You are describing the old fashioned closed off kitchen, plus an uncomfortable dining room with unneeded add ons. Sculleries are just dumb ideas without scullery maids and cooks to do all the hidden away work. No person who has to do all the cooking and cleaning by themselves or with a spouse wants to walk themseleves to death between two rooms. Even in larger homes where I have done a spice kitchen, that was just for the nasty greasy frying of stinky things to be contained. The regular kitchen still had a regular layout with regular appliances. Plus a dining room, for comfortable entertaining, with people's feet flat on the floor. Perching on a bar stool is a short term grab and go. It's not comfortable enough to foster long sitting and human interaction.

@minardi I see your point, but keep in mind, I don't mean to replace the dining room. That's still part of the entire house. But the kitchen island is perfect for pre-dinner drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and conversation, especially large parties where your guests congregate in multiple different areas at the same time.

If you think it will work for your lifestyle, you have the space and budget to execute properly, and don't care about resale, then there is no reason you shouldn't design what you want.

love the idea, if you have plenty of room.

I would also include a separate (private access from outside)

Sculleries are a neat trick interior/kitchen designers and contractors have found to double the cost of kitchens, already the most expensive room in the house. I doubt the trend has legs. No surprise it became popular during the free-money era of 2.5% mortgages.

In any event, I think what you're describing is not too far off from the modern scullery concept. They're primarily used to keep the mess of cooking and cleaning out of the actual kitchen, which is intended to be a crumb-free architectural element/area to sit in an uncomfortable stool at an island whilst overlooking the dining table you don't use/the big screen tv in the adjacent open family room. Typically people include cooking appliances in the main kitchen but I think that may be primarily for cosplay purposes and/or for reheating takeout.

I like the thought process. I think that would be something for a very unique client - one that doesn't really cook, has a personal chef or has a lot of catering.

Kitchens have gotten bigger and more open because the way we entertain or even spend time with our families has changed. The sit-down-at-the-dinner-table-when-dad-gets-home-from-work seems to be a thing of the past. Schedules conflict, kids have many more activities and guests popping in or getting invited over last minute happens all the time.

The one thing I do like the thought of is some sort of sliding separating wall so you could have the best of both worlds - although that would need a good size space.

maybe it will be the next cool thing!

Friend as large new home with scullery. Hates it. They entertain frequently. It's just not fun for daily living. It does hide a mess, but then cleaning up feels like you've been exiled, too. She won't do it again.

Op, what you are describing sounds like a butler's pantry but open to other spaces.

This is an idea worth investigating. But the problem is, will guests still follow you in to the closed kitchen, be under foot, and then the party just moves into the kitchen and out of the entertainment area? Any new idea that involves duplicating appliances and countertops will have legs. Vendors will promote it, banks will loan for it, and people will post theirs on InstaTok.

What about a bar, lounge, TV area that has one of these in it so guests can feel like they are in a kitchen and kids can bake?

Lastly, a good turkey or cookies baking should fill the whole house with pleasant aromas.

I think a revamp of a scullery kitchen could work. Use it for the "dirty " things or "long time" things - dishes, cookware, dish drainer, crock pot cooking, the oven for a turkey or roast, unpackaging things for platters, bringing in veggies from the garden, composting, recycling , ref, etc; then have the outer kitchen - beautiful cooktop and hood, another oven for quicker cooking items, a nice size prep sink, great seating and serving areas, a second ref.

That way, the messy stuff is hidden beyond a door, but you can still have the aromas wafting throughout. It's almost like diner cooking -

Here are a couple of more pics

This kitchen is my favorite! I can absolutely see people doing this - if they have the space.

I can see the benefits of both, and ultimately this will be a decision based on your lifestyle. Personally, I like being able to chat with my guests while I'm cooking and none of my events are fancy enough to require hiding the mess. But if you like to throw more formal dinner parties and will often have catering, it's a solid idea. When I remodeled my own kitchen, I opted for the open layout for the main kitchen and then I had a butler's pantry for storing all my entertainment ware--glasses, platters, china, etc.--that I didn't use everyday.

I guess I don't get this because if you're hosting a formal dinner party with catering, it shouldn't be in your kitchen - fake showplace or not.

Well my guests would still all end up in the "cookingkitchen" We entertain a lot and everyone s always in our kitcehn while I cook . I am a chef and run a catering biz from my home and maybe that is why . I cannot imagine this set up but you need to design kitchen space for how YOU live not some goofy idea off TikTok where reality does not live . Get a good independant kitchen designer and that is IMO how you get the perfect kitchen for you.

Sounds like too much $$$$ and not enough other worthwhile things to spend it on.

Amazing feedback everyone!

I agree with a lot of the "negative" comments. It is very dependent on how the homeowner likes to use their space and may just end up being difficult on the resell.

