Simple Ways to Love Your Kitchen Again
There is nothing more enjoyable than a lovely meal at one of our Coast’s fine dining establishments. A meal prepared just right, paired with a favorite glass of relaxation, is just about one of life’s finest delights. Having someone else shop, chop, and cook a delectable meal for you is downright heavenly.
But eating out every night is not possible. There are schedules to coordinate, budgets to adhere to, and just not enough time some nights to savor a five star meal. Frankly, part of what makes dining out so special is because it does not happen every night. Most nights, we are at home in the kitchen and doing our best to get everyone fed.
And let’s admit it, a lot of us still love to cook. We like to roam through cookbooks or online sites for new dishes. We love to experiment with new flavors, and we work at making our food taste good and look good. The kitchen is our place to take a breath, sift through our thoughts, and let the fragrances of family favorites wash over us, reminding us of the kitchens we grew up in. It is a place we pull out the cooking tips and tricks passed down to us by a relative in an apron. They taught us that a well-stocked, well-organized kitchen is a sign of real prosperity. We still believe it.
If you have been dreaming of the kitchen you deserve, make some changes that make a difference in how much you enjoy it. A little but impactful improvement is to add pull out shelves or drawers to lower cabinets. Wire drawers can be found for most standard bases and are easy to install. If it is time to replace cabinets, add drawers everywhere you can. There is no reason to have to bend down and reach into a deep cabinet. Everything can go into drawers. Even spices are much easier to organize in a drawer.
There is cabinet equipment designed to store specific small appliances that are worth the price. If you have a stand mixer you rarely use because it is so heavy to pull out of the cabinet, there is a solution for that. A pot filler over your stove, better lighting, and a new island or just a new surface on your island can add elegance and ease to your kitchen.
Some older homes still have a built in desk or cabinet separated by an appliance, often a refrigerator. It is time to redo that area and create a larder or small pantry. Old desks can be replaced by a free standing piece of furniture or a new cabinet pantry. Or keep the desk but make it more relevant to your lifestyle by creating a coffee bar or a drink bar that is accessible to everyone and keeps appliances off your countertops.
Cleaner lines and less clutter in the kitchen are on everyone’s wish list. If your home has the space and your budget has some room, a butler’s pantry or a scullery is the pinnacle of home design for the modern cook. These spaces have historical origins and have faded away from home design in the last century, but they are making a comeback.
Let us differentiate between these. A scullery is a smaller kitchen used for food preparation and clean up, so the main kitchen stays clean. This is where dirty dishes are hidden away from guests, and pots and pans are washed. Think of it as a utility room. A butler’s pantry is used for storing dishes, entertaining essentials, and small appliances. Food and baking supplies are often kept here as well. Food is cooked in the main kitchen, but the butler’s pantry provides extra space for serving preparation.
A third, less known space, is a spice kitchen. Several years ago, we worked with clients from Vietnam that wanted a small space for cooking near the kitchen, but space that could be completely closed off with its own ventilation system. All of us can relate to the comfort of cooking with fragrant spices and not having to smell our food days later. There are many households, that grill certain foods, like fish and barbecue, outside to keep the smell out of the house. We guess you could call these outdoor kitchens, spice kitchens!
The bottom line is this: we spend a lot of time in our kitchens. We deserve to enjoy being and working in that space. Clean off the counter tops, invest in some storage options that will allow you more room and convenience, and maybe start adding to your cookbook collection again. But keep the reservation number of your favorite restaurant handy just in case you decide to close the kitchen for an evening.
Holly Harrison has been a licensed interior designer for over 35 years. Shannon Stage has spent nearly 20 years in the giftware industry. Together they own Sassy Bird Interiors in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Sassy Bird Interiors
211 Main St., Bay St. Louis
228.344.3181
www.sassybirdinteriors.com
