Kitchen & Bath Design News

JAN 2016

Kitchen & Bath Design News is the industry's leading business, design and product resource for the kitchen and bath trade.

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Planning a space for the entire family may also include designing in conveniences for the beloved family pet, from feeding stations, bathing areas and organized storage for toys to a cozy dedicated napping space. BY ELLEN CHEEVER, CMKBD, ASID, CAPS Pet-Friendly Spaces s an occasional TV watcher, I've noticed a change in the way family pets are referred to these days. No longer are we "pet owners," now we are "pet parents." Dogs in some ads are referred to by the adult as "my other child!" Such references to the family pet come as no surprise to me. Many of my clients want space for their pets to nap, organized storage for their toys, a convenient bathing area and a properly planned feeding station included within their new kitchen space. So in 2016 and beyond, in addition to designing the kitchen for the way a family lives, we should include design ideas for the family's four-legged members. Everything from Fido's size, fur length, personality and age should be taken into account. Let's start by considering an area for the dog to "keep an eye on the family" while napping or resting. A SPACE FOR NAPPING Kitchen designers have been taught to use every inch of space for storage of food stufs and other kitchen-related paraphernalia. In the future, we'll allocate foor space diferently. For multi-gener- ational families, as well as families with a beloved pet (notably if it is a large beloved pet!), we need to leave open foor space in a plan. Think about the family that has a three-year-old, as well as a teenager and perhaps an aging aunt: Leaving foor space for the 40" wide x 30" deep x 36" high playpen, or a 24"-diameter roll- around activity seat for the youngster is a good idea. Planning a seating space at the island for a mature family member to be able to be part of the cooking fun, as well as part of the conversation, is also important. Including a nearby com- puter station for the teenager will assist in adult supervision of the user's Internet activity. 62 Kitchen & Bath Design News • January 2016

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