A hidden surface on a track under the counter slides out to cover the opening for additional prep space when required.

Gone are the days when a hostess toiled alone behind closed doors, missing the best jokes while everybody else sat stiffly at a formal dining table in a different room. Today, guests want to combine and mingle with their hosts close to the cooking -- and hosts favor kitchens where the planning and prep feels like work and more like a party, too.

Designer Nancy Blandford, CMKBD, ASID glass partition walls . predicts for this kitchen "party central." Designed about two support columns, the large U-shaped island could be approached -- and used -- out of either side. One side is for seats, while another acts as the bar, and the other four sides are for meal prep and functioning. "This is the first time that I made a U-shaped island," Blandford says, "and I am amazed at how well it works for entertaining."

For a cook that likes company but prefers a little elbow room in a party, Sheila Tilander, CKD, CBD, made a kitchen that offers the hosts (or chefs for catered events) plenty of room for food preparation and cleanup while guests gather in the living space. Guests can rest drinks and elbows on the extended curved counter tops, or collect around the island, at the dining table or in the living area.

Entertaining on a large scale requires plenty of platters, trays and glassware that has to be useful for occasions but out of the way for ordinary meal prep. Inside this kitchen by designer Keira Burgess, ceiling-height cabinets offer lots of storage for entertaining essentials. Everything's right from the kitchen, shielded from dust and grease -- but out of the way of everyday family cooking. White cabinets onto the back wall, and nearly white Ceasarstone counters keep the room bright, while the dark-stained wood island and far china cupboard wall add a warm, inviting setting.

When a kitchen opens up to a living/dining place as trendy as the one in this New York City apartment by Andrew Suvalsky, form and function are equally significant. The long countertop Suvalsky designed for your space finishes at a wedge-shaped, wood-paneled cabinet that keeps it integrated with the kitchen whilst also inviting visitors to stand around the "wedge" as one would in a restaurant or bar. "The materials, lines, colors and tones of this kitchen are complicated," Suvalsky says, "so the kitchen combines with the flat, rather than separating itself from the appearance of the living/dining area."

To create a sense of openness with this flat kitchen, designer Andrew Suvalsky repeated the wood tones used elsewhere in the flat, punctuating them with acid-etched mirrors and gray marble. Low-back stools ensure the countertop's strong horizontal line is not disrupted, and that the distance remains open and sleek.

In spite of all the design challenges open kitchens gift, "they provide a great deal of benefits for entertaining," says Noa Santos of Homepolish, "because the cooking/dining experience is not compartmentalized." In this kitchen -- maintained open to make the apartment feel bigger -- wooden barstools give a warmth to the otherwise slick surfaces and geometric hard lines.

The owners of the kitchen by Natalia Pierce, AKBD, Ottawa chapter representative to the National Kitchen & Bath Association, desired an open space where guests could collect to enjoy fine wines and cocktail parties. The long, curved aluminum sink Pierce set up is the perfect thickness to fill with ice for chilling favorite drinks. The kitchen, with just two separate islands in which guests can imbibe and interact, additionally comprises both a wine refrigerator and a cooler for soft beverages.

The kitchen in this Oregon vineyard property turns to a public dining room on weekends. To allow for privacy when desired, and openness when desired, designer Linda Evans, CKD, set up a drop-down screen used during "wine tasting" hours to partition off the kitchen. When the homeowners would like a more open stream between the kitchen and dining/tasting bars, the screen retracts into the ceiling, a great idea for any dwelling with an open kitchen that is sometimes better left unseen.

This kitchen with Nathalie Tremblay won first place in the large kitchen category at NKBA Ontario Design Awards 2013, and it is no wonder why: The elegant layout features distinct work zones for cooking, food prep, cleaning and storage, and the aisles are extra wide for simple traffic flow. Unused space beneath the staircase has been enclosed with glass panels transformed into storage for up to 180 bottles of wine.

