Inviting and Efficient

This Colonial-style kitchen is an OHJ reader favorite; is it the warm patina, or that display of redware?

- Tim Tanner

Especially when it comes to houses built before 1860, kitchen design presents challenges. It’s been ages, after all, since the kitchen was centered on a cooking hearth—or even a big cook stove. Multiple remodelings over the decades undoubtedly have obliterated history.

Then there’s accommodation for modern technology and function. Today’s kitchen designers assume you’ll want matching cabinets, lots of countertop space, and a multitude of appliances.