Ok, so "over-appliancing" isn't a verb, but you get the idea.
When I first moved to California, I was struck by how "biggest and widest and most" appliances were on my client's remodeling lists. Fine if your home has the space, like the kitchen above, or you're planning an addition or opening up walls, but for most homes, what we're dealing with is adding all the modern conveniences in the same sized kitchens of 30-70 years ago.
Which is kind of like re-using the suitcase from your single college days for your present-day family of four. At some point, no matter how much you hope and squish and pray, it's going to be impossible to fit everything in.
Here's why ~ let's look at the list of appliances from the past 70 years:
1940s to 1970s:
- a refrigerator (Not everyone had refrigerators in the 1940s either. Ice boxes were in use in some areas up until the late 50s.)
- a sink
- a range (ok, sometimes the ranges were bigger, but hey, we had no refrigerators.)
1970s to now:
- a dishwasher. Or two.
- a cooktop and wall oven(s). Orginally, 30"-36" cooktops and 24"-27" ovens.
- a microwave
In the last decade:
- ranges to 48" wide
- cooktops to 60" wide
- ovens to 30" wide
- wine cooler and/or bar refrigeration
- refrigerator drawers
- steamers
- built-in cappuccino makers
- televisions
- warming drawers
Let me mention this again: added to the same size kitchens. Wham. We've lost most of our countertops and pretty much all of our storage.
(Before - 1960s kitchen with cooktop under microwave.
The spoons and vases next to the refrigerator sat on the cooktop when it wasn't in use.
If someone opened the oven door, no one could use the sink.)
To top things off, it's not only the appliances that have increased five-fold: what we store has increased as well. We may have lost the pressure cookers of 40 years ago, but we added the Mixmaster. The blender. The pasta machine. Two sets of dishes. Three types of wine glasses. Expresso cups. The waffle maker. The cool serving platters. The George Foreman grill. Micro-graters for peel, and 15 different styles of spatulas/wooden spoons/knives. Coffee mugs threatening to populate the world! (Or is that just my place?)
No wonder it's difficult to keep a kitchen tidy -- there's simply not enough room left for function and storage!
So...if you don't want your dishes stored in the oven and your mugs in the microwave, the design process is the time to realistically size your suitcase. Give some serious thought to what appliances you'll actually use. More importantly, think through how you'll actually cook in the kitchen.
Don't stack all your appliances in a corner or wedge them along the same wall if you can help it -- let them breathe or arrange for nearby counter space. Decent lengths of counter between appliances means decent landing and drawer spaces. Which also means decent wall cabinets for, you know, coffee cups. *cough*
If you imagine cooking one of your favorite recipes in your new kitchen before you finalize the design, it might be an eye-opener.
And that's my two cents for the day.
the oven and warming drawer. The peninsula was switched to the sink side
in the foreground. No, I have no idea why there's an orange kettle
under the burgundy hood but it hurts us, yes it does.)
