Hidden in plain sight

Modern, open-plan kitchens afford us the opportunity of preparing meals while catching up with each other after a busy day but what to do with the clutter?

For the owners of this home, creating a kitchen that adapted easily to the needs of a busy professional couple with three growing children was paramount.

The extra challenge of assimilating the accoutrements of a contemporary kitchen into an open-plan living area while maintaining a clean, sleek look prompted some innovative inclusions, says Laurie Allan, marketing director of San Francisco-based design firm Studio Becker.

"Clutter becomes a big issue when you're working in an open-plan space, so the design incorporates a large 17ft x 5ft walk-in pantry concealed behind a single pantry door."

Similarly, an appliance garage has been incorporated into the backsplash to conceal frequently used small appliances. Tilt-out cabinets in the island have been designed to accommodate outlets and maintain the clean lines.

"With a family of five, the kitchen gets constant use, so it also needed to be user friendly. A linear design was the best way to achieve this," Allan says.

As well as day-to-day needs, the kitchen also had to function for large-scale entertaining, which the owners do on a regular basis.

"A butler's pantry offered the best solution," says Allan. "When the family has guests, the butler's pantry is an extra preparation area. At other times it's convenient for attending to the needs of the children without interrupting the flow within the main kitchen."

Another important consideration was creating a visually-appealing kitchen.

"Because the kitchen is on constant display it was necessary for it to provide a stimulating backdrop, so the design team chose a mix of materials and colors that would create a contemporary space that also had great warmth," says Allan.

Story by: Kathleen Kinney