A Furnished Kitchen in this home was the key feature that sold the house.
YesterTec’s customers can be called true pioneers since they have ‘bucked the trends’ by searching out and finding YesterTec to help them with their dream of creating their own furnished kitchen. That’s how the original owners of this over 55 North Shore Long Island condominium first found YesterTec. They said that they were so tired of the standard cabinet filled kitchens, which was what their previous designer wanted to design for them. Then they discovered how the independence of each piece allows them the flexibility to choose different styling, colors and materials for each of their pieces. They had a lot of fun creating their room layout and seeing it with 3-D CAD renderings. And then best of all, they didn’t have to worry about all the technical details, they just selected the styling options they wanted and then their entire hand-built kitchen showed up at their doorstep as a collection of furniture, not cabinet boxes and site fabricated counter tops.
Some skeptical, potential customers who are considering our workstation concept instead of standard cabinetry ask the question “What about re-sale? Even if I like a furnished kitchen, what will the next owners think? Will I be able to sell my home if no one wants my kitchen?” YesterTec simply says that once you are standing in a YesterTec kitchen, the functionality of each piece and the beauty of the kitchen will be overwhelming! David Beer, the president of YesterTec says “A couple of years ago, we received a phone call from a lady who said she had just bought a condo in an ‘Over 55’ Long Island, NY community that had a complete YesterTec kitchen in it. She needed a new drawer knob or something, but we started talking about her kitchen and how much she loved it. In fact it had ‘SOLD’ her on the unit they bought, and there were many on the market at the time. I was still in shock that the original owners had sold their home (they moved to Florida) but I certainly was pleased to hear the new owners enthusiasm!”
The original homeowners designed their kitchen as a collection of furniture, because they could see it from the foyer, dining room, living room and breakfast room, and they did not want it to look like a normal kitchen. “They had a lot of artwork and sculpture and liked the idea of a kitchen that was filled with ‘3-D sculptural-like’ pieces of furniture unspoiled by the look of imposing appliances.” says David who also explains that hiding the appliances in the pieces kept the kitchen uncluttered as well.
The mahogany Working Pantry conceals all the small appliances and handles dish storage as well. It was designed to be a bake center as well as a breakfast/prep piece since it is located next to the breakfast table.
The ochre painted Sink piece conceals the dishwasher, a hidden tray storage area and 4 super deep drawers while taking advantage of the view.
The Breakfront/Range piece to the right of the sink conceals a telescoping exhaust hood above the gas cooktop (YesterTec workstations can never conceal any gas appliance) Below the cooktop all the cooking pots and pans are stored on very accessible roll-out trays and in the flanking full extension drawers. This piece is over 30″ deep, and the top cupboard is over 18″ deep, so there is a lot of storage space available.
On the wall opposite the sink, a large Armoire conceals a Subzero 700 refrigerator/freezer (on the right), a wall oven and a built-in microwave oven (in the middle) and a full height, food storage pantry (on the left).
The ovens feature YesterTec’s U.L. Listed technology that allows them to operate only when the pocket doors are open and stored in their pockets. A painted Worktable to the right of the Armoire acts as a buffet table and doubles as a desk area.
Another reason to be confident in the decision to use workstations instead of cabinetry is the fact that all the workstations are movable. So if the original owners want to keep them when they move, they just unhook the utilities and go! Most European kitchens are designed in modules that are moved from place to place, but with American built-in kitchens, it is impossible to do, mostly because the cabinetry would not fit the new home’s layout. With furniture, multiple layouts are possible. “That’s why you’ll never see a YesterTec piece on the curb, waiting for the junk man. They can always be sold for installation into another home whenever the original homeowner wants a change,” says David. And chances are that only changing one piece, or painting or re-decorating or moving the individual workstations will be all a furnished kitchen will need to be updated. And if they are sold, they will be sold as one-of-a –kind originals, since each piece has its own unique sequentially numbered plaque. ” Our clients love the brass plaque,” says David, “They love the idea that their own pieces are so unique!”
Knowing what a real furnished kitchen can do, it is hard for David to believe that people still typically only consider built-in cabinetry for their kitchens. But seeing is believing, so he is confident that as more and more furnished kitchens are shown in the media, more people will discover the simplicity, beauty and functionality of Kitchen Workstation Furniture.
