Thinking about the kitchen....

(re-post)

The definition of a kitchen in the dictionary is "a room where food is prepared";  I would add to that where the food is also stored and eaten. 

Does it have to be a room in the sense of being partially or fully separate from the rest of the house.
(I am going to leave off question marks: these are meant more as queries for speculation than questions expecting  an immediate answer;  queries to inspire some creative,  enjoyable ideas.)

Could  a kitchen share space with another area that requires running water -  like the bathroom.  (My home has the toilet in one room with basin and bathtub in  another room ; the addition of  an old metal garden rocking chair with two looped rugs for comfortable seating,  a folding  canvas  stool  that doubles as table or footrest, books and knitting,  a window,  have made this 'wash' room a reading/studio  as well,  so it  is not  unusual  to bring food here.) 

With light and air being so important for healthy living but most walls and windows being lined with counter, sink, stove, cupboards - could these be regrouped so that the full benefit of light and air is focused upon.

Why are appliances the size and shape they are.  Many years ago  I read that most counters are a height to conform to the average 5'2" housewife of the Fifties and this awareness led us,  in more than one house renovation,  to raise  the counter six inches which made a difference to comfort;  this got me thinking, now,  about appliances and how, perhaps, their design is outdated.   Once I had a stainless steel stove with the oven on top, the storage below inside a door with swivel-out shelves and - this was just too cool - two burners that pulled out to reveal two more burners should four be needed. This was back in Toronto more than twenty years ago and the stove had been discovered in a used appliance store so it was not at all new.  I've never seen one like it since.  But  an oven at eye-level made so much sense visually and physically.  And the stove itself was so unusual in appearance that you just couldn't take it for granted;  it was definitely a conversation piece.

How come we stand up to cook,  prepare the food,  wash up afterward.  What would it be like to sit - or lean - while doing this.  I find eating with my legs outstretched is relaxing and this has got to benefit digestion;  a simple fold-out stool under the table is nifty for this;  a lounger with a swivel tray outdoors is even niftier:  I've lived in countries with outdoor kitchens and these are my preference.

Would a kitchen as the centre of a house with other activities open to it be as pleasant as recent 'talk' on the subject seems to suggest.  Would someone on the computer or watching television or reading a book or doing homework or sewing/knitting/weaving or talking on the phone or napping/sleeping  - want to be able to see and hear,  and be seen and heard by,  someone making a meal.  Would people in food preparation want to see and hear etc.   Food for thought........

What if a kitchen was simplified so that you could see everything in it -  the food, the  utensils, the dishes - and  everything  was used regularly.  When the kids were small we used twelve inch deep bookshelf units for cupboards and took the doors off the under-counter cupboards.  The memory of the  efficiency and ease of use, the satisfaction of seeing dishes and foodstuff,  has stayed with me and I tend to remove cupboard doors still.  People do ask - "Don't things get dusty?"  Well, they do if they are 'stored' but if they are 'used' - no. 

Meaning,  in a kitchen,  as in all parts of the home,  is something worth fostering for contented living.  Sure,  kid's art work and notes on the frig and tea towel gifts from a friend's trip to France and flowers from the garden and a book or two to discuss with someone at the next meal....things like that.  But incorporating personality into the actual fixtures goes a long way in making that statement of individuality.   My favourite countertop  was in our  Arts and Crafts house and constructed from old pine planks removed from a home down the block which a friend was renovating but not restoring. 
We sanded them lightly to smooth the wood but not lose the patina and then finished them with urethane.  They glowed!  They were 'warm' to the sight and the touch.  They 'spoke' of their origins.  The photo above is of that counter. (click on photo to enlarge)

I've seen handmade tiles, created by a family member, used in the back splash of a sink - a permanent gallery for the artwork.  Also in the photo above are three pieces of a stained glass window  rescued from the 'rubbish' at a heritage house demolition.  A tin ceiling, another rescue, this time from an old store, travelled with us (heavily! in stacks of two-foot squares)  until we found a spot for it.

Light switches - or walls, table tops, curtains...- that have been stamped with offerings from the garden (paint the leaf or fern or grass blades with acrylic paint, lay on surface, cover with paper towel, roll gently with rolling pin or round bottle, carefully remove paper towel and let dry) are another way of adding a signature.

'Wear' a home like a well-chosen, well-loved garment.

