YesterTec is the only company in the world that can safely conceal standard cooking appliances so effectively!
 

 "The pieces allow for options sought by consumers: convenience, plenty of storage, generous counter and work space, ample safety features, and flexibility in creating a kitchen that suits the needs of any family." Linda Harbrecht The Express Times

What is Kitchen Workstation Furniture?

YesterTec has redefined the kitchen into a collection of beautiful, highly functional pieces of furniture that incorporate the convenience of today's modern kitchens with the look and feel of fine furniture from an age that valued simplicity and function. 

We hear all the time that the kitchen has become, once again, the heart of the home. This has not come about through the efforts of designers, rather it is a reflection of our times. And yet, the concepts that designers use to create kitchens today haven't changed. We fill the other rooms of our homes with our personal treasures, creating comfort zones for our leisure times. But the heart of our home, the place where we congregate, prepare and share our meals and work together on other assorted projects, still more resembles a laboratory instead of a living space. YesterTec Workstations are designed specifically to help re-create the comforting qualities that define the heart of the home.

A YesterTec Kitchen is composed of individual workstations and the spaces that are created between them. While the workstations handle the functional requirements of the kitchen, the spaces define the character of the room. These spaces can contain full-height windows, access doors, columns, fireplaces and other room defining elements. Niches are created that can be filled with treasured antique tables, desks, a favorite reading chair, a dog's bed, a stool to sit on while chopping vegetables, a large specimen house plant, and collections of every sort displayed on walls, shelving and tables. Even the side panels of the workstations can be used to display pieces of art or hold functional items such as pot racks or coat hooks.

To preserve the appearance of beautiful pieces of furniture, YesterTec has developed revolutionary, patented technology that allows cooking appliances to be hidden when they are not in use, while allowing them to operate normally when they are in use. All other appliances are safely concealed as well, by using more standard but non-compromising design techniques. Pantries are available in various shapes, but all can hide small electrical appliances as well as provide concealed storage and work space. Sink units completely hide the dishwasher, any dishwasher!  Range and oven units completely hide ovens, microwaves and in some cases even the cooktop. And refrigerators are concealed within large food storage pantries. In addition, some of the pieces function as desks and entertainment centers that hide multimedia and information age equipment. They are specifically designed for kitchen applications to satisfy the need for a more multi-functioning family center. Some pieces are designed to be free-standing, island-like room or function separators.

A few of these pieces arranged together and combined with other heirloom pieces and treasures of the household can produce a room design that is more characteristic of the bygone "keeping room" but functions as a state of the art kitchen. This is a YesterTec Kitchen, a kitchen that is the heart of the home, a room that is more... and less... than a kitchen.
 

Yestertec workstations are:

CLASSICALLY INSPIRED: Our workstations have a classic appearance that reflects a time predating the invention of electricity. They are designed to mix with traditional design, but will also be comfortable in eclectic motifs that blend traditional and contemporary design. 

FUNCTIONAL: Each piece is freestanding, with its sides and sometimes backs totally finished and exposed. Because they do not attach to other pieces, the heights and depths of the units can vary, resulting in new performance opportunities that simply aren't prevalent in today's kitchens. For example, by incorporating deeper countertops and deeper drawers and storage areas in the "reach zone", each piece is more efficient per lineal foot than typical in-line cabinetry. Expensive countertop materials are used more efficiently for functional areas that require high performance, leaving lower cost materials available for less demanding areas, again a feature difficult to achieve successfully in traditional cabinetry.

SAFE: The U.L. Listing signifies that our workstations that enclose built-in appliances with heating functions have been tested to meet U.L.'s published Standards of Safety.

UNIQUE: Due to our patented technology, YesterTec is the only company in the world capable of creating workstations that conceal standard appliances so effectively.

DESIGNED FOR FLEXIBILITY: The line incorporates a broad range of models, sizes, design options, material and color selections that allow designers great design flexibility, allowing pieces to fit into most new or renovated kitchen situations.

DURABLE: State of the art, durable construction and finishing techniques are used to ensure lifetime value and heirloom quality in each piece. Durable, natural materials such as wood, granite and soapstone are used to create beautiful pieces that will age gracefully over time.

COLLECTABLE: Each piece has its own brass identification plaque that is sequentially numbered to enhance the line's ability to become collectable. No two workstations will have the same number. And for those who wish to purchase a "collection" of YesterTec pieces in phases, our database can track all previous purchases, so that the new pieces can blend with the existing ones.

EASY TO ORDER: Workstations are designed by selecting from our enormous selection of pre-designed and pre-priced components that are illustrated in our catalog. Pre-design facilitates the selection process and speeds up the order-delivery time line. Customers can chose appropriate pieces to fit into their future kitchen, view a 3-D rendering of the design via our custom computer program, select all desired options for each unit and obtain a price quote all within a single design session. In addition, we will accommodate custom design requests that fall within the scope of our manufacturing and design parameters. Pre-design also eliminates the learning curve required for typical custom production. This translates into higher quality, cost efficient products as well as faster delivery.

AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE: Our products are available to the homeowner, designer or installer who is responsible for the project. Units are delivered and serviced anywhere in the USA and Canada. 

