Gather 'Round: The Family-Focused Kitchen

Designing a kitchen to suit an active family isn't that much different than designing for restaurants, says Rick Glickman, owner of Dream Kitchens Inc. in Chicago. "I've designed residential kitchens since 1992, but for a dozen years before that I was in food service design," he says. "There, the client would have a menu in mind and would tell me, 'Make the kitchen so it can produce this.' Now, I ask homeowners, 'What do you want to produce in this kitchen? Do you entertain? What do you cook? Or do you just phone in?' That's what I plan the space around."

Rick works with a team approach, doing the space design himself and having associates follow up with interior design to "make it look great." Here, he shares tips for a family-friendly kitchen design:

The biggest challenge: "This house is in a wooded area and it's very open — full-height windows all around," Rick says. "The kitchen had only two walls, with windows, so everything had to go on an interior wall and the whole design needed to look natural."

Strategies to suit the family: "These clients wanted a kitchen mainly just to enjoy being together as a family and hanging out," he says. "That's one of the reasons that the main focus is on food prep and a place to sit — the fridge and the wine fridge are down the hall and out of the way.

"We also added contemporary appliances and a faucet over the cooktop so the kids can help cook and clean up, and opened a wall so that when you're sitting in the kitchen you can see the relaxing fireplace in the family room."