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Original poster

'Back kitchen' - WTAF?

102 replies

Devora · 13/12/2015 16:01

The Jan issue of Real Homes has a feature on trends for 2016. Apparently the newest thing is a 'back' kitchen, where you can do, um, all that stuff that needs to be done in actual kitchens.

Here's a quote from the founder of Architect Your Home: "Kitchens have become an integral part of family/living/dining spaces and, as such, have had to become more stylish. While appliances are more elegant than ever, more functional designs can be hidden in a pantry or back kitchen... The danger in creating an extra room like this is that it could undermine the open-plan feel of the kitchen-diner. To avoid this, keep it simple in form and away from views through or out of the house, so as not to interfere with your main space."

Moving between two kitchens every time you cook is not going to be at all annoying, obviously. So I guess over time you do all your kitchen work in the back kitchen, leaving your front version an a very expensive accessory, a fantasy kitchen!

Own up, MNetters, has anybody got a back kitchen?

Oh, the other trend is TWO islands - anyone gone that route?

OP posts:

Sansoora · 13/12/2015 17:57

Right, we're all over to Sansoora's for New Year's smile

That sounds great

One of my very close friends is someone I met on an autism forum years and years ago. She was giving up smoking and her husband said - oh we'll do x y and z with the money and she said 'Eh"? So I said to her use the money to come and visit me, and she did. A complete stranger off the internet. We've been together ever since so to speak and we go on holiday together every year so she can spend her fag money

I had to go up to her at the airport and say 'are you ........'

Sansoora · 13/12/2015 17:58

I am Derxa

Are you?

derxa · 13/12/2015 18:27

Yes *Sansoora. It was one of my granny's words

SeamstressfromTreacleMineRoad · 13/12/2015 22:18

I grew up in a terraced house in the Black Country. We had a Front Room - kept for high days and holidays (e.g. Christmas) and for visitors, a Back Kitchen - where we actually lived and where food preparation and eating took place and a kitchen - which had been the brewhouse until my Grandad covered in the yard between the main house and this building - where there was the sink, the cooker, the mangle and a large scrubbed table used for 'dirty' work such as cleaning shoes.
Until my Mum and Dad married and moved in with my Grandparents, the loo had been outside - but Grandad had a bathroom built beyond the Kitchen, so that we had an indoor loo, a bath with running hot water - and a gas fire to warm the room in winter . No handbasin - everyone washed at the stone sink in the kitchen and had a bath once a week. All clothes washing was also done in this sink - with whites boiled in a copper on the gas stove... Blimey, I've read that back and I now feel very, very old.....

IrritableBitchSyndrome · 13/12/2015 22:25

Ooh, I was thinking.. haha... like we could afford a second kitchen but actually, we almost do have a back kitchen. Our laundry stuff and freezer are in the garage so if we had a big sink out there (would love this for cleaning pet dishes, boots etc) it would nearly be a back kitchen. Feel much posher now

Cabbagesandcustard · 13/12/2015 22:36

My grandmother had a tiny room she called the scullery, with all the kitchen essentials crammed into one room about the size of a walk-in wardrobe. Sink, drainer, oven, hob, kettle, washing machine. Then there was the kitchen next door, which was more a place to eat, plus home to the fridge. No worksurface anywhere except the kitchen table. The amazing food that came out of that house though... I don't know how she did it.

TurduckenForDinner · 13/12/2015 22:43

I think it would be quite useful to have a bigger utility room and use it for things that don't need to be attended to, like a bread maker or rice cooker. I would still do all the prep and cooking in the kitchen (because I don't have anyone that I want to impress with a stunning kitchen) but I wouldn't be using counter space for things that don't need my attention.

IrenetheQuaint · 13/12/2015 22:44

My grandparents had a scullery! It had the boiler, washing machine, a butler's sink for scrubbing things, packet food storage, etc. Not a word one hears any more; this thread has taken me right back.

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 13/12/2015 22:53

When we bought this house a year ago it had a relatively small kitchen with Aga, built in oven, domino hob, integrated dishwasher and fridge, space for a washing machine, sink and a few units. The freezer (still here when we completed ) is in the cellar accessed off the kitchen. All well and good, but not a patch on the 36' kitchen/breakfast room (extended by us) we'd left behind, so we had already formulated plans to turn one of the three reception rooms here into a new kitchen.

We're part way through doing this (DIY), so currently we have two kitchens with the hall separating them. Our intention is to retain certain things - dishwasher, washing machine, second fridge or freezer - in the old kitchen so it becomes a utility, but also to do all washing up there (some of our crockery and all cutlery doesn't go in the d/w) as well as things like deep frying stuff, microwaving etc. We have a large free-standing dresser for additional plates and larder cupboard that will be in there too. The dogs also sleep and get fed there. We initially planned to keep the Aga but actually decided it would rarely get used once we had relocated to the new kitchen complete with bertazzoni range cooker , so it's gone.