 

The definition of a kitchen in the dictionary is "a room where food is prepared";  I would add to that where the food is also stored and eaten. 

Does it have to be a room in the sense of being partially or fully separate from the rest of the house.
(I am going to leave off question marks: these are meant more as queries for speculation than questions expecting  an immediate answer;  queries to inspire some creative,  enjoyable ideas.)

Could  a kitchen share space with another area that requires running water -  like the bathroom.  (My home has the toilet in one room with basin and bathtub in  another room ; the addition of  an old metal garden rocking chair with two looped rugs for comfortable seating,  a folding  canvas  stool  that doubles as table or footrest, books and knitting,  a window,  have made this 'wash' room a reading/studio  as well,  so it  is not  unusual  to bring food here.) 

With light and air being so important for healthy living but most walls and windows being lined with counter, sink, stove, cupboards - could these be regrouped so that the full benefit of light and air is focused upon.

Why are appliances the size and shape they are.  Many years ago  I read that most counters are a height to conform to the average 5'2" housewife of the Fifties and this awareness led us,  in more than one house renovation,  to raise  the counter six inches which made a difference to comfort;  this got me thinking, now,  about appliances and how, perhaps, their design is outdated.   Once I had a stainless steel stove with the oven on top, the storage below inside a door with swivel-out shelves and - this was just too cool - two burners that pulled out to reveal two more burners should four be needed. This was back in Toronto more than twenty years ago and the stove had been discovered in a used appliance store so it was not at all new.  I've never seen one like it since.  But  an oven at eye-level made so much sense visually and physically.  And the stove itself was so unusual in appearance that you just couldn't take it for granted;  it was definitely a conversation piece.

How come we stand up to cook,  prepare the food,  wash up afterward.  What would it be like to sit - or lean - while doing this.  I find eating with my legs outstretched is relaxing and this has got to benefit digestion;  a simple fold-out stool under the table is nifty for this;  a lounger with a swivel tray outdoors is even niftier:  I've lived in countries with outdoor kitchens and these are my preference.

Would a kitchen as the centre of a house with other activities open to it be as pleasant as recent 'talk' on the subject seems to suggest.  Would someone on the computer or watching television or reading a book or doing homework or sewing/knitting/weaving or talking on the phone or napping/sleeping  - want to be able to see and hear,  and be seen and heard by,  someone making a meal.  Would people in food preparation want to see and hear etc.   Food for thought........

What if a kitchen was simplified so that you could see everything in it -  the food, the  utensils, the dishes - and  everything  was used regularly.  When the kids were small we used twelve inch deep bookshelf units for cupboards and took the doors off the under-counter cupboards.  The memory of the  efficiency and ease of use, the satisfaction of seeing dishes and foodstuff,  has stayed with me and I tend to remove cupboard doors still.  People do ask - "Don't things get dusty?"  Well, they do if they are 'stored' but if they are 'used' - no. 

Meaning,  in a kitchen,  as in all parts of the home,  is something worth fostering for contented living.  Sure,  kid's art work and notes on the frig and tea towel gifts from a friend's trip to France and flowers from the garden and a book or two to discuss with someone at the next meal....things like that.  But incorporating personality into the actual fixtures goes a long way in making that statement of individuality.   My favourite countertop  was in our  Arts and Crafts house and constructed from old pine planks removed from a home down the block which a friend was renovating but not restoring. 
We sanded them lightly to smooth the wood but not lose the patina and then finished them with urethane.  They glowed!  They were 'warm' to the sight and the touch.  They 'spoke' of their origins.  The photo above is of that counter. (click on photo to enlarge)

I've seen handmade tiles, created by a family member, used in the back splash of a sink - a permanent gallery for the artwork.  Also in the photo above are three pieces of a stained glass window  rescued from the 'rubbish' at a heritage house demolition.  A tin ceiling, another rescue, this time from an old store, travelled with us (heavily! in stacks of two-foot squares)  until we found a spot for it.

Light switches - or walls, table tops, curtains...- that have been stamped with offerings from the garden (paint the leaf or fern or grass blades with acrylic paint, lay on surface, cover with paper towel, roll gently with rolling pin or round bottle, carefully remove paper towel and let dry) are another way of adding a signature.

'Wear' a home like a well-chosen, well-loved garment.