What's not in your kitchen?

The stereotypical kitchen has a sink, range, dishwasher and fridge. However new influences are testing our traditional understanding of the kitchen. Our "mothers" kitchens were simple and the greatest advent was that of the microwave. Increased globalization as well as the immediate access to information has lead to an explosion of technology and ideas for the kitchen. Take a look at some different ideas and see if they are right for you.

Wok Kitchen

One of the major cultural add-ons especially in a market like Vancouver is the addition of the Wok Kitchen. Typically, this is a second room about 6'x8' with a 2 burner gas cooktop. Ideally the room will have a lot of ventilation through a mechanical hood vent and a small sink plumbed in. For families who do a lot of Asian style cooking, the Wok Kitchen provides a required buffer from the main kitchen so that there are not a lot of lingering odours and oils and grease are kept seperate from the main house.

Potfillers

If Italian is more your style, try adding a potfiller to your stove area. The potfiller is an accordion style elbowed tap that comes out of the wall above your stove. Large pasta pots and vegetable pots are easily filled with water at the stove and they make a very cool addition to your stove environment.

Wine fridges

When the pasta is done you may need some wine to complement the meal. Many more North Americans are making wine part of their meal routine. As wine is susceptible to variations in temperature a wine fridge makes an ideal complement to your kitchen. Many small undercounter models are available and can provide a new focus to the end of an island.

Fridge and Freezer drawers

"Fisher Paykal" came out with these drawers a number of years ago and most major appliance companies carry them these days. They provide an alternative to large bulky refrigerators and can be used to top up space for an existing refrigerator. Typically they do not have a lot of volume so they will not remove your fridge from your kitchen. Larger families can take advantage of these storage options by having a second prep centre for cereal etc. with dedicated dairy storage where family members can supply themselves from a subsidiary work station.

Plumbed in coffee makers and expresso machines

Get coffee built in to your cabinets with a plumbed in expresso machine or coffee maker.

Two is better than one

Many higher end homes are installing dedicated freezers and refrigerators. "Sub Zero" now makes seperate freezers and refrigerators which allows more specific space use when designing the kitchen as the freezer does not need to be front and centre. It also means your new kitchen will have to be larger to accomodate two 36" wide units instead of one.

For the bachelors in the crowd can I recommend two dishwashers. One for the clean and one for the dirty. If you take this thinking to its logical conclusion, who needs cabinets. "Kenmore" has come up with the mini version of this which is a two drawer dishwasher for the one person apartment. Again one dirty and one clean.

There are many options when it comes to the kitchen. No doubt our kitchens will keep getting larger and more expensive. The most important rule for the homeowner is that prior to designing your dream kitchen, make sure you are aware of the possibilities that will suit both your lifestyle and your budget and make your kitchen match your culinary requirements.