A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator, and worktops and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a microwave oven, a dishwasher, and other electric appliances. The main functions of a kitchen are to store, prepare and cook food. The room or area may also be used for dining, entertaining and laundry. The design and construction of kitchens is a huge market all over the world.
An early-20th century Art Nouveau-style kitchen in Riga
The roasting spit in this European Renaissance kitchen was driven automatically by a propeller—the black cloverleaf-like structure in the upper left
Beecher's "model kitchen" brought early ergonomic principles to the home
The Frankfurt kitchen using Taylorist principles
In a building or ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure. The entrance connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors. The space is typically large enough for several people to move about. The size, fixtures, furnishings, and sometimes placement of the room within the building or ship support the activity to be conducted in it.
Neolithic room at Skara Brae, Orkney, c. 3,000 BC
Castle Howard, "Lady Georgianas' Dressing Room"
Image: Ateneul Român Sala
Image: Salle des catalogues de la Bibliotheque Mazarine Paris