Kitchens w/o cabinets?

[David Beer]

This post was actually started over in the Questions and Answers forum under the same name. But it is really about products that can go into Log Homes, so I'd like to move the subject to this forum. Hope this works for you!
David Beer

[David Beer]

This post continues a discusson started in the Questions and Answers forum under the same Thread title 'Kitchens w/o Cabinets'

Alan,
Here is what I was referring to as one way to save money. And thanks for asking! It starts in the design stage of the new home.

Let’s say you upgrade your cabinet and top allowance from $5000 to $25,000 and design in 4 YesterTec workstations including beautiful stone or wood tops.

Now eliminate extra square footage such as that formal living room or the dining room that gets used twice a year or that 2-story foyer, or any other room that doesn't get used. Create a beautiful room for living instead. It can be formal and informal at the same time, and that’s the real key. By eliminating under utilized square footage and volume you can more than pay for this top-of-the-line kitchen and exponentially increase the home’s quality and livability.

Saving space is now universally recognized as a ‘must do’ any more. The introduction to Builder Magazine’s October 2002 Builder Choice Awards says “ The era of blown-out volume is over- continuing the conservation of space theme.” The Not-So-Big House, quality over quantity, has arrived!

YesterTec Workstations save space because they blend into other living areas like no other cabinetry can. For log homes that have one multi-purpose living-cooking room, this is a great alternative. No longer does the kitchen area need to look like a laboratory. Furniture lets the same design principles that are used in all the other rooms of the house to continue into the cooking area.

Say you want volume in this room. Exposed beams, wood ceilings. Furniture requires no soffits, no wing walls, nothing at all to separate the living area of the space from the kitchen. Yet many of our pieces can be used to block messy counter space from view from the living areas too. This concept allows the designer to create a magnificent space, then furnish it.

For 'kitchen only' work kitchens, our workstations can let the design get back into an older 'period design' by concealing technology. But otherwise, I think normal cabinetry and exposed appliances of whatever type gets the job done. That said, many people have installed our workstations in these kitchen only rooms because they were just tired of the same old thing.

One thing I've learned since I started YesterTec, kitchen design is not rocket science. There are few universal truths in kitchen design. (one of the best meals I ever ate was cooked over a campfire!) So all we are doing here at YesterTec is providing an alternative design concept. And I've discovered that the more I work with this concept, the more versatile it has become. I've found few spaces that couldn't be designed with our workstations. The main consideration: the desire of the home owners to do it differently.

Bye for now, It's been a long day! David

[David Beer]

Alan- Good to hear that someone is reading Sarah's books! There are many ways to achieve the 'smaller' house and lifestyle. But it just seems to go against 'The American Way' where bigger everything is so revered. My wife won't read this so I can say it, 'The way we're going is UNSUSTAINABLE'! (She's sick of hearing that)

But back to your concerns, believe it or not, I've seen builders allocate $5,000 cabinet allowances for 3000 sq. ft. plus homes. Of course the quality can't be great. But you can get basic cabinetry and tops that start for $67 per lineal foot (Source: Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen Planning Guide, June 2002, page 89) Anyway that would wrap around your kitchen more than 1 1/2 times. Granted, I know you wouldn't like them, but it's possible. I've talked with kitchen designers who are ripping brand new kitchens out of brand new homes to put in the kind of kitchen you and I would want. Seems so wasteful. That's why I'd like to get home builders thinking about another alternative from the start.

I've always tried to present this 'furniture' concept as an alternative, to be used in lieu of or in combination (Some people just order one or two peices from us) with normal kitchen design. And I do not believe that it is universally better than normal kitchen design, nor will it ever be universally dominent over standard design. But I do hope to present the concept as extremely versatile and as a refreshing change that really works for many situations. As time passes, more and more of our kitchens (and hopefully other designer's 'furnished' kitchens')will be featured in the 'home' magazines. And I'm hoping that these photos will inspire people to get creative beyond anything imaginable now.

And back to this forum, I really can't wait to see a 'furnished' kitchen in a Log Home! Who's with me on this??

Later, David 877-346-4976

[lisa]

POSTED BY ALAN

And I can appreciate that. I was just pointing out that it is not for everyone, and it might be better suited for people that don't use the kitchen as much and don't put an emphasis on it. My wife wouldn't accept it.
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I'm that person Alan! The less I see of the kitchen the better.

To the people who invented microwave ovens, restaurants and take-out food ---I salute you!

The oven in the house we are leasing while our house is being built has only been turned on twice since last summer - both of those times were during family gatherings.

Lisa