How do you create a small modern kitchen that won’t compromise the character of a 200-year-old home?

Built in 1804, the original stone addition (the larger structure shown to the left of the greenhouse) to the Pennsylvania German working farm contained a center hallway entrance, a parlor, an office/kitchen and spring-fed larder on its first floor. The present owners, an English couple who bought the farm 25 years ago lived in the more contemporary stone house (circa late 1800s) located just across the lane until recently when it was sold. Now, they needed to prepare the 1804 home for their retirement.

About 10 years ago they had renovated the home for a tenant, installing makeshift cabinetry in the office/kitchen to serve as a kitchen/living room. After 60 years of un-heated neglect, even that job was overwhelming; patching plaster covered stone walls, cleaning exposed beams, fixing the wood flooring and installing updated utilities. Now the makeshift kitchen needed to be replaced and the room was to be re-created once more as a period styled ‘keeping’ room that would contain a modestly sized kitchen, a seating area in front of the original stone fireplace and the dining area.

Instead of installing new period styled cabinetry, the owners decided to use furniture pieces that would fit between the fireplace, two deep set windows and a door in the nine foot by fourteen foot area allocated for the new kitchen. They chose three pieces of YesterTec’s Kitchen Workstation Furniture that could conceal a refrigerator/ freezer, an existing dishwasher and a microwave from view from the ‘living’ area of the room. The existing electric range would be re-used, but concealed from view as much as possible. An antique pine pantry/cupboard would be used for dish and food storage and provide inspiration for the ‘new’ workstations.

An older, period style was accomplished by creating pieces made of pine with slate countertops and using a corner soapstone sink. A new Subzero refrigerator/freezer was concealed to the right of the fireplace in an armoire-like piece. The owner’s existing dishwasher was concealed next to the sink using YesterTec’s patented, U.L Listed pocket door system that allows any dishwasher to operate only when the doors are in the open position. The owner’s microwave was located in the island so that it could not be viewed from the sitting area. With counterspace and storage space at a premium, the deeper than normal workstations provide more usable work space than normal two-foot deep cabinetry. The additional counterspace above the island creates usable workspace within the reach zone for the cook while creating storage areas behind fluted sliding glass panels for small appliances like the coffee maker and toaster. It also is the key feature that hides the messy countertops from the living areas. The plate rack above the sink workstation provides easy access storage for everyday dishes.

YesterTec’s president, David Beer says, "The close integration of the living area and the kitchen illustrates why we created Kitchen Workstation Furniture in the first place. We are not always cooking in a room like this, so it is nice not to have the continuous cabinets and countertops and the modern appliances exposed to the seating areas. In addition, the efficiency of our workstations makes this small kitchen function very well. But most importantly, the architecture of the room remains uncompromised as the kitchen workstations are simply placed in the room, very much like the other pieces of furniture are placed in the room’s living areas."

Choosing workstation/furniture (instead of cabinetry) helped to create a comfortable, unpretentious room that will survive many design trends to come. "We are not trying to create ‘stars’ out of every piece of furniture in the room", says David. "Here, the fireplace was the star, the furniture needed to be beautiful and functional, but relatively benign."

YesterTec furniture is specially crafted to be durable, ensuring lifetime value by using the toughest finishes and construction practices available. Each piece is hand-built by seasoned craftsmen and its own numbered brass identification plaque guarantees its exclusivity.

YesterTec furniture brings character and personality to a living space. YesterTec’s Kitchen Workstation Furniture reinvents the kitchen, blending your culinary center with your living area, recreating the comforting qualities that define the heart of the home. Fixed cabinetry can be impersonal and stagnant, while freestanding kitchen furniture is interesting and makes you feel at home and relaxed.

A YesterTec kitchen is a room with a character of its own that embraces everyone who enters. Individual pieces are created with rich wood finishes and simple details so that they can intermingle with heirloom pieces and personal treasures to create an Old World style "keeping room" that functions as a state-of-the-art kitchen. Through the elimination of continuous countertops, the room’s architectural design elements, wall treatments and floor coverings unite the space and allow it to easily flow into adjoining rooms.

To create design continuity with your home, YesterTec’s 250 models of Workstations are available in a variety of styles, shapes, colors and materials. Innovative workstations include full-height ranges in the form of breakfronts or pie-safes that conceal ovens and cooktops, refrigerator/pantries and working pantries in the form of armoires and island dresser-like pieces and worktables that can contain sinks, concealed dishwashers and down-drafts cooktops. Cupboards, Secretaries and Entertainment centers help to extend a YesterTec kitchen into adjacent rooms. Ideal for new or remodeled kitchens, these freestanding workstations offer the ultimate in design freedom.

YesterTec workstations can preserve the look of real furniture while concealing the functional work and storage spaces, as well as appliances. In fact, YesterTec’s revolutionary, patented, U.L Listed technology that can safely conceal ovens, cooktops, microwaves, warming ovens and any dishwasher is AN INDUSTRY FIRST! In addition YesterTec has other models that conceal refrigerators and integrated dishwashers, and still others that can conceal small countertop appliances. YesterTec furniture is specially crafted to be durable, ensuring lifetime value by using the toughest finishes and construction practices available. Each piece is hand-built by seasoned craftsmen and its own numbered brass identification plaque guarantees its exclusivity.