DUBLIN, IRELAND — While the kitchen is clearly the “hub” of the American home, it continues to evolve from being a functional place in the home used to prepare meals into a true center for family life.

That’s the conclusion of a recently conducted survey of some 10,000 consumers, more than 800 of whom remodeled their kitchens (see related Editorial).

The survey, whose results were released last month by the Dublin, Ireland-based research firm Research and Markets Ltd., includes data on lifestyles, kitchen product shopping and purchasing patterns, as well kitchen remodeling details, media consumption and trends in consumer tastes and preferences.

According to the survey’s results, almost one-third of American consumers now see their kitchen as a place where a variety of activities take place.

“Increasingly, people socialize, take medicines, manage their household, and care for pets in their kitchen,” said Laura Wood, a spokesperson for the survey.

According to Wood, surveyed homeowners described their ideal kitchen as “organized,” “comfortable,” “open,” “warm,” “light,” “happy” and “homey” – all key words to use in designing products and marketing them.

People describe their kitchen before a remodel or improvement as “boring,” “cluttered,” “dark” and “confining,” she noted.
“Clearly, the key driver behind kitchen remodels is that the current kitchen is out of date,” she said.

The survey also revealed that mid-market and high-end remodeling consumers relate to their kitchens somewhat differently and have differing opinions on a number of kitchen-remodeling concepts. Mid-market remodeling consumers see their kitchens as more functional places, and generally describe their ideal kitchen as “warm” and “calming.” In contrast, high-end consumers are more likely to see their kitchens as centers of entertainment and describe their ideal kitchen as “gourmet.”

Researchers said that the survey revealed that nearly all kitchen remodeling projects produce a few “surprises” for homeowners. The most frequently mentioned are how long the project took to complete and how much it cost.