great alternative to cabinetry kitchen design.

In the days before electricity changed everything in our lives, family kitchens in modest-sized homes were large but unassuming rooms. They contained a solid fuel heat source for cooking (a fireplace or a coal or wood stove) and a built-in sink, with or without running water. Everything else was a piece of furniture. The ice chest was elegantly made of wood, as were the central work/dining table, cabinets, cake safes, and pantries. The family kitchen was also the central social/work place in the home where family members, sometimes in the company of friends, did most of the housework and socialized with each other.

Electricity brought many time-saving devices to the kitchen, as well as many inventions that took us away from the kitchen. Due to innovations in the kitchen, fewer people were needed to prepare meals, so the kitchen lost much of its social importance and became a smaller, super efficient work room. Built-in cabinets, previously delegated only to Butler’s pantries in larger homes, have now become the best way to reduce the kitchen to an efficient workspace. With more free time, socializing was delegated to the living areas of the house, because the kitchen was too small.

Now the current planning has opened up the kitchen to incorporate the social rooms again. New homes almost always have a family/breakfast room completely in view of the kitchen. The Great Room concept is simply a large social room with a kitchen. Walls between the kitchen and other rooms are being torn down in older homes in an effort to create multitasking kitchens. In fact, we have come full circle, in just over 100 years, by creating a modern version of a pre-electric social/work kitchen.

Why has this happened? There are too many reasons to list them here, but they all seem to be time related. With the development of 2-career families and single-headed families, there is not enough time in the day to spend much time cooking. Once again, innovations (ie microwave, precooked and frozen foods) have allowed us to spend less time cooking during the work week. And when we’re cooking, we don’t want to miss anything that’s going on around us. On the weekends, we can relax in the kitchen/family room watching TV or even entertain friends by cooking elaborate meals.

But typically, the kitchen portion of the great room still looks and is organized like the super-efficient, work-only kitchen mentioned above. It’s lined with horizontal bands of cabinetry and countertops that are interrupted only by exposed high-tech appliances. Designers promote this “lab” look because it’s easy to design and really is the only kitchen design concept that most people understand. Most kitchen layouts are created by drawing a line 2 feet from each wall (to indicate cabinets) and then, if there is space, an island (the bigger the better) is drawn to act as a buffer between the kitchen and family room. The personality of the room is determined by the design of the backsplash and relies on the color consistency of the cabinets and appliances to keep the room’s design theme intact.

On the other hand, the family room, or the social area of ​​the great room, is designed in a completely different way. A beautiful empty room is usually created and then furnished. Instead of lining all walls with horizontal bands of built-in furniture (and there are exceptions to this, e.g. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Houses), wall spaces are interrupted by vertical elements such as windows and doors or dots. focal points such as fireplaces. The walls of the room are separated into vertical segments instead of continuous horizontal bands. In the blank wall areas and in the middle of the room, eclectic furnishings create the seating arrangement, while wall-hung artwork and collectible sculptures on display determine the room’s personality. But the colors and textures of the walls, floor, and ceiling seep between all of these vertical elements and act as the “glue” that holds the entire design theme together.

So the question is, why not create a multi-tasking modern open plan kitchen/family room by furnishing it instead of installing cabinets? Why not combine the kitchen with the family room using a vertical layout instead of a horizontal one? Why should half of the room look like a sterile laboratory, while the other half of the room is filled with personal touches that bring you comfort?

When designing with furniture, spaces must be created between each piece that allow the 3D character (3D in which the furniture is made with at least 3 finished faces) of each piece to be appreciated. These spaces are the most important as they allow the design theme of the adjoining room to continue seamlessly into the kitchen. Gaps allow wall, ceiling and floor coverings (the architectural finishes) to instantly merge the kitchen and family room into one homogeneous space in a way that is impossible to achieve with horizontally designed cabinets. The spaces define the personality of the room and also allow the furnishings to become more eclectic, emulating the same design techniques used in family room design. No longer should the kitchen have just one color of wood, one style of door, or one countertop material. The spaces allow all these elements to change more easily. For a stark example, think of an open-plan log home where all the interior walls are exposed log. A fitted kitchen allows logs to show through between each piece, helping to unify the open-plan room, while a kitchen filled with horizontally designed cabinetry covers all the logs. In an open plan loft design where the kitchen is always in view, a fitted kitchen can blend seamlessly with the other casual seating groups by allowing all the architectural finishes to weave between all the pieces and hold everything together.

There are some simple design rules to keep in mind when designing individual pieces of furniture, but that’s a topic for another time. There are even other reasons to use furniture instead of cabinets, such as using it to emulate a certain style or period, such as the pre-electric style kitchen. But it is in today’s open kitchen that furniture can have its most universal impact. Will you ever replace the cabinets? Absolutely not, but for anyone who is involved in the design of a kitchen project, well-designed furniture may be the most appropriate design concept to use, one that is well worth it!