Kitchens are for more than just cooking. Most Americans use them as places to eat, talk, entertain, work and relax.
Americans are also fond of kitchen-oriented products and services that have more to do with self-image than food.
That's why a recent advertisement for General Electric appliances says, ''You may call it a kitchen, but we know it's your living room."
In 1991, Americans spent $88 billion to redesign kitchens. Almost every
dollar went toward creating a larger, more complex space.
Three out of four clients who come to kitchen designers say family socializing in the kitchen is an important part of their lives, according to a survey of designers conducted by the Maytag Corp.
Two-thirds say entertaining in the kitchen is so important that their new kitchens must have a bar. Six in 10 people want their kitchens to include a place to study or work.
And more than one-third (39 percent) of kitchen redesign clients want to do their laundry in the place where they prepare food.
In the 1990s, televisions, stereos and even pool tables are showing up next to refrigerators and coffee makers.
"It's hard to tell how big kitchens are getting," said Leslie Hart, editor of Kitchen and Bath Business, "because kitchens are opening into family rooms."
"The kitchen is the nerve center of the home," said Carolyn Forte, associate director of the Good Housekeeping Institute.
"The door of the refrigerator is the message center. People gather at the counter to chat or be entertained. As a result, the modern kitchen must be spacious and easy to clean. And its appliances must be quiet, so they do not interrupt conversations."
A SOCIAL CENTER
Talking in the kitchen may be more important than running a food processor.
The overwhelming majority of adults see their kitchens as places for household conversation, according to a 1991 survey by Market Response in New York City.
People age 50 and older are most likely to have long conversations in the kitchen; the number who socialize there declines with age.
But even among 18-to-29-year-olds, 71 percent like to talk in the kitchen. And young people may do it less only because their kitchens are too small.
The larger the household, the more sociable the kitchen.
Kitchens also have an irresistible appeal to large groups. In the Market Response survey, most people say guests usually end up in the kitchen despite
plans to entertain in the living or dining room.
