Alternative Kitchen Focal Points

Many kitchen designs currently show a Hearth/ Range as the main kitchen focal point. Many are beautiful, like the one above, and they are typically built to add relief and focus to designs that have long lengths of base cabinets, top cabinets and counter tops. But they also can have functional flaws. For example, right where you need the most prep space beside the range, there is none. And though all the cabinetry may emulate a certain period or style, the stainless range is clearly of our own age (note how it was cleverly concealed from the camera in the image above).

YesterTec kitchens feature designs that downplay the emphasis placed on the range. One of the reasons is this, the range usually isn’t the focal point of activity in the kitchen any more. But most importantly, we believe that a kitchen needs to be designed as a room first, a room for living in, one that can accommodate the various tasks that we demand. So instead of focusing on the cooking elements of the kitchen, perhaps it is time to look elsewhere for inspiration!

Nothing shows this concept in a more pure form than our Stealth Kitchen Module Line. As shown below, the focal point of the room is directed away from the kitchen to the panoramic view. The kitchen’s innovative, appliance and countertop hiding features allow it to recede into the background. The view and sculptural qualities of the room’s furniture (and of course the people) are the stars of this space.

Another example puts the emphasis on an art collection instead of the range, as shown in the beach house kitchen below.

Still another solution is when an architectural feature like the stained glass dome in this lumber barron’s mansion becomes the anchor of the design.

The entire room becomes the focal point in the image below. Here, the room was faux painted to emulate an outdoor trellised country garden, and then three Workstations were placed under the trellis.

The Conservatory Kitchen below focuses on a few things. The skylights, the stone wall with the space heating stove and even all the plants share the stage with the workstations (refrig is off camera to the left). The entire room is the composition.

The point to remember is that splitting up a kitchen into separate, super efficient workstations can bring new visual and functional opportunities into a kitchen design. No longer does a kitchen need to look and act like the kitchens that most of us have known. With a little imagination, a furnished kitchen can bring far more variety and creativity into a kitchen design than many of those designed with standard cabinetry, continuous countertops and exposed appliances.

As for the Hearth/Range, why not just put in a real fireplace ( in the foreground), a rustic table and chairs and integrate the Kitchen Workstation Furniture into the mix?

Of course, if you still want that commercial range to be a focal point for your new kitchen, there are ways to furnish a kitchen so that the furniture is compatible with the freestanding range. Below, two cupboards flank a colorful range, adding valuable prep and storage space in a symetrical ensemble.