QWe have a busy house and enjoy hosting our kids’ friends and our own guests. What advice do you have for redesigning a kitchen for entertaining? What island, seating and table solutions do you suggest, and what surfaces are best for kitchens that are supposed to be lived in, not just cooked in?
NY, by email
A Forget utilitarian spaces with high-functioning materials, I prefer a well-dressed room that just happens to be a kitchen. I don’t suggest form over function – cooking in a poorly designed space is frustrating – but rather choosing materials and furniture that are inviting as well as practical.
Use the same materials and level of finish in a kitchen as in the rest of the house. I often use the same timber floors in a kitchen as in the living room. Timber is warm and soft underfoot, a benefit in a kitchen where you are typically on your feet. It is also as functional and hard-wearing…
