Owning Your Own Island : Why Today’s Kitchens Are The Hub of The Home
No man is an island but life is a lot more functional when he has one in his kitchen. The smart Amish kitchen table owner knows that a compliment to your perfect kitchen is an island. The contemporary home is not complete without a central work area for either chopping or peeling, eating, studying. Paying bills or gathering around it with friends. There is something magnetic about a great kitchen, where it is inevitable that everyone will eventually gravitate to the island and conversation will flow. Whether they have gathered there to help the host or just hang out and watch the work, the kitchen island can be the heartbeat and pulse of the home.
Not only can an island be a functional surface and storage unit but it is always a good sign of a great hostess when they realize that this is an area their guests enjoy and they provide drink and snack at one end while working at the other. An island can morph into a buffet with no effort and those casual brunches or cocktail parties now have a seamless stream. The surface is friendly to almost all foods and drinks.
Kitchen islands are now crafted in many different designs and materials. Some incorporate sinks, stovetops and even sunken in features such as pop-up blenders. From warming drawers to built refrigerators, an island is customizable for each home. While there are new materials appearing in the chicest kitchens wood still remains the popular choice. Wood surfaces can be designated areas for either chopping or baking. Making a specific area for each task is a popular organizational concept. By placing all items in one area for a specified task it makes the work as well as the clean up easier.
More and more green options are available for the earth-friendly homeowner. Many collectors of Amish solid wood furniture designs are well aware of their impact on the environment. A natural link between Amish design and Shaker design connects the early understanding of the Shakers on their footprint on God’s earth. Waste was not a notion in the Shaker communities and today Amish furniture connoisseurs can invest in greener kitchens with choices like sustainable lyptus and bamboo as well as recycled materials.
You didn’t spend all the time and money creating the environment you live in to be stuck in a kitchen preparing and cleaning up while guests are in another room. Your solidly built and beautifully designed Amish kitchen table can seat and host the guests as they congregate in and around your kitchen work station and island. Your kitchen set can be built to size, custom stained and finished to be a companion for life to your island station. As guests admire your welcoming kitchen you never know, they may even help clean up!
Tags: amish dining room, green kitchens, kitchen islands, kitchen organizing, kitchens, shaker kitchens, work stations