Multiple compartments, upper and lower cabinets, created an assembly-line feel. Just before the turn of the century Hoosier manufacturing company revolutionized kitchens with their cabinets. If you are considering remodeling your kitchen, be sure you hire a kitchen designer or contractor that truly understands what your home needs, such as coffee and espresso equipment, and can give you a space that works for both now and for years to come. It’s obvious that the kitchen has undergone many technological and social changes over the decades. For these reasons, kitchens tended to be situated as far away as possible from the social or private rooms in a home. Notice that the stove, oven and sink are still freestanding and not fitted. The kitchen became a source for honing culinary crafts, displaying designer cookware and served as the hub for social activity. The reason was that most people no longer had servants and housewives working alone in the kitchen needed culinary help. With a background in furniture and antiques, Anne has spent the last several years writing about home improvement and interior design. But smoke and soot remained a huge problem until the 16th century when chimneys became widely used in homes. Changes in kitchen design often reflected economic and societal changes. Dinner parties could last hours and hours. The manufacturing advancements and housing boom of post-World War II made a huge impact on the kitchen of today. In the Middle Ages (in Europe this spanned the 5th – 15th centuries), life centered around the always-lit open fireplace. The kitchen of the late 1800’s featured very little storage, as cabinets weren’t in production for the home. This feminine and multi-tasking kitchen featured matching appliances, cabinetry and a home office for the woman of the house. So how did it come to be that the kitchen of today serves as the hub for nearly every aspect of home life? Kitchens have been around for centuries, however, it was not until post-civil war period that the majority of kitchen appliances were invented. There is also a parallel trend towards connectivity, integrated appliances and using wireless technology throughout the home. Even pioneers on the American prairie opted for cast iron stoves for their increased heating capacity and faster cook times. History of Large Kitchen … By the 1980’s, the idea of a completely open kitchen, with appliances designed to show off, came into being. By definition, the kitchen is a room used for food preparation that is typically equipped with a stove, a sink for cleaning food and dish-washing, and cabinets and refrigerators for storing food and equipment. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influence of the French style of cooking (both in England and America), with elaborate dishes, formal table settings, and strict etiquette. A renewed interest in home cooking, fetishizing kitchen utensils and entertaining meant that life was happening, once again, in the kitchen. They were dark and prone to catching fire; they were filled with noises, messes and smells. Double islands, walk-in pantries, and specialty appliances keep kitchen remodelers busy. They were extremely busy spaces and could be hot and uncomfortable. 1930 “kitchen renovation” or cutoff date for the room was determined by the Glenwood stove model, which was sold from 1928 to 1931. These cooking areas naturally caused people to gather as they were the primary source of heat, light, safety and, of course, food. Women, having a taste of working outside the home during WWII, returned after the war and desired better design in their kitchen. This kitchen is large, functional and features a more open layout, perfect for cooking and entertaining. A recreated 12th-century kitchen range at Dover Castle, courtesy of English Heritage. There was an increased demand for kitchen technology and equipment. Considering how important the “trophy” kitchen is for today’s homeowners, it’s amazing to think that not long ago, kitchens were one of the least desirable rooms in the home. Apple Parer: On February 14, 1803, the apple parer was patented by Moses Coates. As important as the kitchen was to a family, kitchen work was still woman’s work, and it was definitely not where you entertained guests. All manner of life revolved around the cooking area, which was the primary source of heat, light and safety. Today’s kitchen is often open to the family and dining rooms and it’s the natural gathering place when entertaining. 1940 Armstrong advertisement for linoleum, courtesy of Mid Century Home Style. What events transpired to allow us the luxury of the kitchen we know today? A study in ergonomics, the 1926 Frankfort Kitchen, aimed to make kitchen tasks take shorter amounts of time. The reason was that most people no longer had servants and housewives working alone in the kitchen needed culinary help. The turn of the 20th century saw a greater interest in saving time in factory production, and this interest eventually flowed into kitchen design as well. This was an open-style kitchen, lacking a chimney to draw smoke out of the great hall. Author’s note: America, being a rather new country, has a relatively short history of the home to draw upon. Over 100 years later, kitchens are still evolving – offering cleaner designs with better functionality, but this achievement has taken centuries of innovations. The idea of the “fitted kitchen,” wherein appliances were becoming more integrated within cabinetry, was an important transformation for the kitchen in the 1930’s and 1940’s. But what might not be so obvious is why these changes occurred, or what created the kitchen we know and love today. In fact it wasn’t even until the period following the Civil War that the majority of kitchen appliances were invented and the ability to use these devices came into wide spread use. Fitted cabinetry and appliances helped create a more purposeful, and beautiful interior design, and the workflow within the space became easier to use. Economic trends and politics had a major influence on the design and function of the kitchen. A contemporary kitchen layout with the kitchen open to the dining area and family room. That was a calculated move: Kitchens weren’t built for entertaining but for function. In ancient times, people cooked on open fires that were built outside on the ground. A 16th Century Tudor manor kitchen, courtesy of Home Things Past. In the 1920s came the Frankfort kitchen, designed by a German named Frederick Winslow Taylor. In European communal societies of ages past, cooking was essentially done over an open fire within a one-room home or within the great hall of a larger structure. In 1769, Elizabeth Raffald penned The Experienced English Housekeeper  and advised: “As many dishes as you have in one course, so many baskets or plates your dessert must have, and as my bill of fare is twenty-five to each course, so must your dessert be of the same number and set out in the same manner.” Imagine hosting a dinner consisting of 75 dishes! Over time the general layout of the home changed and the central, great hall was sub-divided. Notice the round wheel above the fireplace; this would have held a Turnspit Dog. A Hoosier Cabinet from the early 1900’s created a more efficient kitchen design with it’s built-in features, extra storage, and additional workspace. Although the Hoosier cabinet wasn’t large, it filled the storage void for the homemaker and made working in the kitchen that much more efficient. Courtesy of Kennedy Hardware. According to Old House Online, “the growth of American coal and iron mining in the 1820s made cast iron the wonder material of the 19th century and led to a prolific industry in making stoves for cooking as well as heating.” Cast iron was considered a technological advancement – it could be cast into decorative shapes and forms and could easily withstand temperature swings from hot to cold. In the Middle Ages the food was often placed in metal cauldrons that were hanging above the fire. Most of the appliances and gadgets subsequently added date … Fitted cabinetry and appliances helped create a more purposeful, and beautiful interior design, and the workflow within the space became easier to use. The kitchen and pantries remain largely as they were in 1910, when the house was built. Project by Hyde Evans Design. Our 21st century has seen a renewed interest in crafting, hobbies and homesteading. 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