I kind of lightly touched upon this in my original post, but especially now after some of your feedback I think I now like a different idea of having a wet bar just off the kitchen and having a retractible wall of some sort to close off the kitchen for when it suits whatever occasion the homeowner is having. The wetbar would be the "island" space of the kitchen, but set up in a way that is both simultaneously within the interactive space of the kitchen, but also stand alone as it's own space when the kitchen is closed off. I have no idea what that would even look like, but I'll make some crude drawings later on today. It would still require a separate walk-in pantry, but that's no problem.

Also, I'm using the phrase "wet bar", but alcohol does not have to factor into it like a traditional wet bar. It's just the term I'm using out of convenience.

Another pro to the newer updated idea is that families can also use the retractible wall to enforce a "the kitchen's closed" policy for nights after the dishes and kitchen cleaning is done and you don't want to make anymore mess. Families can still access the wet bar for easy convenience items like bottled beverages.

I know this local used car guru who designed a kitchen out of field stone, like they do concrete in Mexico. He uses a series of free standing mini refrigerators under the counter for all the food storage. It's at the center of the home's design, with a fieldstone floor too. And the whole home will need to be demolished to fix it and the 20 ton fieldstone fireplace across the room. It went from a 2M sale price, all the way down to land price only, over several years.

So, this isn't quite as bad as that. But personal visions cost the one with the personal vision.

Million dollar plus ideas are only accomplishable with a million dollar plus budget. And at that level, even terrible ideas won't put someone off, if the bones of the rest of the house are decent. They will plan on gutting it to redo anyway. But, if the home level isn't at that high end of the spectrum, or the rest of the architecture is equally DIY idea gone bad, this is a giant anvil around the home's neck. It won't be sellable at what any of it costs to do. It might not besellable at all.

I think the devil is in the details, and really understand ACTUAL time & motion and flow of guests. Ic you as host are actually doing the cooking, it will be odd for you to be continually disappearing into a special closed off kitchen. Note, I am not saying one must have an “ open concept”, with kitchen wide open/ contiguous with the LR. But, a family kitchen should have windows, natural light, maybe at least seating for 1-2 , whether a small table or couple of barstools, because then it functions for everyday “ small moments “ - cook sitting down to check a recipe, spouse reading or chatting by cook. So I say that because many people cannot have a kitchen sized& designed to hold everyone in their gathering, nor want an open kitchen. But then, one needs to design said kitchen with enough counter space, work triangle, storage for cooking utensils, getting drinks & snacks.

So yes, what goes around comes around—decades ago there was the separate kitchen and the den wet bar, which of course could be designed much better now, would look much different. Then, if the area is for drinks & such, and not being up in the cook’s business, there’s no need for it to be an island with counter/ barstool seating— because that was for kitchen space requirements and food- prep/ serve needs as well- why not comfortable seating, end tables.

In the end I thinks it’s about really understanding how you will use spaces in your home plus what is needed to make those spaces work. Yes, mucho $$$ can make many things work great, but still can include the land, orientation, ( which mucho $$$ can also solve if one can choose the lot for a specific house!) because it’s not just boxes of rooms cobbled together.

If you are thinking about this in a home that you are building / designing / flipping and someone else will occupy it - don't do this. The person that may want this has very specific needs / wants / concerns. It will be unappealing to the vast majority of people.

It makes perfect sense to me. Most of my meals involve 'assembling' not cooking. It keeps that mess behind a door in a smaller space that works for me. I have even designed it into a tiny house I'm planning to build

It might work on paper if the only entertaining you do is drinks and cold appetizers, but if your guests stay for a meal, then you have to disappear into the kitchen to prep that or even to prep hot appetizers. Plus, having to transport it all to the dining area from the hidden kitchen - it sound teally unwieldy to me.

Here are some more interesting ideas:

I feel like I see these more in a NYC luxury loft where the kitchens aren't huge and are nicer if they are unseen until needed.

I have a client who did it, to HUGE expense. Nobody could discourage her. Her reasons were as yours, in combination with kids who love to cook, and usually mess up a kitchen. Now they mess up BOTH areas.

It is a royal pain in the ass.

If you cater every party or get together, eat out otherwise, 90 percent of the time? Fine. On a daily basis, it is a PAIN. A.Royal. Pain. double that if you aren't an obsessive clean freak, as you end up doubling the work.

Plan that nobody else will want it. You will take a huge hit on a resale no matter what, so that can NOT matter to you at all.

" Well my guests would still all end up in the "cookingkitchen" " This is my thought too. You've missed the WHY people gather in kitchens as hosts prep. Some will hang at the bar--which is what your 'party kitchen' is really. Many will wander into the kitchen or the cook will never see them... Bottom line: You missed the boat and point of gathering in the kitchen.

My question is, why are the hosts prepping during the party? I've always done that before the party, so I was free to mingle with the guests. People aren't hanging out in my kitchen because there is nothing in the kitchen. Food and drinks are in the dining room, and the hosts are elsewhere.