Some of our earliest memories form while in the kitchen of our parent's or grandparent's homes. There is simply nothing like the smell of dinner wafting out of an oven, filling the house with the scent of warm baked bread. The mere description of warm baked bread likely made you instantly recall a time in your life when you experienced it. There is a reason why this happens. 

"… I carried to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had let soften a bit of madeleine. But at the very instant when the mouthful of tea mixed with cake crumbs touched my palate, I quivered, attentive to the extraordinary thing that was happening inside me." À la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust, 1913. 

That quote is extraordinary in how elegantly it describes the experience of eating a cookie soaked in tea, and this is how The Harvard Gazette chose to open the article, "What the nose knows." The article discussed the science of smell and how scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined. 

No location in our home possesses an abundance of warm memories, positive experiences, and delightful odors than the kitchen. This quality makes the kitchen, according to Life Edited, August 29th, 2014, the most used and occupied room in the home, by far. 

We have seen this in building trends for decades starting in post World War II US homes. Because the kitchen is an essential room in any house, it is one of the most critical parts of any interior design process. To create the perfect kitchen, time, and planning are required to figure out what design you want. More importantly, you are laying the groundwork for the busiest, most memorable place in the home. 

In smaller apartments, the kitchen might be a place where you make food for yourself, and it may be nothing more than that. On the other hand, in larger homes with families, where there are family dinners, there is a much more significant amount of time spent preparing the food. The kitchen becomes a central part of life. It is a part of the house where people spend time together and talk to each other about their days. If the kitchen follows the type of interior design that many modern kitchens do, then the family will be dining in the kitchen, increasing the space's function. 

One of the biggest reasons people love their kitchens is that the kitchen is an integral part of the house. Even from the beginning, when you are first planning out the kitchen with a kitchen, you will be experiencing a family bonding experience planning out the map of your memories. 

What Makes the Kitchen So Important?

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread." - Mother Teresa. 

The most beautiful thing about the home kitchen is that we have the power to do both. 

There are roughly 128,500,000 households in the United States. Of those, 86% (110,510,000) prepare meals at least 3-6 days per week. If those households only made nine meals per week, there are nearly a billion meals a weak being produced at home each week. No other place in our homes has more impact on our quality of life, health, and well being. 

Roughly 95% of US children do homework outside of school time. Children are historically most likely to do homework in the kitchen. Undoubtedly, this is because parents are in the kitchen doing meal prep, and children with homework questions demand a great deal of attention but so do pots and pans on the stove. 

The idiom, "hearth and home," joined common usage circa 1841, intrinsically linking our kitchens and homes. Generations of Americans have retreated into their homes to enjoy life with their families after being out with errands and earning a living. Overwhelmingly, people walk through their doors and go immediately to the kitchen, sit what is in their hands down upon the counter and open the refrigerator door. 

A Loveable Kitchen Design

From a country-focused design to a more modern and contemporary design, there will be countless different designs and plans from which to choose. One of the best designs that will work for most standard kitchens is a modern or contemporary design.

Contemporary designs place a broader focus on having more clean, organized spaces to move within the kitchen, and having a simple, sleek, and elegant design that isn't too convoluted or elaborate. The primary materials that these kitchens utilize are easy to clean and work with, such as stone, metal, and wood. 

These kitchens are aesthetically pleasing, but they are far more efficient than other kitchens that take up more room. Most contemporary designs are also compatible with dine-in kitchens and open floor plans, making them the perfect type of design to go with if you are looking for a kitchen that isn't separated from the rest of the house.

When you have a kitchen that you can appreciate being in and a kitchen design that you can enjoy while cooking, it will be much easier to relish spending time in the kitchen. The chances are that you will enjoy your time in the kitchen, whether you are preparing your meals for the week or teaching your children how to cook.