The Freewheeling Kitchen

Written by Emily Lyons Photography by Maxwell Mackenzie

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The kitchen is a space for action – it is, after all, where we grind, sharpen, slice, mash, blend, and heat. And it’s also a space where we leisurely snack and talk about the weather. It may not always be high intensity, but every kitchen is high traffic. So designers are embracing the new age of kitchen furniture and accoutrements, which slide, roll, extend, or can be pushed into the pantry to suit whatever the day’s function may be.

Clean and Concise

“We didn’t go the family-room route,” says John Murphey, co-principal of Meditch Murphey Architects, of him and his wife, Marcie Meditch. The kitchen is where the family convenes. “We know how we work,” Murphey says. To create their light-drenched, commercial-style “kitchen on wheels” in Bethesda, MD, walls had to be knocked down to allow the kitchen to be in one concise room that opened into the dining area.

Space is at a premium, so almost everything has dual function. Most of the storage space is either open or translucent, so nothing has to be hunted for and contents provide colorful accents to the white-and-aluminum color scheme. To reduce clutter, one wall became a blackboard for family notes (it’s powder-coated so it takes magnets, too). Shelving can be repositioned as necessary, and rolling islands from Bulthaup can be accessed from all four sides.

You Can Take It With You

The Meditch-Murphey kitchen has a modular design – it’s all about tall, freestanding cabinetry, armoire-style storage, “taking it with you when you go,” says Alison Tilley, showroom manager and designer at Bulthaup in Cady’s Alley, who consulted on the project. Movable chopping and work surfaces and easy access to the cooking and water points are crucial. If you can chop, rinse, heat, and dispose without having to leave your post, everyone runs into each other a little less and eats a little sooner.

“It’s very handy,” Murphey says. “We’re not really into big kitchens – this is more than enough. We can have a dozen people [in here] cooking and eating at once. It’s fun to cook in.”