This Article is the second in a series that can help to explain the Concept and Advantages of Kitchen Workstation Furniture. The paragraphs are purposely disjointed in an effort to jog your mind away from the existing concepts of kitchen design that we all have grown up knowing.

Designing a kitchen with YesterTec’s workstations is a very creative and easy process. Our PDF catalog features pre-designed models that have pre-determined sizes and a vast selection of available options to select.  Since each piece can be styled differently, the design combinations are almost limitless, but because the palette of options is designed to be compatible, most of the guess work is eliminated from the process. And all of the options are pre-priced in our exclusive pricing software, so quoting a job can be almost instantaneous. Designers and consumers can be confident that their design decisions will work. They never need to ‘re-invent the wheel’! YesterTec already did it for them, while allowing them the greatest opportunity to ‘get creative’!

In the words of two of YesterTec’s customers, “The best thing about YesterTec is that I was able to design my kitchen according to my needs, my dreams and I was never told it can’t work, it won’t work etc.” Another states,” YesterTec provides a unique experience for the consumer by allowing them to take part in the creativity and design of each piece. When combining the many styles and colors offered with a person’s individual taste, each piece is virtually a different piece of furniture like no one else has! Purchasing a product from YesterTec is definitely not like going to a store and picking out a piece of furniture or selecting a basic style and color of cabinets. The consumer is the designer.”

Unlike cabinetry, every workstation has three finished sides, and island pieces have four sides finished. The depth dimension is the most crucial in defining how efficient each piece can be, and it is also the dimension that most kitchen designers have not had to think about until now. Being able to vary the depth from piece to piece creates an entirely new 3-dimensional look as well as a new efficiency standard in the kitchen.

YesterTec pieces vary in height and depth for a number of reasons. But when this happens, a designer must be acutely aware of how these dimensions affect the proportional balance of each piece. YesterTec has taken the guess work out of the design process by pre-designing each piece. Now the consumer can be assured that each piece will be properly proportioned, eliminating the experimental jitters always associated with a new prototypical design.

Efficiency is the key to making furniture work in kitchens. Eliminating the continuous countertop requires each furniture piece to become more efficient. YesterTec solves this problem by increasing the countertop and storage areas around each food prep, food storage and cooking area. Furniture made from converted two-foot deep cabinetry cannot get the job done. Period!

Why are YesterTec pieces so beautiful? Why are some people more beautiful than others? Maybe it is because the eye of the viewer is pleasantly comfortable with what it sees. The eye is not shocked except in a pleasant way. The classic proportions of historic buildings are beautiful because the eye is not confused. All the details of these buildings come together to support the overall design. YesterTec pieces are beautiful because the balance of color, texture, size, and proportion all come together in a three-dimensional object that is comforting to the eye.

YesterTec’s magic is grounded by innovative scientific research, design and testing to be sure that concealing heating appliances is safe. Underwriter Laboratories’ engineers have given the U.L. Listed status to YesterTec’s appliance concealing enclosures (furniture) and control systems that include the exclusive controls and switches. The U.L. labels on YesterTec’s enclosures tell every building inspector that these extremely unique products are safe. This is a new invention, unique to the worldwide kitchen industry!

 

Because the appliance hiding U.L. Listed technology is recognized to be so special, YesterTec applied for and received a U.S. patent (#5,955,795) And our U.L. Listing will keep YesterTec’s innovative workstations on the cutting edge of the kitchen design industries for a long time, as no other company will be able to legally duplicate YesterTec’s innovations. And the sky is the limit. YesterTec’s initial line of workstations only scratches the surface of what is now possible to achieve with this unique qualification.

YesterTec’s exclusive U.L. Listed  technology has been tested to last well beyond U.L.’s minimum performance standards. The parts should last a lifetime of use. But if something should malfunction in the future, YesterTec’s special controls and switches have been designed as a modular system that can be easily replaced. Typically, an appliance would be removed from its enclosure, an access panel would be removed and then a switch could be replaced. Controls are even easier to replace without removing an appliance.

YesterTec’s exclusive innovative technology is augmented with the best innovations that the cabinet and appliances industries have developed. For example, our deeper than normal bases have 26″, full extension, completely concealed drawer slides. This is an elegant low tech look for a drawer system that produces 30%more accessible storage space than any standard drawer system. Another advancement; YesterTec pieces are finished with conversion varnish, a tough, stain resistant finish that will last through the ages.

Each YesterTec workstation is specifically designed to handle the tasks associated with its resident appliance (a sink, refrigerator, cooktop or oven). Because each piece is separate, YesterTec workstations do not need to comply with the two foot depth cabinetry standard and each piece can be optimally designed to function even better than ever before. Generally, this means that there is more storage and counter space than normal around each appliance. Places are provided for the coffee maker , blender and food processor to be concealed right next to the sink. Refrigerators are generally linked with full-height dry-food storage capabilities. Ranges have huge drawers for large pots and pans. Even the sides of the pieces can be used from which to hang pots, dishtowels or potholders.

