When buying a home, where do you want the kitchen to be?
A very interesting article, which appeared recently in the Jacksonville Times-Union, illustrates perfectly how homes have changed in the past 50 years - primarily the location of the kitchen - and where it stands in relation to the rest of the home. It’s something important to consider when thinking about buying a property (especially for the first time). Especially if one of you is a housewife and the kitchen would be the center of activity in the house. Where do you want to the kitchen to be and how functional do you need it to be? Kitchens vary greatly in size, shape and function so it helps to have a clear idea in your head before you start viewing homes.
The kitchen used to be a very labor-intensive undertaking with small working areas and everything needing to be done by manual labor but these days, with the advent of modern technology and changing designs & attitudes, kitchen tasks are now much easier than in the past. Machines such as the microwave oven and the dishwasher helps to take some of the load off your hands and house designers are now starting to design the kitchen in such a way as to make the whole room family-friendly and relaxing. It’s not unusual these days to have something like a breakfast bar in the middle of the kitchen to break things up and extra floor space and good lighting makes the kitchen a more pleasant room in which to get your household tasks completed.
Plus you may not immediately think this important but the actual physical location of the kitchen can make all the difference. If you regularly greet guests at the front door, you may want your kitchen at the front of the house, close to the front door so you don’t have to travel so far backwards and forwards all the time. However, if you have children playing regularly in the back-yard, you may prefer your kitchen at the back of the house with a view of the back-yard, so you can do your kitchen tasks and also keep an eye on your children at the same time.
So the important thing is to first assess your priorities and your needs and decide accordingly where you would prefer the kitchen to go. Then you can easily choose more suitable properties to visit which could meet your needs right away. The kitchen will end up being the hub of activity in your new house so it is wise to plan in advance.
