Kitchen Design
3 Fantastic Kitchens Designed for Entertaining
Get ideas for setups perfect for hosting guests from these crowd-pleasing cooking spaces
A great party doesn’t require a huge space, but the right kitchen setup can make everything easier for hosts and guests alike. An open plan for connection and flow, a clear area for prepping and serving, a bar area or beverage fridge so guests can help themselves — features like these enhance comfort and efficiency in gatherings big and small. You’ll see these ideas and more in the kitchens below, which are graciously sized but offer inspiration for smaller spaces too.
Self-cleaning double ovens with a touch-screen interface help make party food prep and cleanup easier, and their location to the left of the paneled refrigerator boosts convenience. To the left of those is a tall pantry cabinet. Cabinets and drawers to the right of the new sink and below it round out the generous storage.
The new openness to the living area, seen here, and the dining area means the cook won’t be cloistered during get-togethers. And an existing sliding door right off the kitchen leads to a backyard deck, which expands the entertaining possibilities on nice days.
Double oven, cooktop and paneled refrigerator: Fisher & Paykel
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The new openness to the living area, seen here, and the dining area means the cook won’t be cloistered during get-togethers. And an existing sliding door right off the kitchen leads to a backyard deck, which expands the entertaining possibilities on nice days.
Double oven, cooktop and paneled refrigerator: Fisher & Paykel
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2. Amenities Galore
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family with young children
Location: Kent, England
Size: 938 square feet (87 square meters); 32¾ by 28½ feet (10 by 8.7 meters)
Designer: Tom Howley
Renovating their historic home gave these owners in England the chance to build an addition, which in turn gave kitchen designer Tom Howley a blank slate for creating a spacious kitchen for socializing.
The patio-adjacent location makes moving the party outdoors a breeze. Indoors, an 11-foot-long island provides seating for nine; a bench seat stretches below the back window too. Top-of-the line appliances expedite food prep, while copious storage gives every piece of serveware and dishware a home.
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family with young children
Location: Kent, England
Size: 938 square feet (87 square meters); 32¾ by 28½ feet (10 by 8.7 meters)
Designer: Tom Howley
Renovating their historic home gave these owners in England the chance to build an addition, which in turn gave kitchen designer Tom Howley a blank slate for creating a spacious kitchen for socializing.
The patio-adjacent location makes moving the party outdoors a breeze. Indoors, an 11-foot-long island provides seating for nine; a bench seat stretches below the back window too. Top-of-the line appliances expedite food prep, while copious storage gives every piece of serveware and dishware a home.
See why you should hire a professional who uses Houzz Pro software
A dedicated bar area a few steps away from the island has bifold doors that open for access to glasses and bottles. To the right of that sits a wine fridge, while two refrigerated drawers below hold canned drinks. And those doors seen in the back? They lead to a swoon-worthy pantry.
Just off the bar area lies a living area, making for easy flow during get-togethers.
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Just off the bar area lies a living area, making for easy flow during get-togethers.
Read more about this kitchen
3. Fun Run
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Wes Headrick, a commercial airline captain, and his teenage daughter, Avery
Location: Seattle
Size: 382 square feet (35 square meters), including a Japanese tatami mat room
Architect: Tim Hammer of Cast Architecture
Builder: Mark Taylor
Design-build pro: Dale Brotherton of Takumi (tatami mat room)
Why is the island in this Seattle kitchen 18 feet long with no seats? We’ll get to that, but first, a little backstory. The homeowner is an airline captain who’s away a lot. So he wanted his home time to be all about relaxing and having fun with friends, his teenage daughter and her own friends. But the old kitchen was dark and closed off, leaving the basement as the designated hangout. It had a Kegerator for the grown-ups, but still.
Thanks to architect Tim Hammer and builder Mark Taylor, the new kitchen isn’t just bigger (expanded by 135 square feet), brighter (five skylights) and beautiful (industrial-meets-natural style). It’s a fabulous fun zone for adults and teens alike. It has better access to a back deck and, just before that on the left, a Japanese tatami mat room for eating, lounging and doing yoga. It has a pizza oven (just out of frame to the right). It has a custom beverage station with eight beers on top, seen on the far left wall.
Bar faucet: Meta single-lever lavatory mixer in polished chrome, Dornbracht
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Wes Headrick, a commercial airline captain, and his teenage daughter, Avery
Location: Seattle
Size: 382 square feet (35 square meters), including a Japanese tatami mat room
Architect: Tim Hammer of Cast Architecture
Builder: Mark Taylor
Design-build pro: Dale Brotherton of Takumi (tatami mat room)
Why is the island in this Seattle kitchen 18 feet long with no seats? We’ll get to that, but first, a little backstory. The homeowner is an airline captain who’s away a lot. So he wanted his home time to be all about relaxing and having fun with friends, his teenage daughter and her own friends. But the old kitchen was dark and closed off, leaving the basement as the designated hangout. It had a Kegerator for the grown-ups, but still.
Thanks to architect Tim Hammer and builder Mark Taylor, the new kitchen isn’t just bigger (expanded by 135 square feet), brighter (five skylights) and beautiful (industrial-meets-natural style). It’s a fabulous fun zone for adults and teens alike. It has better access to a back deck and, just before that on the left, a Japanese tatami mat room for eating, lounging and doing yoga. It has a pizza oven (just out of frame to the right). It has a custom beverage station with eight beers on top, seen on the far left wall.
Bar faucet: Meta single-lever lavatory mixer in polished chrome, Dornbracht
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
And it has that island, which hides a shuffleboard table under its butcher-block top. When it’s not game time, the top is great for rolling out dough and serving up pizzas and other home-cooked goodies fresh from the oven.
Speaking of home cooking, the kitchen also has commercial-style appliances, including a 48-inch gas range and a paneled dishwasher, so it works as hard as it plays.
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Speaking of home cooking, the kitchen also has commercial-style appliances, including a 48-inch gas range and a paneled dishwasher, so it works as hard as it plays.
Read more about this kitchen
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Sponsored
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: An empty-nest couple
Location: Chaska, Minnesota
Size: 300 square feet (28 square meters)
Designer-builder: Titus Contracting
Originally closed off from the surrounding areas and tight at 162 square feet, this Minnesota kitchen didn’t allow for the kinds of gatherings these empty-nest homeowners wanted. Plus, it had awkward, sharp angles. Designer Ksusha Olson and Titus Contracting took down walls to create an open-plan layout, expanding the kitchen by 138 square feet in the process, and gave the whole space a fresh and bright look in wood and white.
A new island softly rounded at one end acts as the new hub. Its three stools supplement other seating in the open plan, with a casual dining area to the right and a living area where this photo was taken from. Glass-front cabinets in the island base, with interior lights, provide glassware storage and a lovely visual element. The island top, perimeter countertop and backsplash look like marble but are lower-maintenance quartz.
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