Buyers Want Cozy, Connected Kitchens

The kitchen isn't just for cooking. Today it's used as a gathering place for families, a central work space, and an open area to pursue craft projects or entertain. Living room and family room activities are merging into the kitchen, and it's changing how kitchens look. As homes are getting smaller, we're using the kitchen for much more than we have in the past. Home owners want a more versatile floor plan.

The walls in kitchens started coming down in the 1980s and 1990s. First to go were walls separating the kitchen from the dining room and now homeowners are saying goodbye to walls between the kitchen and the living room. Kitchens are also being designed in a less utilitarian way with larger windows, fewer cabinets and softer lighting.