YesterTec workstations can be fashioned with traditional detailing as well as minimalist detailing. A workstation styled with completely flat sides, flush-faced drawers, minimal cornices (or our metal bar cornice) and stylized grid doors illustrates just one example of how to achieve contemporary detailing. Our Stealth Kitchen Modules line offers even more minimalist styling with its completely flush door and drawer panels concealing everything.

Each YesterTec piece must be more functionally efficient than normal cabinetry. But there are subtle characteristics that some of the pieces have that enhance their usefulness. For example, most pieces have three finished sides, with a space separating it from other pieces or doors, windows, etc. So, many of our full-height storage pieces are designed to open on three sides. This gives full-height access to stored items, which is so much more efficient than the front facing banks of upper cabinets found in normal kitchens. The two exposed sides also can become areas for additional decoration such as photos, and artwork, hanging pot racks, pot holders and towel hooks (on the range or sink bases) YesterTec even makes countertop extenders that cantilever out from the sides or back of base units. These act as additional prep areas or eating counters, and can be ordered in a completely different material than the main countertop. Thus, a small chopping block extension can be just the right add-on to a range piece. And underneath the cantilevered top, there is a space for a stool, garbage can, even a pet’s bed!

The strength of each piece is not only a fabricating quality, it is a visual one. A simple elegant look is achieved by regulating the detail so that there is not too much nor too little. Each piece is supported from the ground up, giving it a strong elegant stance in any setting. Cornices finish each tall piece with a definitive conclusion, providing just the right amount of emphasis where it is needed.

Already designed into the YesterTec system is the balance that is required to create a successful room design. Specifically, there are major workstations (Sink, Range, and Refrigeration/Pantries) and then there are minor pieces (Work-Tables, Working Pantries, Cupboards, Desks, and Entertainment Armoires etc.) Balance is achieved by downsizing the minor pieces, allowing them to complement but not compete physically with the major workstations. If all workstations were the same size, they would all compete visually with each other.

Subtle detailing gives YesterTec pieces their furniture quality appearance. Specifically, the beaded inset framed openings around each drawer or door are a refreshing change from the uniformity of frame-less cabinetry. Bases with carved out toe space cutouts always protrude out from the piece, replacing the continuous cantilevered 4″ kick-space found at the bottom of normal cabinetry. Simply detailed cornices consummate each tall piece, eliminating the need for an overhead soffit that typically crowns most cabinet installations.

A YesterTec Workstation is like sculpture in the garden. It rises from the ground visually carrying its own weight. It’s balanced, proportional, three-dimensional appearance changes as you walk around it and interact with it. All day, and into the night, light sources and the shadows they create changes it. Objects placed on or nearby them change its appearance, thus, its environment changes it. The same piece placed in a different room design takes on totally different qualities. Furniture is placed in a room, just like sculpture is placed in its environment. Cabinetry, on the other hand is more like wallpaper, and typically that’s how cabinetry is applied. In fact, the more uniform the pattern of cabinetry is, the easier it is for the eye to comprehend what it is seeing.

YesterTec workstations were designed to function in a way that emulates how commercial cooks work. Typically, a cook uses workstation countertop areas that are deeper than domestic cabinetry. They have prep strips in front of the burners and extra staging counters above the work surface. YesterTec’s workstations are designed intelligently to maximize the working efficiency of the domestic cook. Rather than spreading the work areas horizontally away from a work source (sink or cooktop), YesterTec increases the surface and storage areas around these areas.

Why didn’t the other cabinet companies develop technology to hide heating appliances before YesterTec? It’s because YesterTec listened. We listened attentively to discover that the design trades were ignoring a design need. Once we discovered the need, we focused on the problem, experimented and relentlessly pursued the idea from a completely different perspective, unencumbered by industry standards.

YesterTec’s classically proportioned workstations are designed from the ground up to be flexible enough to endure design trends. They are designed to blend compatibly with more ornate or austere furniture and surroundings.

Each YesterTec piece has its own brass, sequentially numbered nameplate, which verifies the originality of each piece. They are not limited editions and they are not simply marked with a manufacturer’s stamp. Each piece is completely unique. This is impossible to do with cabinetry! And customers love it!

The quality and innovative design features of YesterTec’s products have won accolades like the following: “Un-wrapping a YesterTec piece is like opening the best Christmas present you ever got. Breathtakingly beautiful and even more than you hoped for!”

The intelligence of the design effort that has been embedded within the YesterTec system can be summed up by one of our customers, “The functionality of workstations is not fully appreciated until you have a chance to live with them for a while.” The test of time is the true test of how well a product or system performs!