Designer Nathalie Tremblay included counters of varying heights to optimize prep and dining options in this great entertaining kitchen. A TV that divides into one of those countertops allows the homeowner to catch a show while dining solo or searching for a party, and may be used to entertain guests with a large sporting event or a "dinner and a movie" encounter. For parties where the TV is an undesirable distraction, the display disappears at the touch of a button.

The exact same type of "now-you-see-it-now-you-don't" flexibility makes this kitchen by Pat Ives, CKD, a cook's dream. The big eat-in space includes a Wolf microwave drawer, a massive prep sink and two remote-controlled appliance garages.

To offer extra counter space for serving big parties, the appliance garages in this kitchen retract in the granite countertop to become part of this dining/prep area that also contains a drop-in knife block and garbage pullout. Design by Pat Ives, CKD

To make this little apartment kitchen more celebration friendly, designer Solange Boice, CKD, utilized every inch of storage area possible and made work surfaces in unexpected places, including this pullout counter near the oven, which may be employed to cool foods or as an excess buffet surface. "Allowing guests to be part of this activity, serving themselves remaining near enough that they can help if needed, makes the home more inviting and the celebration more fun," states Boice.

This kitchen, made by architect Kurt Worthington and interior designer Susan Diana Harris, welcomes guests of all ages. Children have room to roam (or operate) around on the open floor, while adults gather around the staircase or in a custom teak table (not shown). The U-shaped counters offer plenty of surfaces for gifts, food and wine, while the counter-height island permits for buffets plus a dining or cocktail area. Layers of pendant light and playful ceiling heights create the ideal ambiance for pretty much any event.

This home's owners like their parties big, and they like 'em boisterous. To adapt the merriment, Synergy Design & Construction removed a large portion of an exterior brick wall to reveal a sweeping view of your garden. This enabled the designers to re-orient the management of the island, providing simple traffic flow from the adjoining dining room. An eight-burner cooker offers lots of cook area while a warming drawer keeps food hot and ready.

With five children of their own as many as 75 guests of all ages over a normal weekend, the homeowners wanted a kid-friendly celebration kitchen and they got it, due to lots of crowd-pleasing features contained by designer Angela Cherry Courtalis. A mini fridge, convenient to guests of heights, stores individual drinks so tiny guests don't need to wrestle with two-liter bottles or spill tacky soda throughout the counters and floors. A wellness TV is large enough over the fridge that football fans can view every single play, even if someone is grabbing another drink.

Even kids have no excuse for leaving their garbage out after ingestion, thanks to the handy open-top crap compartment. A hidden surface on a track under the counter slides out to cover the opening for additional prep space when required. Layout by Angela Cherry Courtalis

Sometimes what is away from the kitchen is almost as important as what's inside. In this sinuous kitchen, the lake views are a highlight of any gathering. To take whole advantage of the vistas day and night, designers Tim Scott and Erica Westeroth, CKD, NCIDQ, of XTC Layout, installed layers of illumination, including pendants, pot lights and recessed lighting at the base cabinets' toe kick. The room's overall layout is open, but not entirely exposed to any clutter created from the kitchen during cooking.

Massive windows around the perimeter of this efficient two-island kitchen with Linda Evans, CKD, also make it a pleasant place to get ready for a celebration -- and a beautiful place for mingling too. The round red standing bar is a focal point and conversation piece for guests while additional pops of red throughout the space add interest and drama.

A peninsula adjacent to the patio doors makes indoor/outdoor entertaining a snap within this kitchen by Ryan Christenson of Remodel Works Bath and Kitchen. The counter area can be used as a buffet or as a place to keep burgers out of sunlight till they go on the grill. White cabinets keep this kitchen bright and bright while watery green subway tile provides a splash of color.

Designer Linda Evans, CKD, knocked out a number of walls and installed big French doors to the back deck to provide this narrow townhouse kitchen a much better flow for entertaining. During parties, guests can sit in the living area in the front of the house, mingle at one of two pubs in the kitchen, "or," Evans says "be stopped in their way outside and asked by the cook to take out something out to the deck." Hmmm? 2 bars, a rear deck and a feeling where everybody pitches in? Sounds like our kind of party!