K is for kitchens

Source
K is for KITCHENS


For me the kitchen is the heart of the home, a place that should be inviting, warm and cosy. It also should be the classroom for our children, a place where they learn to love food and develop their cooking skills which they will one day take away with them and pass on to their children. I am not one for expensive contemporary kitchens with shiny surfaces that look like a laboratory and appear never to used for fun. I want a kitchen that looks like a family uses it every day, a place that is a safe and pleasant sanctuary for all.

If you aren't happy with your kitchen you aren't likely to feel completely comfortable working in every day.  Because we are in the kitchen every day of every year!!  And according to Nigella Lawson "make it suit you, and not the universal customer. Make it an extension of your personality."

You don't need to bring in builders to create a warm cosy kitchen with personality.  Having a kitchen rebuilt is expensive, I know, we had ours done 6 years ago.  Adding some personal touches like:
  • pot plants/herbs on the window sill
  • candles
  • colourful blinds
  • displaying your cookbooks
  • hanging some colourful mugs
  • finding some pretty potholders or tea towels
  • bowl of fruit 
  • fairy lights
  • invest in some brightly colour baking dishes or cannisters
  • even painting the kitchen a bright colour
can make all the differences and turn a dull room into something cheery and inviting

Of course, what is cosy to one person is clutter to another . . . so what I might like may not be liked by someone else.  But that is OK, as Nigella's says, the kitchen is an extension of our personality and not someone elses. 

My kitchen isn't big and once 2 or 3 people are in the kitchen it is crowd. Storage is a problem at times but it forces me to streamline what I have and not buy things I don't really need (or couldn't possibility find a home for).   I have been using up food in my pantry so I can streamline what groceries I need. With changing family size, we need less food and I have to adjust to this. 

I don't put lots on my benches as I don't have stacks of room, however I do leave my stand mixer and food processor as it leaves spare room in the cupboards for other things.

Make sure you have fun in your kitchen, it should be a place of laughter and joy with the smells of food wafting through the house.

What do you like best about your kitchen?
Source - I like this old style kitchen 

Comments

  1. I'm not a big fan of my kitchen - as is often the case with affordable rentals, it is pokey and old... However, I've done the best I can with it, and one thing that makes a kitchen extra fun is keeping it clean. There's nothing fun about thinking about going into a kitchen that is dirty or has dishes stacked up everywhere.
    And the other thing I love about my kitchen is that it still produces yummy food that pleases my family, even if it isn't my ideal kitchen!! :)

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    1. A kitchen is what you make it - if you fill it with laughter it will be happy and joyful. If you fill it with nice smells, everyone comes to check it out and that also leads to happiness!

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  2. Well kitchens are all about food so that alone makes it my least favourite room in the house but I have lots of plants in pots & jars & vases & that helps.

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    1. I assume you aren't fond of cooking!! My son wanted me to grow some herbs in the kitchen so he didn't need to walk outside, they cat would enjoy it if I did!

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  3. My favorite thing about my kitchen is my strawberry theme - which is still in the making. I have some hot pads and towels decorated with strawberries, and also I just recently replaced the plain white lace curtain with a strawberry stripe. I have two strawberry cookie jars - one for crackers and one for garlic. ;-) I also have some red items that help carry the theme without being strawberry exactly. :-)

    I started dreaming of a strawberry kitchen when I was about 11 I think, and later decided to add other berries to the mix. Someday I hope to put up some lovely wallpaper that I have which is butter yellow with mixed berries on it - very beautiful!

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    1. A strawberry theme would be lovely - I love bright colours so it would be one I would enjoy. I also love red so when choosing my stand mixer I selected deep red to add a little colour to my kitchen benches.

      I can just imagine the wall paper - hope you find it one day.

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  4. By the way, I linked to some recipes on your blog in a recent blog post on my blog. :-) I am saving this one for future reference too as I like your ideas and perspective.

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