The Joy of Cooking

Thank the rise of today's celebrity chef for reigniting North America's love of cooking at home. The secret to creating your own masterpieces: A well-equipped kitchen, of course, one that marries function with fashion. Add a healthy serving of passion - and generous counter space - and you have a kitchen tailor-made for any aspiring chef.

Dream Appliances

• Start with serious appliances in a stainless finish for a professional look. Choose a fridge with an automatic icemaker and water dispenser, and look for extras like wine storage and tilt-out freezer drawers.
• Induction cooktops are energy-efficient, relatively easy to clean and less dangerous than conventional stoves because there is no flame; only the pan or pot becomes hot.
• Double ovens let you cook dishes concurrently so you can get a jump on dessert while the main course simmers.
• Wine coolers provide a customized storage temperature for favourite vintages - oenophiles can look for models with digital temperature display and tinted UV glass.
• Those who love to entertain appreciate how handy a warming drawer is for keeping plated food piping-hot - an essential for any detail-oriented home chef.
• Energy-efficient dishwashers with a steam cycle blast dirt away from dishes and save on water while doing it. Steam cycles are typically shorter but they also take less water to create the steam in the first place.

  Party hosts also love the steam cycle for its ability to clean fine china gently and with gusto.

Water World

• Serious chefs wouldn't consider anything less than the versatility of a double sink. It allows your resident sous-chef to work with you side by side, and the second drain can accommodate garbage disposal. While veggies get scrubbed, pots and pans can be stacked in the second sink for easier clean up.
• Small prep sinks are typically placed on a kitchen island or bar countertop. They're handy for preparing bar drinks or salads.
• Pot fillers are faucets installed above the stove to bring cold water where you need it, without having to lug heavy pots over from the sink for filling. They're also an accessory that says you take your cooking seriously.
• A pull-out faucet with spray wand is a kitchen essential, and newer versions have touch sensors that allow you turn water on or off with a tap of the wrist or arm when hands are covered in flour.

Little Luxuries

• Storage organizers such as wire tray dividers for baking sheets and cutting boards, spice drawer inserts, knife inserts, lazy susans, and slide-out storage baskets all make kitchen life easier. Max out your space with glass cutting boards designed to fit overtop some sink models.
• Create task-specific areas with cabinetry, for example a coffee station or cocktail bar, or use built-in shelves to house a library for cherished cookbooks or to create space to set up a laptop to surf the Net for recipes.

Light Conversation

As with every room, the kitchen benefits from a range of lighting to suit different purposes and activities.

• Focused task lighting is crucial over workspaces. Multiple pendants above an island, and under-cabinet lights, such as halogen pucks, dispel shadows when slicing and dicing.

• Ambient lighting makes the space feel welcoming and draws people into the kitchen. Flush-mounted ceiling fixtures, adjustable track lighting or pendants all create this warm, inviting glow.

Culinary skills aside, great cooks know that the best parties end up in the kitchen. All the more reason to invest in just the right components that make this room a model of efficiency and high-style, one that can be appreciated as one lingers at the counter with a glass of wine and good friends long after the dinner party officially ends.