A housewife spends at least three to four hours a day in the kitchen that is often not user-friendly. Now with the husband also pitching in to help, as the wife often is also working, the kitchen has assumed a different meaning. Gone are the days of a dingy kitchen relegated to a corner, ill lit and badly ventilated. In fact, the trend in advanced countries like the USA is to have the kitchen a part of the drawing room. The kitchen counter, where one can use it to cut vegetables, place dishes and so on are of convenient height, and of a durable material that could be cleaned easily. Having an exhaust or an electrical ‘chimney’ to remove the fumes and get rid of odour is standard equipment. The kitchen flooring is not carpeted but is of a material that is hard, skid-proof, wear resistant and easily cleanable.

  A modular unit design neatly arranged and ergonomically friendly is the trend in a modern kitchen. A built-in refrigerator, either with single or double door, with automatic defrosting, a microwave, adequate storage space in the kitchen cabinets provided with child-proof doors, a place to keep the gas cylinder that’s well vented, a space to keep the garbage bin to dump wastes and a ‘insinkrator’ in the sink works on electricity which chops up kitchen waste is standard equipment in modern kitchen. A stainless steel sink has definite advantages of cleaning and maintenance over granite one. Attention should be paid to proper lighting that is easy on the eyes and is energy efficient too.

     Those who believe a kitchen should be out of sight have a point. What will the visitors think if the housewife / spouse starts working when there are visitors? Where is the privacy if a visitor stares at what’s happening in the kitchen?

These are some of the questions nagging a wife / husband while opting for an open kitchen that has no walls and is part of the drawing room.

In general, a family dining table fits into a small space near the kitchen counter to make it easy for serving. However, if space permits there could be a bigger table for a formal dining room, in a place away from the kitchen, where guests could be entertained. There also could be a place, such as the formal drawing room, where you would like to seat those guests who are not so familiar with you. These ideas assume that you have a bigger built in area for such an arrangement.

     “Enjoy talk while you work,” could as well be the theme behind an open kitchen where the housewife / spouse would like to continue to work while not losing track of the activity in the drawing room when guests arrive.

There are certainly pros and cons of having an open kitchen, which however could appeal to the modern generation (GenEx), which is less formal and more friendly and open than the older traditional generation.