As the world we live in becomes more complex growing numbers of people are gravitating more and more to the familiar and comforting things and places that remind them of what really matters in their lives. Where else do we experience the true togetherness of extended family and friendship as simply and with as much old fashioned wholesomeness as in our kitchens? Where is the one place in our homes where everyone can come together, cook, eat, laugh and talk but in our kitchens? Who doesn’t remember the kitchens of their mothers, grandmothers, university girlfriends and the kitchen where they first cooked a meal together with their first real grown-up love? Yet how many of us accord this room the respect and love it deserves in return? When last did we take a good long look at our kitchens and ask how well we are looking after them? After all, surely we should give something back?| Have you taken a good look at your kitchen lately? A really good look! Remember what kitchens mean to you before you do this…..they are rooms full of family, mothers, grandmothers baking apple pies and boyfriends trying to impress you with their own special brand of scrambled eggs. Kitchens are where you’ve washed baby bottles, mopped up spilt milk and laughed with your husband at the end of a long day. Kitchens are where you get together with your girlfriends over a bottle - or two - of chardonnay and delectably impractical slivers of smoked salmon and brie on a crisp ciabatta. And what about the time your son cut his foot outside and sat on the kitchen table while you kissed it better as he absorbed the smells of roast potatoes and all the trimmings? What have you done for kitchen lately?
With the demands of simply keeping pace with our working, family and social lives we seldom have the opportunity to stand still long enough to look around us, never mind at the state of the kitchen. But, if we did we would see that with a little effort we could convert our kitchens into rooms that reflected a little better the people we are and the atmosphere we enjoy most. Whether its contemporary or rustic you want you don’t have to splurge on a whole new kitchen either. A few simple adjustments and revisions can make the world of difference.
I saw this for myself a few weeks ago when I went to visit an old friend that I only get to see every few months because she’s an incredibly busy woman, with an executive job, three children, two dogs, a cat and a husband. As usual I sat down at her old battered kitchen table to chat while she carried on making a variety of smiley faces with viennas for her kids. Then suddenly I realised that the old table wasn’t battered any more and as I looked around the kitchen I could that the whole room had the same look as a woman three days after her first botox injection. It was a lighter, fresher, happier kitchen.
Graham explained that he simply got fed up with avoiding cooking because he found his own kitchen unpleasant to be in and had suddenly discovered a creative side in himself just dying to break out of the closet. Because he did so much of the work himself it really hadn't cost him that much either as he had very few labour costs and had used innovative paint techniques on his walls that looked far more expensive than they actually were. The one area he had spent a little more was in replacing all his kitchen sink fittings. It is amazing how difference new taps and plugs make as they simply take years off the kitchen sink and the sparkle of brand new stainless makes everything around it look new as well. I was even more impressed when I opened the drawers. Graham had customized wooden drawer dividers to fit all his kitchen drawers, with the result that everything was now tidy and in place and it still looked good inside the drawers.
It really is not that difficult to take a boring underexploited space and liven it up with a few simple steps that increase its appeal for everyone who uses it. Whether you opt to focus on your lighting and invest in a simple skylight, or concentrate your energies on overhauling existing fittings with sandpaper and a little paint, tile the area above your stove in interesting mosaic, or simply have a springclean that your grandmother would be proud of, we can all make out kitchens even more comforting spaces.
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