The kitchen doubles for many rooms, family room, dining room, study, office, actually the catch-all room for many rooms in one.

Manufacturers are marketing appliances with the woman in mind. Appliances that are the ultimate in efficiency and beauty.

Appliances designed to please the woman who wants not only labor-saving equipment, but comfort and luxury as well.

There is an abundance of materials for walls, floors, restaurant quality stoves, refrigerator and dish washers, plus the addition of beautiful furniture combined with color schemes that transform the average kitchen into a room of true beauty.

Top-notch planning makes use of all available space. To be a success, they must be well planned, down to the last detail.

Peninsulas and islands have a multitude of merits and functionality. The less walking you have to do between oven, sink, range and refrigerator, the better.
Floors are designed to compliment any decorating scheme. Careful thought should be given to the basics, before choosing flooring material.

These are: amount of traffic; exposure to sunlight; moisture; durability; quietness desired. Flooring types range from practical and not too expensive to very expensive. These range from vinyl tiles, solid vinyl, ceramic tiles, brick, wood, marble, linoleums and corks are the more popular types of flooring choices.

Brick, tile, wood and marble can create a luxury look in any kitchen. Ceramic tiles are hard wearing and come in a variety of colors. Linoleums are less expensive than vinyls and ceramic tiles, they wear fairly well, but have to be installed above grade only. However they are easy to maintain and grease resistant.

Cork is good acoustically, resist stains, burns and indentations.

Put this busy room to work, in fact make it work for you. Small or large, it's main contributing factors should be, strategic placing of equipment, labor saving appliances, underfoot comfort, a desk and chair, decorative accessories, a place to cook, relax, entertain and generally be comfortable.

Remember, peninsulas and islands solve many problems in the kitchen. They consolidate work and cooking areas, control traffic routes, create isolated areas for specific chores, introduce two atmospheres in one room and offer additional storage space, which we can never have to much of.