How big is yours?

[fresco]

In our household (two reasonably gregarious parents and one inordinately gregarious 20-year-old son) the kitchen is without question the centre of activity. We have a separate dining room, but almost all meals are taken in the kitchen. Between the island and a small table, we can seat six people comfortably. There's a small room used mostly for storage behind the kitchen, which opens onto a deck. On warm days, the deck (with Weber) is an extension of the kitchen.

My assumption is that people who are interested enough in food to become egullet members probably place unusual emphasis on their kitchens, and that certainly seems to be borne out by some of the posts and threads. And that leads to my questions: how big is yours, and do you feel it is roomy enough? I'll go first: ours is just over 250 sf, and we think we could easily use another 100 sf. Your turn.

[jackal10]

About 10m x 12m (30ft x 36ft) or 1000 sq ft plus 10m x 5m (450 sq ft) laundry room

It was a double garage, converted.

Edited June 1, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[fresco]

Jackal10,

A thousand sf?! I've lived in houses smaller than that. Really curious to see if anyone can top that.

[jackal10]

Jackal10,

A thousand sf?! I've lived in houses smaller than that. Really curious to see if anyone can top that.

So have I, but thank goddness I don't have to anymore.

There are two of us here, but we entertain a bit.

[Jonathan Day]

More floor space is not always a good thing in a kitchen, if your goal is efficiency of operation. Our kitchen in France is relatively small (say 150 square feet) but is laid out and equipped for high-volume preparation, since the previous owners entertained constantly, 30 to 50 guests at a time, and employed a chef from a Michelin 1-star. Most restaurant kitchens are surprisingly compact.

Our kitchen in London is much larger, something like 800 square feet in all, but its layout has, until now, been fiddly and almost impossible for more than one cook to work in at a time. And as a result, it is now in the midst of being ripped apart and rebuilt.

[Basildog]

Approx 145 sq ft..but it's an odd shape

Edited June 1, 2003 by Basildog (log)

[vengroff]

Approx 145 sq ft..but it's an odd shape

13' by 10'. Having just moved from Manhattan, that should seem large, but it doesn't. In New York, the main room of our loft was 19' by 34'. It could be reconfigured easily to adjust the relative square footage devoted to kitchen, dining, living, and office space. We did buffet dinners for as many as 60, sit downs for close to 20.

[beans]

I'm rehabbing an old cranky smaller Victorian home that a previous owner tired of doing the work but somehow managed all of the messy stuff -- plaster removal being one of the benefits. So I walked through and got to decide which of the smallish rooms would be the kitchen and then had the plumbing roughed in. Its only about 12' by 20' but the largest home kitchen I've ever had, however I already wish it was a bit larger to accommodate an island and enough space for two cooks to be able to work together comfortably.

[fresco]

So far, respondents' kitchens average 487sf (not counting Jonathan Day's place in France.) Keep 'em coming.

[jmcgrath]

11.5ft x 32.5ft. It's a remodeled '50s Cape kitchen and I could only expand in one direction.

Jim

[elyse]

Are we talking the entire space? or floor space. My floor space is about 2 1/2 ' x 5'. cabinets, stove, etc. on either side. I'd say alltogether it's 5x6?

[fresco]

Entire space

[melkor]

11 1/2 ft x 21 ft

[zilla369]

home kitchen: 10 x 22

work kitchen: 12 X 12, but a butler's pantry 6 x 12 adjacent

[JAZ]

More floor space is not always a good thing in a kitchen, if your goal is efficiency of operation.

I'd definitely second this. For example, my last kitchen was quite a bit larger than my current one, but the layout was awful, with most of the space wasted. My current kitchen, while small (maybe 6'x10' plus eating alcove), is set up quite well -- at least for one person. Because the stove/oven is directly across from the sink with only about two feet of space between, it can get a bit close with two. And it's not really a kitchen for socializing in, although I do have a breakfast bar and two stools at one end. What I would like is a larger dining area, since six people is the max for sitting down for dinner in my place.

But, considering that my entire apartment is less than 600 sq. ft., I'm pretty happy with my kitchen. For its size, it has lots of storage and a pretty decent sized countertop.

[fresco]

New average kitchen size: 336.025 sf. This is great. More, please.

[torakris]

My kitchen is 3 jo

1 jo is equal to one tatami mat

guess I have to figure out the Western sizes

In other words it is tiny!

[fresco]

Torakris,

One of the fascinating things about the responses so far is the enormous variation in size from kitchen to kitchen. When I lived in Manhattan in the early Seventies, my kitchen was (at best) 20 sf, perhaps even 16 sf--it had one of those units consisting of stovetop, fridge and sink. Don't think size has anything to do with the the ability to produce good food. But I am interested--just how big is a tatami mat? (Come to think of it, that probably qualifies for another thread--about odd ways of measuring.)

[torakris]

actual standable space is 3 feet by 8 feet and this is actually quite a large kitchen in Japan!

I jo = 33 inches by 66 inches

My entire apartment (including the hall, bathrooms and every room in the place) is 67 square meters

[fresco]

Luxury. Thanks.

[fresco]

Oh, one more thing--I've calculated your total kitchen size at 54.45 sf. Sound right?

[torakris]

Oh, one more thing--I've calculated your total kitchen size at 54.45 sf. Sound right?

could be, I forgotten how to use feet!

I am a metric person now!

[torakris]

Jackal10,

A thousand sf?! I've lived in houses smaller than that. Really curious to see if anyone can top that.

That is nothing!

Check out Jackal's 5 acre garden on the gardening thread!

[sparrowgrass]

10' by 16'.

It used to be a summer kitchen, separated by a walkway from the main house. The walkway was closed in at some point, and my computer desk sits in it now.

[oraklet]

6, 75 x 11,5 - square feet, that is. may seem allright, but there has to be room for all tableware, washing machine, non-kitchen tools etc., too; so in reality it is smallish. hardly room for 2 at the same time but works fine for just me.