The kitchen, long a bastion of uniformity with few product choices and a narrow use has turned into a prime living and entertainment space full of color and new devices, according to the American Living Survey conducted by Design Research. “Where once you had a very simple kitchen, where the tiles were all the same, the floor was one material and the countertop was all one material, today it’s far more complicated than that,” says Richard Babick, founder, Design Research. “Styles are changing faster, there are far more options, all sorts of appliances – electronics in the refrigerator door.”
Highlights from their comprehensive kitchen survey include:
• Space saving is a universal problem for more than half of US households.
• More than one-third of consumers want to replace or repair many of their small kitchen appliances.
• Entertaining is mostly done in the kitchen in 22 percent of their respondents’ homes.
• The kitchen is the center of the home among 31 percent of respondents.
• Thirty-nine percent want American-made products but that figure is higher among Boomers.
• Sixty-four percent believe that owning a home is still the American Dream.
• Fifty-five percent say they are unimpressed with celebrity branded goods.