YesterTec workstations must have stronger and therefore superior construction methods than any cabinet. Simply because YesterTec pieces are designed in large pieces to be moved over and over again (if the owners move and take their kitchen with them) the construction must be extremely durable to prevent racking during and after the move. Cabinetry, on the other hand, only needs to arrive safely, and since it is installed only once, it does not need to be built as strong.

The strong colors and styles used when styling YesterTec pieces can take on a very masculine appearance. Just the fact that all the pieces sit solidly on the ground, celebrating this stance with substantially detailed bases gives them a masculine flair. The simple styling of the grid door designs (the grid pattern can be specified by the customer) is indicative of the subtle strength assigned to certain design options.

What is ‘fine’ kitchen furniture as opposed to ‘not fine’ furniture? Most of us are not truly aware of what a fine piece of furniture is. Typically, if a piece is fabricated with particle board, covered in veneers, has simple drawer mechanisms and is mass produced and sold as part of a set, it is not a fine piece. On the other hand, extremely beautiful, hand-built, hand-finished, solid wood constructed pieces that our fore-fathers made, or our best manufacturers make today, may not be appropriate for kitchen use. Fine furniture, tough enough for kitchen use is a new concept. YesterTec strives to produce the finest furniture that money can buy for kitchen use.

The color pallet of YesterTec’s furniture has been derived from studying the warm patinas of classic and aged furniture. The paint colors are muted, sometimes by combining gray into the pigments. The limited unpretentious color choices allow the furniture to blend with more or even less vibrant room décor themes.

YesterTec pieces are expensive. There is no denying that no expense is spared when finishing a minimum of three sides on each piece, adding bases, cornices, using built-like-a-tank solid wood construction methods, full extension concealed drawer slides and safely concealing appliances with U.L. Listed technology. So if one or more of these exquisite pieces is sitting in your kitchen, you can be reassured that you have reached a high level of personal accomplishment!

YesterTec pieces do many duties at once. For example, the ST (Storage) pieces that sit on our sink base islands function as extra countertop and storage space while acting as subtle room dividers. The cook can see everybody on the other side of the piece, but those on the other side can’t see the mess on the countertop or in the sink. Some of our desks can also be used as food storage or TV cabinets. Even the entire surface area of our ranges that feature flat glass cooktops can be used for food prep when the cooktop is not needed (or even when only one burner is needed the remainder of the cooktop can be used for prep area)

Kitchen furniture must be much tougher than any other kind of domestic furniture. Though it must be detailed more delicately like furniture, it must have the toughness of the most durable kitchen cabinets. The finishes must always hold up to the rigors of working around hot items and staining substances. And of course, YesterTec furniture is built even tougher than cabinets, because it may move several times in its lifetime.

The understated design of the YesterTec line takes on an unavoidable richness once the stone or solid wood countertops are in place. There is nothing that says ’furniture’ like solid cherry countertops. The glossy, tough hi-tech finish amplifies the depth of the grain. And the unique tones and patterns of the granite tops are breathtakingly beautiful. That they arrive at the job completely finished with all edges, cutouts and holes finished is a feature that can only be done with furniture.

Exclusive, Heirloom quality, Top-of-the-line. These are all terms that are associated with the term ‘upscale’. But because many people have ordered basic pieces, unencumbered by the higher priced options, YesterTec pieces are finding their way into homes of all kinds. Granted a large YesterTec kitchen with more than 6 pieces will not be affordable by all homeowners, but YesterTec’s 3 and 4 piece kitchens are easy for the above average homebuyer to afford. Adding one or two pieces to a design completed with cabinetry is a way that YesterTec breaks into the below average market. And by ordering one piece as it becomes affordable, staging a renovation over time, a young family can work up to a complete furnished kitchen, and they can take it to larger homes as they move along in life. This is impossible to do with cabinetry.

The complexity and difficulty of concealing hi-tech appliances in YesterTec’s furniture is completely understated. There are no bells or buzzers to hear, no flashing lights, or thermostats, buttons or switches in view. The system works completely behind the scenes to safely control the power that operates the appliances. In no way are the appliances altered (which could void their warranties) and the system can accommodate most brands of appliances.

YesterTec pieces are designed to last a lifetime. They’re tough. They are tougher than any furniture that is used for other rooms, because kitchen use is so demanding. The finishes, the drawer mechanisms and even YesterTec’s exclusive appliance hiding systems are built to last. Each piece is built to move again and again, unlike cabinetry that is built to be installed only one time.

Most of YesterTec’s pieces look very solid. They are designed to contain as much storage as possible. But YesterTec’s Worktables, open shelving pieces and wall/racks, have been created to break-up the all-solid appearance of the room, while providing opportunities for display/storage.

Perhaps best stated by a YesterTec customer: Storage is exceptionally organized. The pull-out drawers in the pantry and other pieces are a cook’s dream; I actually like to cook now and have become much improved in this area (to the joy of my family)! I really believe it’s because of the joy (and pride) I have in being in this room!