The kitchen Country Home magazine created for the 2006 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show is all about quality time. Imagine your gal pals gathering in front of the hearth while you dish up an easy meal—never missing a beat of the conversation. It’s all possible in this reimagined design with its circular, open plan that plays to the kitchen’s role as the heart of the home.

Our design team wanted to create a room that literally explored that concept. Architect Kate Johns explains, “The idea of the circle came out of the themes of the knitting circle, family circle, circle of life. The circle is a powerful classical shape and most appropriate for a kitchen, the center of our homes, around which all our lives revolve.” In this show kitchen, you still get the trophy refrigerator and smooth-as-silk countertops. Plus lots of clever extras, such as pull-out wall-pocket units to stash all your hobby and craft supplies.