So, this was my very first kbbreview Christmas and over the break I found my mind wandering.

I'm not a natural cook, although I love food I usually prefer someone to cook it for me. So it's never really occurred to me exactly how important the kitchen is at this time of year.  

Thankfully I've never had to help with the cooking at Christmas let alone attempt the entire meal myself, and believe me my family wouldn't have it any other way. This year the difference was that I found myself looking at everything with my kbb hat on.  

Aside from the biblical story,  Christmas is all about food. The month of December, and November if you're anything like my family, is entirely dedicated to frantic supermarket shopping trips with people trying to stock up on the tons of supplies apparently needed to feed their friends and family over the festive period. It occurred to me that Christmas entertaining is the real test for any kitchen. This is the time of year when they see the most use, when people struggle to cook the biggest roast dinner of the year.  

It got me thinking, where does this holiday season factor in their design preparations, if at all? Do they think about the extra pressure the kitchen will be under and incorporate practical solutions to help ease the stress?  

I've spoken to a lot of kitchen specialists during my time on kbbreview and its clear that Christmas is apparently a huge factor when it comes to choosing a new kitchen, no matter what time of the year consumers decide to buy they are always thinking ahead about the prospect of cooking the biggest dinner of the year.  

So, if the answer to whether designers spend time considering Christmas during their design process is a little or not at all, then I can't help thinking that it would be a good place to start and could even result in making cooking Christmas dinner a far more harmonious event for most.