The great room kitchen concept
Most homeowners spend the majority of their waking hours in the kitchen, which serves as the hub of the home’s dining and entertaining activities. The great room kitchen concept maximizes the culinary space by integrating additional living aspects to the room. Candace Jackson of the Wall Street Journal reports that in some luxury homes, kitchens have doubled, even tripled in size. Builders and architects are responding to a new market trend. The Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder, is constructing houses with kitchens that are 240 percent bigger than they were just two or three years ago.
Homeowners’ preferences overall are trending toward larger kitchens and bathrooms, reports the National Association of Realtors. According to the latest American Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey, the downsizing of kitchens as a result of the recession has ended, and nearly a quarter of architects say the size of kitchens are on the increase.
The most popular functions that homeowners are looking for include recycling centers, larger pantries, recharging stations for electronics, additional family living space, and sustainable design products. On the other hand, double islands with storage, duplicate appliances, upper-end appliances, and natural stone countertops have fallen in demand.
