The Closed Separate Kitchen Makes A Comeback

The New York Times real estate section says the closed kitchen is making a comeback. After a couple of decades where every new apartment had big open kitchens,

Being the New York Times, they are showing very high end stuff for very rich people.

© 160 Leroy

In fact, the really really rich are buying two kitchens, a “chef kitchen” and a “social kitchen.”

Now while two kitchens is a bit ridiculous, there are lots of good reasons to go back to separate kitchens.

© Williamson Chong

It’s healthier

As Ellen Himelfarb noted in her article on eat-in kitchens, quoted in TreeHugger:

In a separate, closed off kitchen, the food is out of sight and out of mind.

© In China, even open kitchens are closed because of air quality

The air quality is better

In “Worrying about kitchen fans is exhausting,” I quote engineer Robert Bean:

A closed kitchen can keep all that stuff in the closed kitchen and can design the appropriate ventilation system that doesn’t have to change all the air in the house or apartment.

Wolf/ There is no way that range hood is going to anything. /Promo image

You don’t get those silly giant islands with useless hanging exhaust hoods

These just don’t work. A stove should be against a wall, an exhaust hood should be not much more than 30 inches from the range, and properly sized for the appliance. Read more in “Hyperventilation about kitchen ventilation,” where I learned that there is no real consensus on this issue. But in the absence of one, it still makes sense that a big stove should be in its own space.