Kitchen 'command center' helps keep non-kitchen duties in order

St. Petersburg kitchen and bath designer Paul Anater warns his clients not to build a kitchen desk, because too often they become an unused repository for junk. But he acknowledges the need for a place to get non-kitchen duties done in the room most people consider the heart of the household.

"I almost always build a command center into a kitchen," he wrote on KitchenandResidentialDesign.com. "There has to be a landing zone, a place to charge phones, a place to set mail, a place to work on a laptop. My goal is always to make my clients' lives easier, more efficient and more orderly."

As an alternative, homeowners might consider adding an extension to their countertops that can serve as an all-purpose home center. Children can use it to get their homework done, while adults can set it up as their bill-paying area. When more room is needed for kitchen duties, office supplies can be whisked into a drawer installed under the countertop.


If the extension is in the line of sunlight from nearby windows, any glare on a computer screen or paperwork can be minimized by installing solar shades or solar blinds that glare onto television and computer screens, while maintaining visibility of outside views.