EASY TO INSTALL: Installation of the product is simplified compared to conventional, inline cabinetry. Units are delivered to the site, assembled (if required) and then leveled and fastened to the walls or floor. Most units are shipped as one piece, but can be disassembled for accessibility constraints. The largest units are shipped "broken down" and assembled using simple connectors. Procedures that are eliminated are: Leveling and fastening together entire lines of cabinets, custom ordering and fitting countertops to exact room dimensions, cutting sink and cooktop cutouts, installing filler strips and back splashes.

A LIFETIME INVESTMENT: The durability and timeless character of the workstations enhance their ability to endure years of hard use and weather a multitude of design trends. In addition, to accommodate the lifestyle of our mobile society, YesterTec Workstations can be moved when their owners move to a new home, further enhancing their purchase as a lifetime investment.

SO THINK ABOUT US FOR YOUR NEXT KITCHEN PROJECT!
In order to produce the most appropriate design, we feel that it is important to become completely familiar with our full line of products prior to ordering them. A visit to our showroom is obviously the best way to discover all the subtle differences between YesterTec Kitchens and all others. But for those who are unable to visit our showroom, we have taken special care to illustrate as much as possible about our products and design services in our designer's catalog. Please call us if you would like to visit the Kitchen Works showroom or if you have any other questions concerning this exciting new concept in kitchen design.
 

How to design with workstations:

Yes, it is different, but not too different. The main ingredient to a successful design is your desire to use workstations. If you are comfortable with the idea of furniture rather than (or in addition to) normal built-in cabinetry, then you will find a way to make your design really special. 

Next, it is important to think of your kitchen as a room first. Basically, you are furnishing a room, so the room should have character of its own. The architectural elements of the room (floors, walls, doors, trim etc.) will give the room its character; become the stage set. In new construction, the placement of doors and windows can complement the layout of the furniture, but in renovations, these elements may dictate the furniture arrangement.

Think of your design as sculpture rather than as a floor plan and elevations. The room and its workstations have a sculptural quality not unlike sculpture in a garden. Because each piece of furniture is a balanced, three-dimensional item, it must be displayed so that its individual character can be recognized. This usually means that there should be space between the individual pieces. And if there is not enough room to separate the pieces with space, then adjacent pieces need to have varying heights or depths.

The spaces play a key role in the development of a successful design. It is the spaces that will preserve the integrity of the design theme of the room. Seeing the continuity of the architectural features between the units allows the character of the room to be un-compromised. Soffits and wing walls do not break up the lines of the room. Crown molding, chair rails, peg rails, paneling, wainscoting, and bases that appear between each piece remind us that the design is part of a larger whole. In log homes, seeing the log walls between each piece keeps the continuity of that structure intact. Seeing the post of a post and beam structure go all the way to the floor between the pieces of furniture keeps the order of the structure intact. The wall and floor treatment is the real glue that holds the whole design together. The continuity between an adjoining room and the kitchen is not cut off at the edge of the cabinetry because these surfaces flow between the units.

We have found that the composition needs to have a combination of major and minor pieces. Major workstations are typically full height wall units such as Ranges, Refrigerator/Pantries, Armoires, or Sink units. If a range or sink unit can be an island, then there should be at least two full height walls for other major pieces. Minor pieces include shorter or shallower pieces such as any base or island unit, pantries, corner units, desks and entertainment centers. These can be placed between major units, in corners for example, or they can sometimes flank larger units. Avoid placing two large units directly adjacent to one another.

An eclectic collection of furniture in a room should have a major and minor design theme rather than everything being uniformly detailed. A theme can consist of a color scheme and/or a style theme. For example, a six-piece kitchen could have 3 pieces of one color (the major theme, usually on the largest pieces), 2 pieces of another color with a slightly different style, and perhaps the sixth piece could be an accent piece with entirely different features from the others.

Don't worry about lost counter space between the pieces. Many of our workstations have greater depths and other efficiencies in the reach zone that compensate for this loss. Because of these efficiencies, you do not need the same quantity of lineal feet of cabinetry in your design. If you do feel that you need more counter space, our Infill (X units) series features lowboy and highboy units that can butt directly to larger workstations. These units are designed to be background pieces; they are lower and shallower so that the importance of the adjacent major YT piece is preserved. Or check out our line of Work Tables! We also have bracket supported countertop extenders (AC units) for all of our base units. These units can have a different countertop material to meet a functional need.

DESIGN GUIDELINES: The following are a few design rules that can provide a general guide for designing with workstations. There are exceptions to all of them.

1. Separate independent units with space, 12" is the recommended minimum. However the space can be filled with other architectural features such as doors, windows, shelving etc.
2. The fewer workstations the better. Create walk-in pantries if possible. Use extremely efficient pieces.
3. Do not place units of the same size next to each other on the same wall plane. Adjacent units should have varying heights and/or depths. Full kitchens typically work best with 2 blank walls for high units.
4. Independent units can have varying styles, colors, textures, materials, and sizes. Be careful of too much variety.
5. Hide as many appliances as possible for period style rooms. Again use walk-in pantries for hiding some appliances that can't be concealed otherwise.
   Use low units (island units or wall base units without upper wall cabinets) to provide visual variety.
6. We hope you will have a lot of fun designing with this concept. If you need some assistance with your design, we are available to help you, please feel free to call.