Why the festive kitchen is the new dining room

With all the effort and thought that goes into hosting over the holiday season, come showtime, Christmas Day is probably the best test of whether a kitchen really works.

“For all the beautifully laid dining tables and comfortable lounges, somehow everyone still ends up standing around the kitchen island at Christmas,” opines Looeeze Grossman, founder of The Used Kitchen Company.

“In my house, we all do. Actually, I much prefer entertaining in the kitchen. It’s more sociable, and generally I find it more relaxing… all the running in and out.

“Although our house is very open plan, it’s still going through the TV room into the dining room – its not the same thing as being in the kitchen with everyone.”

And she thinks that says a lot about how our homes have changed. “The kitchen is no longer just the room where the food is prepared before everyone moves somewhere else to eat it.”

Indeed, for many of us, it’s become the most sociable room in the house – and never is that more obvious than at Christmas.

The challenge is designing a kitchen that allows people to pour a drink, help themselves to nibbles and chat to the host without crowding the cooking space, highlights Grossman.

Here are her top tips to elevate your social hub….

Making the most of your kitchen island

As Grossman puts it, if there is one thing that’s changed the way we entertain, it’s the kitchen island.

“At Christmas it can become a bar, a place for nibbles, extra preparation space and, later, somewhere to create a buffet for your guests.”

More importantly, she says it gives people somewhere to congregate without necessarily being under your feet.

But bigger isn’t always better. “If your kitchen isn’t big enough, you can’t even walk around the island… a huge island that dominates the room can actually make a kitchen harder to use.”

What matters is having enough space around it for people to sit, stand and move comfortably while someone else is cooking, says Grossman.

“And I’m a real fan of having your hob on the island, and your sink elsewhere; no-one wants to see you washing up dirty pans.”

If you are planning a kitchen, think about how people will actually gather around the island, she advises. “Don’t put your hob dead in the middle. You’re much better off putting it to the left or the right, so you’ve got lots of space.”

She says to ask yourself: Can somebody sit with a glass of wine while you’re preparing dinner without blocking a cupboard or dishwasher? Can two people pass behind the stools? Can you put drinks at one end and still have enough clear worktop for food prep?

Those details make far more difference than simply installing the largest island you can fit into the room, highlights Grossman.

“You want a kitchen that’s working for everything… it’s a bit like a dog, not just for Christmas.”

Guests want to be part of the action at Christmas

Festive socials signal friends and family mingling, and enjoying being part of the celebrations…

A kitchen that allows people to gather together comfortably without getting in the way can make hosting that much easier.

“You don’t want to leave a room full of guests… your husband’s making the drinks in the kitchen, you’re cooking in the kitchen.

“Someone else is answering the front door, and your guests are sitting around twiddling their fingers.”

But the days of the host disappearing into the kitchen while everybody else sits in the lounge are long gone, underlines Grossman. “I think everyone’s just more chilled and relaxed.

“Friends and family want to get involved, whether that’s helping to chop vegetables, setting the table or simply keeping the cook company.”

Moreover, she says Christmas has a way of exposing the things that don’t work in a kitchen very quickly.

When you’re cooking for a crowd, suddenly you notice that everyone seems to need the fridge at exactly the same time, underlines Grossman.

“A good kitchen allows all of this to happen while still giving the person cooking enough space to get on with it – and that comes down to layout far more than expensive finishes.”

Why open-plan kitchens are perfect for Christmas entertaining

As illustrated above, one of the great advantages of an open-plan kitchen is the hosts don’t have to disappear from the party.

“But open-plan on its own isn’t enough… a kitchen still needs clearly throughout areas for cooking, preparation, drinks and seating,” advises the kitchen sustainability expert, who’s been specialising in used and ex-display kitchens for more than 20 years.

“Otherwise, you simply end up with a bigger space that somehow feels even more cramped.”

Kitchen designs are increasingly taking entertaining into account for these reasons, and why appropriately sized islands, extra seating and dedicated drinks areas are becoming more popular, highlights Grossman.

“Making the kitchen as much a space for entertaining as it is for cooking.”

She says practical elements matter, too, particularly when it comes to storage. “At Christmas, worktops can quickly be hidden beneath food, serving dishes and all the things that normally live happily inside cupboards.

“Good storage means you can clear the tops and actually have room to cook.”

Designing a kitchen that works for you

Christmas also has a habit of highlighting the things you wish you’d thought about when you first designed your kitchen, highlights Grossman.

“Is there actually room in the fridge once you’ve added a turkey, all the food and several bottles of wine?

“Do you have somewhere to put the large platters and serving bowls you only use a few times a year?”

She says a well-planned pantry can come into its own when you’re entertaining, giving you somewhere to put all that overflow while keeping the kitchen itself clear.

“This is why I always think the starting point for any new kitchen should be how you live, rather than what happens to be fashionable,” underlines the kitchen expert.

So if you want to know whether your kitchen really works, she says don’t judge it when it’s perfectly tidy, and there are two of you making supper.

“Judge it on Christmas Day, when the oven is full, someone is looking for the corkscrew, guests are trying to get into the fridge and half the family is gathered around the island, ” Grossman says confidently.

“If it still works, then you’ve designed a very good kitchen.”