I came across this charming little place on the interwebs a few months ago – it’s in a home converted from a turn of the century store in Port Melbourne, Australia. Everything looks as though it has been well-loved for generations. The kitchen almost looks as if they made that peninsula out of orange crates, doesn’t it? I only wish we could see a little more of it:
Charming kitchen with a home-made look
The bathroom is rich in original features and quirky charm, too:
The tub is equally dilapidated
Still south of the Equator, this time a Victorian country home in South Africa, with a kitchen that looks as if it could have catered to generations of the same family: (via Frank Features)
Well worn and well loved
Plenty of character
I always want to know what kind of stories rooms like this could tell – though I do wonder where exactly the line falls between old and inconvenient on one hand, and charmingly characterful on the other!
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I’m sure I’ve told you too many times that I’ve been lucky enough to meet design hero Johnny Grey recently, and to attend his lecture on the “Post-Culinary Kitchen”. The lecture contained such a wealth of ideas, it could keep me busy with blog-posts (and design inspiration) for months to come. One of the most fundamental things the lecture and discussion touched on was the difficulty most of us experience in getting our clients (and ourselves) beyond the details of appliances, cabinet styles, materials, and colors, to arrive at the essence of what we really want from a kitchen. Johnny had a really valuable suggestion, that we should look right back to childhood, to where our images of comfort originate – probably not in kitchens themselves, but in the interior landscapes of the pictures and stories that were important to us then. One obvious inspiration is the rounded shape and earthy comfort of a hobbit dwelling:
The stuff of childhood dreams - a hobbit house
For me, I think it would be a Romany caravan – as small children, my sister and I used to use pillows and bedspreads to transform our big chest of drawers into one on a regular basis:
A Gipsy Caravan
Comfort and adventure in a single package
Perhaps a little thatched cottage – so long as it is not occupied by a wicked, child-eating witch:
Thatched cottage at Merthyr Mawr
Or even the Captain’s cabin of a sailing ship:
The Captain's Quarters
It’s not hard to see just how far from this deeply rooted sense of comfort most hard-edged, shiny-surfaced, modern kitchens really are – and how the “soft geometries” and rich materials of Johnny Grey’s designs relate directly to that sense. What child, or adult, for that matter, could resist this window seat? It is close to the action, but separate enough to make the perfect reading or day-dreaming retreat:
Rounded shapes, and a window seat to retreat to (Image Johnny Grey Studios)
The playful colors and shapes here are a child’s fantasy grown-up and made real – and of course, the fact that this is actually on a boat doesn’t hurt, either:
Playful colors and shapes - soft geometry (Image Johnny Grey Studios)
What do you think – have we gone too much in the direction of streamlined efficiency in most of our kitchens today, pushing playfulness and comfort right out? What would be the inspiration behind the kitchen of your childhood dreams?
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Today’s kitchen collection is all about comfortable, rustic style. Maybe we can’t all live in a converted farm building, but we can certainly pretend we do. I just love this combination of well-used copper, weathered wood, and functional stainless steel:
via atticmag.com
Then we have the beams, and the island, to die for – nothing matches? It’s just not meant to. And hanging a Murano glass chandelier in a barn is too perfect (via BrookeGiannetti):
Photo Architectural Digest
This Johnny Grey Studios kitchen echoes the barn aesthetic without actually being a barn at all – nobody does an unfitted kitchen like Johnny Grey. I don’t think anybody can do circles like Johnny Grey, either: (via)
Johny Grey Studios via housetohome
Now we have a contemporary kitchen, tucked into an all-cleaned-up rustic space – a nice combination, it becomes more loft than barn:
via style-files
The big trash can is handsome, but it might be just a little in the way here!
via style-files
This kitchen is a nice mixture of old and new – I’m loving the flagstones, and I’m always a sucker for a kitchen table:
photo Ray Main
This is the exterior of a refurbished stone barn in Galway, Ireland
Mark Guard Architects
and this is the kitchen it contains, apparently making no concessions at all to its rustic setting – this might as well be in a city condo, don’t you think?
Mark Guard Architects
I’ll admit, it is possible to have too much genuine rustic character, as in this candid shot from The Selby. But if you are lucky enough to live in a barn, why not enjoy it just a little bit?
Plenty of character, via The Selby
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Isn’t this a delicious white kitchen? And that sofa looks so inviting – the one red cushion is masterful. A great example of clean contemporary design working in an older home. (Just look at the thickness of the walls, and the sash window). But is there something about the perspective, or is that restaurant style faucet nearly touching the ceiling? I think I would have picked a slightly smaller one for this particular kitchen.
via filmlocations.co.uk
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Call me a curmudgeon if you will, but often in this busy season I’d like nothing better than to pack up my nearest and dearest and escape to some remote location – as far as possible from shops, discounts, special offers, holiday sales, the lot. This Scottish croft is the kind of thing I have in mind (via)
A place to escape to
Just look at all that sky! In my escape fantasy, we’d spend the short winter days taking long, bracing hikes, and the long evenings in front of a roaring fire, enjoying comfort food prepared in the simple but beautifully equipped kitchen:
Kitchen Sink
Kitchen Door
Inviting and simple
We’d spend our TV and electronic-free evenings playing traditional board games, and no doubt we’d have to spend some time getting to know some rare single malt whiskies, too ….. Sounds good to me – what would be your escape fantasy?
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Definitely not for minimalists, the use of color in this kitchen is absolutely fearless. You’d just have to be happy in this space, wouldn’t you?
Persiljas Hus
Since there’s enough color here for about 15 of the sophisticated, white, Scandinavian kitchens we so often see, I’m going to let this one stand on its own. (link)
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I came across this Cotswold cottage kitchen on Remodelista today. Here’s the cottage, to set the mood:
Cotswold Cottage via Light Locations
And here, the cottage’s kitchen:
Cotswold Cottage, Light Locations via Remodelista
This is what Remodelista has to say about it:
A simple recipe for a serene kitchen: Carrara marble counters, white subway tiles, rustic timber cabinets, and plenty of white crockery. And to add a note of modernity: metallic Artemide lights.
Oh, really? Does that kitchen look serene to you? Multiple levels of open shelves in a variety of depths, thicknesses, and materials, a flock of high-tech lamps erupting from the wall at about eye-level, rustic grainy cabinets, beadboard, beamed ceiling – it’s a lot of things, but to me, serene is not one of them.
Now, I agree – white subway tiles and Carrara marble can be serene. Y’know I think that’s been done a few times, here and there:
Dianne Keaton's Kitchen via AD
Victoria Hagan's Kitchen via AD
Here's one I posted earlier ...
White marble and subway tile can be serene
And what about that so-called simple recipe to : “Steal this Look” ? I think if you really want to steal this look, you first need to get a centuries old Cotswold stone cottage (or look-alike) with walls a yard thick, exposed beams, and plenty of original character. Then take each of your favorite design trends from the last few years and put them all together in the kitchen. Stir.
What’s your opinion? Is this eclectic and individual? Or is it a trendy muddle?
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