Kathy Delauney's kitchen has granite counters, to-the-ceiling cabinets, stainless-steel appliances and recessed lighting. But none of those features is what makes it a great kitchen.
The best part? It can handle a crowd.
"It's built for entertaining," says Delauney, who bought the half-gutted two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath rowhouse in Federal Hill last year and renovated it. "It's not crowded. You don't feel like you have to shoo anyone out."
The space was moved from the back to the middle of the first floor and opens to the living room. One of the counters juts out into a peninsula with stools on one side and pendant-style lights above. From the kitchen, you can see the TV in the living room and the front door.
"You can be part of everything," says Delauney.
That quality is one of the most important things about a kitchen, designers and real estate agents say. Even if you just use the cabinets to store sweaters, the kitchen is probably going to be the place where people congregate during parties.
"The general rule of thumb is everybody ends up in the kitchen," says Jen Gately, a designer at Canton Kitchens.
If you've just spent your final Thanksgiving in a cramped kitchen, real estate agents and designers recommend that you carefully consider the layout of the kitchen when buying a new home or remodeling the one you have. An ideal kitchen gathering space includes both room for the cook and guests. It should be open to allow the cook to talk with guests or relatives and feel a part of the party or family activity, but also have enough separate space that guests aren't interfering with the cooking preparation.
"You can have a gorgeous kitchen that's an absolute nightmare to cook in," says Warren Frederick, a senior designer at Columbia Kitchens of Maryland.
The design should take into account the way your family wants to use the space, such as whether the kids will do their homework there or whether a spouse needs space for a laptop, Frederick and other experts say.
For families who shop at warehouse stores or tend to stock up on staples, pantry space will be a priority. For couples who don't cook much, pantry cabinets will likely be less important, Frederick says.
In general, though, real estate agents, remodelers and designers agree: The more space for hanging out and for storage, the better.
You don't want to be forced to store pots and pans under your bed. And, says Gately, "You don't want to be tripping over each other."
