Planning a new kitchen involves selecting ventilation for your cooktop. For many years, selections were limited to a variety of large overhead hoods or a down draft system that rises and lowers from the counter. The choices are still Overhead or Downdraft but the visual presence of a hood now fades into the background. The hood as the center of attention in the kitchen is no longer a given.

These kitchens all have ventilation for their cooktops, can you find the hood? The Futuro hood is called the 'Skylight' which gives a hint as to the location, way up in the ceiling. It is combined with a strong light which gives the impression that the unit is actually a type of skylight. The second picture is the Faber pull out fan, it is the tiny 2" cabinet material above the cooktop. You pull the trim forward to use the vent and tiny LED lights automatically turn on. This hood can be vented or filtered (non vented.) The third kitchen features a cooktop by Jenn Air that has a downdraft fan integrated into the actuall cooktop. It is finished in the same color and finish as the cooktop so it blends in and becomes un noticable. It does not need to go up and down, the power of the fan is strong enough to pull the odors down.

These new appliances give us more design options, letting us decide what we want to visually feature as well as what we want to hide!