#The Island In Your Kitchen - General Topics

It s all about layout, traffic flow, and how much space you have. As well as how you control the flow.

That said our kitchen has doors that lock. Guests are not really welcome in the kitchen when we entertain.

This past Saturday night my girls made a surprise 60th birthday party for me. When wife and I came home from an early supper out, we entered the front door and found the living room empty of people with just mood lighting on. As we walked down the gallery towards our bedroom wing to change we found all our guests gathered in the sunroom (14x30) where drinks and hors d oeuvres were set. We visited with guests in the sunroom until 9PM when a light supper was served in the dining room. Our dining room has built ins with wine cooler, ice maker, dishwasher drawers for teh crystal and silver, so there is no need for a guest to come t the kitchen. At 10 pm the party moved to the living room (seats 20 and has a grand piano) and enjoyed coffee, cake and conversation before a fire in the hearth until after midnight.

We make great use of all the many rooms in our home. We do have a formal dining room (at my insistence), a formal living room (that gets used regularly) a sunroom for informal gatherings that opens out to the pool and hot tub and a family den. All of these spaces get used regularly for social reasons. BothMrs. B and I have our professional offices attached to the home with separate outside entrances for clients. She is a builder/designer/realtor, so our home is also her portfolio. It is our vacation destination. We seldom have the need or desire to get away. We have the vacation amenities (besides weather and beach sand) right here and with 4 dogs and two cats it s not easy to go away often.