Not so long ago, kitchens and baths were perceived differently than they are today. In some ways they were more important then and in other ways less so.
Consider how our expectations of bathrooms have changed. When I was growing up, most houses had only one bathroom, and that made it a very, very important place. If you grew up in one of these houses, you know that the Battle for the Bathroom was a constant undercurrent of family life. But the baths in these homes didn’t reflect that status. They were generally pretty small, maybe 6 by 8 feet or so, and simply fitted with a sink, tub, toilet, and medicine cabinet. Most baths didn’t look like the prized territory they were.
It was a similar story with the kitchen. This was the hub of family life, the place where kids did homework and experimented with pancake batter, where Mom made dinner and hosted coffee klatsches, and where the family gathered several times a day for meals. It was the most important room in the house. But despite being the constant backdrop of daily life, it usually was a pretty utilitarian-looking workplace.
Today, virtually all new houses have a minimum of two and usually more bathrooms. And, while nearly all houses still have one kitchen, it’s very often part of a bigger space that accommodates all sorts of activities. Despite more of everything in today’s homes—more bathrooms; more places designed for specific activities like eating breakfast, gathering, and reading; and simply just more space—the importance of these two rooms has not been watered down. If anything, their importance has been magnified. What’s different now is that these rooms are designed to look and perform like the important places that they are.
Homeowners now make big psychological, emotional, and financial investments in their kitchens and baths. In recent years, nearly every element of these two rooms has seen upgrades in materials, functionality, features, and performance. Consumers and designers can choose from literally a world of products and finishes to outfit today’s kitchens and baths. That has allowed them to push the design boundaries to create kitchens that are worthy to be the center of home life and baths that soothe the body as well as the soul. In this issue we offer a collection of astonishing kitchens and baths. They’ll show you just how far our perception of these hardworking and once humble rooms has evolved.
