Kitchen Design

Instructors:  Martha Burns and Larry Jaquette 

The kitchen can be considered the heart and soul of the home. Serving multiple roles as food preparation area, dining room, recreation room, family gathering area, and communication hub, the kitchen has evolved from a place of toil to a place of recreation and joy. The creative act of cooking is only matched by the act of eating, two things we will be investigating thoroughly in this course.

This course will organized around a five day studio class where Martha and Lawrence will guide each student through the design of their own personal kitchen (new or renovation). By the end of the class you should have a basic set of drawings that you can use to start work on your own place. We will also be looking at the Yestermorrow kitchen and dining area to come up with some small design projects that we can design/build as small groups in a few days.

Subjects covered (but not limited to):

Basic drawing techniques
Kitchen circulation and work stations
The work triangle
Storage and appliance placement for efficiency/convenience
Plumbing
Electrical and lighting
Cabinet construction and installation
Materials and finishes
The Green kitchen

All you need is a project to design ( bring floor plans of house/apt.,and measurements of  the kitchen – see below) and lots of creative energy.

Since this is a class based on food, there will also be plenty of good eatin' to be had. (we usually have a group welcome dinner on Sunday evening to start as well as many communal lunches and dinners during the week.) Sound like fun? I hope so.

Materials/equipment to bring:

-                           Rough drawings/sketches of the space that is to be designed. Record as many dimensions as possible, including window and door locations, heights, plumbing locations, structural columns (if known).

-                           Plans/sketches of your home/apt. 

-                           Pictures of the kitchen space from as many vantage points as possible. Include views to the outdoors, exterior shots of the house, other significant rooms, the family, pets, etc.

Class hours: Sunday: welcome dinner, M – F 8:30am – 5:00pm with breaks for lunch. Evenings will be devoted to working on projects.

Suggested Reading List:

Books

Good Green Kitchens, Jennifer Roberts, Gibbs Smith,2006 

New Kitchen Idea Book, By Joanne Keller Bouknight, Taunton Press, 2004

Remodeling A Kitchen, By Sam Clark, Taunton Press, 2003

Architect’s Pocket Book of KITCHEN DESIGN, Charlotte Baden-Powell, Architectural Press, 2005

Green Building Products, Wilson and Piepkorn, Building Green and New Society Publishers, 2006

Kitchen Ideas That Work, Beth Veillette, Taunton Press, 2007

Articles / Websites

The Green Guide, www.thegreenguide.com

Kitchen & Bath Design magazine 

Articles to be handed out in class