Designing the Gourmet Kitchen -- From the Inside, Out

New Cabinet Innovations Use "Zone Design" to Put Everything at your Fingertips

(ARA) - Gourmet cooking and entertaining can be frustrating, even for the seasoned cook. With guests now congregating in the kitchen while the meal is being prepared, fumbling around in the back of your cabinets for that long lost spice jar, gadget or serving tray can turn cooking into a chore.

Fortunately, manufacturers are listening to these concerns, and responding with solutions that may change the way people think of and design their kitchens.

"For decades now, we've been designing kitchens in a classic triangle, with a cooking area, a food prep area and a cleaning/storage area. But today's serious cooks needed 'point of use' solutions," says Ellen Cheever, ASID, a well known kitchen and bath designer and industry educator. "So now, you're seeing appliances like special warming drawers or beverage centers that fit in base cabinets. The insides of cabinets are now so specialized, there is a pull out or a special drawer for almost every need," she said.

In fact, one manufacturer of high-end, semi-custom kitchen cabinetry, Decora, has just introduced the ACCESSories collection, with more than 100 cabinet options designed to provide specialized storage for the gourmet cook and entertainer. With more than 1,000 different size, door and finish combinations -- and now a full line of storage products--Decora's national network of independent dealers and designers can offer a custom fit and a high-style look for around 20 percent less than custom cabinets, according to Jan Aufderhar, semi-custom manager for Masterbrand Cabinets, Decora's parent company in Jasper, Ind.

"Designers are realizing that built-in cabinetry is a great way to break up space between the open kitchen, dining room, great room combinations, without making the floor plan feel closed off. With cabinetry doing so much more now, people are lot more likely to have things like built-in butler's pantries, wet bars, study areas and even built in china cabinets," she adds.

Here's just a few of the applications Cheever and Aufderhar noted for today's new high-performance kitchens:

Food Prep Zone: Kitchen islands have become elaborate food prep areas, with lower counter heights, built in butcher block countertops and knife drawers with special inserts to keep knives straight, organized and sharp. Cutting boards slide out for use and disappear back into the cabinet when they're not needed.

Cooking Zone: With many cooks now buying separate cooktops and ovens, instead of freestanding ranges, new organization options have emerged. In the cabinet underneath the cooktop, chefs can put in drawers that hold up to 32 spice jars, right where they are needed, or install a special pull-out that holds all the pots and pans and organizes lids. A huge array of tall cabinets, base cabinets and special pull outs are specifically designed to hold sauces, spices, mustards and chutneys, right near the cooktop.

Baking Zone: Cooks serious about baking often choose to lower their countertop, adding knead-friendly marble counters. Now, Decora has taken this a step further by offering pull-out box cabinet inserts that allow bakers to store canisters, baking powders and spices together, under the counter. Special base cabinets have tiered, adjustable layers that are perfect for holding unruly springform pans, casseroles, cake decorating kits and the like.

Formal/Casual Dining Zones: "People are using built-in cabinets as a buffet that separates their kitchen from their dining area, usually with a tall bank of cabinets," says Cheever. "With the right door style, you can make a combination china cabinet/buffet that never needs dusting, isn't in the way and can be as big or as little as you want. With the right lighting, you can display your best pieces as artwork. It makes setting the table a snap; and it's a very smart way to use your space," she says.

The Wet Bar/Wine Service Zone: Wet bar modules can help make a transition between food preparation and food serving zones, and do it beautifully. Base cabinet beverage centers offer everything from rolling bins on a carousel, for storing a wide variety of canned goods; to pull out storage meant to hold eight, 2-liter bottles of soda. Wine racks can be built in a variety of configurations -- in freestanding pantries to doorless configurations built as a show area in the cabinets. Combined with today's under-the-counter wine chillers and beverage centers, there's no need to go to the basement for that dusty old bottle.

Meal Planning Command Center: Built in bookcases, file drawers and computer base cabinets can turn a corner of the kitchen into the perfect place for accessing computerized recipe files, paying the family bills or storing beloved cookbook collections and culinary backgrounders. With some kitchen cabinet manufacturers offering built-in office modules in addition to their kitchen line, designers can seamlessly integrate the two -- whether you're storing cookbooks in a hallway leading into the kitchen, adding a shelf at the bottom of the kitchen island or putting in a kitchen office nook.

Task-Specific Storage Zones: Instead of a pantry that stores everything in one place, many homeowners are opting for dividing storage into specific work areas of their kitchens. For instance, some families are using storage for a "breakfast center," where a trim, pull-out base cabinet can store cereals, syrups, pancake and muffin mixes and bagels. And for pet owners, a special pull-out base cabinet with an additional small drawer could be made to store large dog food canisters, treat boxes, toys and grooming materials.

"Cabinet storage systems have been around for a few years, but only now are kitchen designers starting to truly see their potential," says Aufderhar. "When people begin to see how much time proper organization can save them in the kitchen, I think these kitchen designs will become a true mainstream trend," she adds.

To find out more about emerging kitchen design trends, visit www.decoracabinets.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content