Over the years I have refurbished numerous kitchens of all shapes and sizes, and thinking about my own kitchen at home which is a typical 1970s galley style, it doesn't really suit the modern trend of entertaining friends in the kitchen over a coffee. My in-laws kitchen was a tiny 1930s style which had no room for anything apart from the basics. Visitors rarely entered the kitchen and were entertained in the sitting room or later a through lounge in the 1960/70s style houses we had in the UK. Over the decades it seems the kitchen has changed in both it's size and function to accommodate changing living styles, there have of course always been exceptions, but as a general rule kitchens followed the trends. I guess American kitchens may have gone through a different evolution due to the generally larger houses than ours? What are your experiences of kitchens and the changes they have gone through?
One house I lived in had a galley kitchen and that was my favorite one. Everything was at hand. It also had an open half wall into the family room and I could see the TV while at the sink. That was a Cape Cod style house and apart from my homes in Hungary, one of my favorites. Here I have a totally open kitchen and that's been the trend but I don't like it so much. Who wants to let guests watch you cooking?
That's open plan which we don't have so many of as far as I know, the problem with the UK is land is so short and at a premium that new houses are very much smaller and tend to have very small kitchens again, with an open plan living area with the staircase off.
Although not an outdoor kitchen, this is off of my daughters kitchen on the side of her house. My SIL is not happy with it though because the grill is kind of crappy and they never use any of the other features, so a waste of money.
I love my kitchen. I can't bend my back very well, so I designed every thing to be waist level. My pots and pans hang from the ceiling, and my sink is higher than most so I don't have to bend forward. I tore out all the cabinets. My granddaughter calls it my "Little House On The Prairie" kitchen.
The open concept is still very popular in the US. In some ways it's nice, but I prefer a large enough kitchen but mostly separate from the other rooms. Families with young children prefer the open concept so they can still watch them while working in the kitchen. I see how the galley kitchen is easier to work in but given a choice I'd choose an eat-in. My kitchen is square but tiny! No table can fit. There's enough counter space, but barely. There's a pass-through to the dining area. Everyone wishes for the same things in a kitchen- Open concept Granite countertops Stainless steel appliances Hardwood floors I have none of these, but bought what I could afford. Thinking of the European kitchens I have seen, I've noticed many of them have their washing machines in the kitchen and I wonder why that is.
My daughter has a kitchen like you mentioned but they took out the hardwood floors and replaced it with travertine tile. She was getting a lot of scratches from toy cars on her floor but dealing with the grout in the travertine is frustrating and a lot of work. It gets dirty quickly. I think the reason for washing machines in kitchens, at least in Hungary is space. In my second home we bought outside of Budapest that wasn't so new and modern as my first one, we added on and put in a laundry room. Also, their fridges are smaller even in the newer expensive homes.