The middle of a room lends itself best to tasks that are social while its perimeter, to individual tasks.

Oftentimes in the Victorian era meal preparation was a shared experience; multiple staff would prepare a single meal. It is only natural that they liked working in the centre of the kitchen where their primary work surface, usually a large table, was situated.

And like them, we now like gathering around the kitchen island to chat and eat, sometimes help with the prep and socialize.

But unlike them, now that usually the meal is prepared by a single cook, we like setting our primary work surfaces around the perimeter, grouping stations of activity in relationship to appliances and the type of prep.

Fashioned slowly but fully developed in the 50’s, this layout reflects one of the first multi-tasking concepts of interior design – chop your onions while you watch your daughter doing homework or wash dishes as she plays in the garden.

What do you do while ‘prepping’ the dinner?