MIDWAY : Multi-purpose kitchen

The kitchen once used to be the most frequently used room in any house, especially by women, due to a large number of joint family members. To accommodate the increasing number of women the kitchen needed to be spacious.

There was ample space for cooking, cutting and cleaning but none to dine. Family members and guests would have to line up on the floor to have the meal. But with the change in people’s lifestyle, the setting of the kitchen has also undergone sea change.

A modern kitchen is not just a place to cook, but also a venue for family reunion. The fast pace of modern life gives people little time to spend together; most family members come across one another only during the dinner time at the dining table. Dining table conversation includes discussion on all kinds of topics — from business deals, politics to small incidents like a friend’s party, new school teacher, and, of course, the course of dinner.

Modern kitchens are furnished with fancy dinning tables with multiple functions. In the earlier days, big houses used to have large kitchens, with separate area for cooking.

But with the dissolution of joint family, the kitchen space has also shrunk. For the same purpose, modern dining tables are employed for multiple purposes: to stack up snacks, groceries, tea sets, plates, just to name a few.

Besides, these tables are also used to sort the vegetables. Kitchen accessories like grinder, blender and juicer are also not uncommon on a dining table.

It is little surprise that the standard of a modern house is often judged by the quality of the kitchen. Kitchen tables serve as reminders to the family’s dining culture and table manners.

These days, it is not uncommon to invite kith and kin for a get-together in the kitchen over a

steaming cup of tea or coffee. With modern families looking to fit more and more activities in the kitchen, the time people spend at the dining table is also increasing by the day.

To satiate their needs, dining tables of different sizes and styles are available.

But while furnishing the kitchen one should keep in mind the preferences of each member of the family and the guests.