The new kitchen - whilst certainly not a glossy, handleless type (not our style) - will definitely be used for preparing meals, baking etc, and has range cooker, our Smeg fridge freezer, double Belfast sink, island and loads of drawers, but as it's big enough to eat in and has a sofa etc, I want to keep the messy/less attractive stuff out of the way when entertaining.

So, whilst not intentionally aiming for two kitchens I guess we'll end up with a kind of utility/butler's pantry/larder/back kitchen hybrid!

RustyBear · 13/12/2015 22:54

My grandparents had a back kitchen, in a terraced house so far from being posh it had an outside 'toilet' which was still a bench with a hole and bucket in the early 60’s.
The back kitchen seemed to be used for 'dirty' jobs like scrubbing potatoes, cleaning shoes, washing up and the front one was where my grandparents cooked and ate.

DramaQueen38 · 14/12/2015 00:24

We have a back kitchen - I love it. It has a butlers sink for cleaning rugby boots, a big fridge (for booze), extra freezer and pantry storage. Basically a place to leave dirty pans to soak overnight!!

CalmYoBadSelf · 14/12/2015 00:36

Our Blanche has described exactly the way my grandparents house in Liverpool was: the parlour, the kitchen (which was actually a living/dining room), the back kitchen (where the preparation and cooking was done). Incidentally the back kitchen had a "geyser" which was a wall mounted beast of a water heater and the top lifted off one work surface to reveal the bath! Beyond the back kitchen was the yard and, at the bottom of it, the coal shed and the loo.

My house has no utility room or back kitchen and I am now yearning for one!

OurBlanche · 14/12/2015 11:17

Oh! I had forgotten the geyser!

My Nana's had a tin bath hanging from a nail on the wall I remember well the stand up baths and pouring over of hot water... and the shouts of "Get the fuck out" if the door was opened, which it always was as it was the only way to get to the loo at the bottom of the yard.

wallywobbles · 14/12/2015 12:51

The French call it a back kitchen. Ours is just the equivalent of a storage space for jams, kitchen roll, freezers and the like, but it's bloody miles from the kitchen. The French do not do larders of any description nor airing cupboards). I cannot understand it - after 20 years here I'm no wiser. I suppose it's to do with the notion of buying fresh food more often or something.

wallywobbles · 14/12/2015 12:53

My French DP (45) only got any sort of a bathroom when he was 15 - the cowshed got the hot water before the house. Bathed in the kitchen in a tin bath. Your bits visible to anyone who came knocking.

StoptheRavelry · 14/12/2015 12:56

I agree it's a scullery. It was a good idea in the old days and it's still a good idea now. (We haven't got one!)

notafanofwinter · 14/12/2015 12:56

Ive got a very old microwave in my utility room. along with hundreds of jam jars and boxes of dog food.
Have I really got a back kitchen?

grannycake · 14/12/2015 12:57

Showing my age here but the kitchen in my childhood home was always known as the back kitchen - cooker, sink, fridge. The room we lived in was called the kitchen - this had a dining table, easy chairs and sideboard (and a piano). And the room nobody ever used except for Christmas was the front room - three piece suite. We also had a middle room which was never, ever used!

ouryve · 14/12/2015 12:57

My understanding has always been that "back kitchen" is simply the room at the back of the house where cooking happens. That's my northern working class background, speaking, too.

It obviously has different meanings to people depending on your ancestry!

ouryve · 14/12/2015 12:59

And, of course, old fashioned workers terraces were back kitchen and front sitting room. Life generally revolved around the back kitchen to save lighting 2 fires.

kelper · 14/12/2015 12:59

I'd love a separate room in my house for doing stuff, I have an open plan house which I HATE because there's nowhere to hide, so I would love a back kitchen!!

Asteria36 · 14/12/2015 13:02

I grew up with a back kitchen, which was basically what is known as a utility room now. We also had a pantry (with marble shelves and a window that was always open to keep it cool), a sitting room and a drawing room (not a snug/family room and a lounge/living room).
I blame estate agents, the new names for all those rooms make my teeth itch!

DixieNormas · 14/12/2015 13:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DickDewy · 14/12/2015 23:24

My parents refer to their utility room as a back kitchen.

It's just a large room with washing machine, tumble dryer and a walk in coat/shoe cupboard. They also keep stockpiles of booze in there.

lugo40 · 15/12/2015 07:20

We live in a 1890s house which traditionally had a kitchen which is very small (galley utility) with a morning room attached which is a good size but small compared to the living and dining room and it has a huge fireplace and huge understands cupboard. Our instant thought was turn the morning room into the kitchen and the kitchen into utility but maybe the old way is best. Small hidden out the way kitchen and then use the morning room as a show kitchen with nothing major in it but a table chairs and a range.... I think most people would prefer a big open plan extension but maybe eventually this will will be coming back in fashion!!

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