It’s not an understatement to say that the kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s where we feed ourselves both literally and also figuratively if you find cooking to be meditative, relaxing and a way to nourish relationships.
During this time of year when I find myself spending a large portion of time in the kitchen cooking for Thanksgiving, making Christmas cookies/treats and then Christmas day - breakfast/lunch/dinner, I admit I start to pout a bit. I began to daydream about my ideal kitchen while standing in my miniscule galley kitchen shoo-ing everyone away because only one person can sanely function in the space one at a time. With that said, I’m grateful for our petite Parisian kitchen - especially for the window that opens up into our courtyard where the waft of the fire-burning scent from the lovely restaurant below makes it way into our apartment. But it’s a far cry from the spacious cuisine of my dreams, but…Paris problems. I don’t need two islands (which I have never understood this design concept for a family home) or two dishwashers (although I can see the efficiency of dual dishwashers for large families) nor do I need a built-in coffee-maker. All I’m asking for is adequate storage and counter space, but most of all a table IN the kitchen.
If you have watched a period-series like Downton Abbey or The Gilded Age, you’ll recognize the prevalent Upstairs vs. Downstairs story line . But have you ever noticed that the domestic staff, who live and work downstairs, gather in the mornings to have breakfast together before going about their tasks and for dinner before they serve the formal white-tie dinner upstairs. And these communal meals are shared sitting around a large, wood kitchen table that also serves as their meal prep space.
In the TV version but also in our modern era, I find it to be quite a convivial set up. Everyone is chatting as they cook with plenty of space for several hands to be chopping, dicing, baking at one time all while sharing the dirt on Lady Mary or in my reality discussing the headlines of the day.
The set-up in our current apartment in Paris harkens back to more of a 1920s layout where the kitchen was purely for function and the socializing took place in the dining room. I am glad to have a dining room which opens up to our living room, a common layout for Parisian apartments (referred to as a double sejour). We use our dining table for meals, art projects, as a desk, etc. It’s well used and well-loved, but I am constantly running back and forth down the hall to grab more milk, stir the soup while trying to keep an eye on my two-year who has chosen to climb onto the coffee table, etc. I don’t do cardio because the kitchen to dining room dash IS my cardio.
Sure, I enjoy a beautiful formal dining-room setting when I’m invited for dinner, but my own hosting preferences are much more casual. I prefer to invite my dinner guests to pull up a chair and either roll up their sleeves to help with dinner preparations or roll up their sleeves only to uncork a bottle of wine and sit/chat while I finish the last minute recipe to-dos.
Along with a formal dining room, the humble kitchen table can also replace the kitchen island. Islands are nice to have but I don’t find them welcoming to sit around and have a meal together as you can really only seat on one-side and no one that I know loves to linger in a bar-height chair after dinner is over. And if a guest needs anything during dinner, you don’t have to scurry down the hall to grab (insert said need) and miss out on the conversation. You’re just an arms length away in the kitchen.
Socializing and dining in someone’s kitchen also feels more intimate and personal. I love kitchens that display children’s artwork on the fridge or the collection of tea mugs picked up during travels. There is the warmth from the stove where the remainder of dinner simmers away, and if you’re lucky, a small fireplace tucked away in the corner in the kitchen (a girl can dream, right!?) It’s the room where you can turn on the music, roll up your sleeves and kick back while making a beautiful meal with no Emily Posts expectations.
When Nancy Meyer’s box-office hit Something’s Gotta Give came out, interior designers started getting calls from clients wanting the exact same kitchen as Erica Barry. It was beautiful and Nancy certainly knows her way around kitchen design in all her movies. However, I found myself gravitating towards the small cottage kitchen in The Holiday with the table and fireplace and the scene at Amanda’s house where Iris hosts her neighbor and new friends at the table that is situated in the kitchen. In The Intern, it’s Ben’s brownstone kitchen I fell in love with which includes a small, but charming table. All these kitchens were designed with a different aesthetic but the same element is found in all of them - the table in the kitchen.
So if you find yourself in the midst of a kitchen renovation, I challenge you to have a second thought about the large island you have probably planned. Replacing it with the humble table will leverage the space in so many wonderful and charming ways. And better yet, if a dance part ensues after dessert, just move the table out of the way for an impromptu dance floor. The kitchen table really is the swiss-army knife of culinary charm.
I will leave with you a few inspiration photos if you need some more convincing.
À la prochaine,
Kathryn
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