I read a fascinating book entitled The Kitchen by John Ota. The book is a series of stories about the authors’ tour of kitchens across Canada and the United States, not only in search of design ideas but also to fulfill his love of cooking. As an architect, he has a keen eye for detail, which makes the book so interesting. While I am not a huge fan of cooking, many of my clients are, and I love the challenge of designing a great kitchen for them.
The Journey Through Time
Ota starts with a colonial kitchen from 1627 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He then takes us to the Thomas Jefferson kitchen at Monticello, 1809. From there, we travel to 1831 and the Hermann-Grima Kitchen in New Orleans. He crossed the border into Canada to visit Point Ellice House (1890) in Victoria, BC.
Next, he visits a tenement kitchen in New York built in 1897. This was one of my favourite chapters in the book. I was more fascinated with how people lived in tenement buildings than with the kitchens themselves. He then takes us to the Gamble House Kitchen (1909) in Pasadena, California, and back to Canada to the Spadina House Kitchen (1920s) in Toronto. After, there is a long haul to New Mexico to visit the Georgia O’Keeffe kitchen in 1949.
My favourite kitchen was one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at Kentuck Knob, Pennsylvania, in 1956. It was at this point that I started inserting sticky notes in the book to mark the good spots. Another thrill for the author was visiting Julia Child’s kitchen, built in 1961 when she moved to Washington, DC. (Julie & Julia is one of my favourite movies ever. Even after watching it dozens of times, the story of Julia Child is still enthralling.) From there, he takes a musical journey to the Louis Armstrong kitchen, 1970 in Queens, New York, then to Graceland (Tennessee), built in 1977.
Finally, Ola visits long-lost family on Vancouver Island, who built a fabulous modern kitchen in 2016.
A Little History
In 1627, the colonial settlers cooked over an open fire with a worktable and slept in the same room. Now that’s minimalism! In the 1800s, cooks had to constantly add wood to the stove to cook a meal, and it seems as though cooking took all day and required a team. Because there were no cabinets in early kitchens, they appeared chaotic and cluttered. However, Ota assures us there was order under what looked like a complete mess. The image is a stark contrast to the austere, clutter-free kitchens we are designing today. I suddenly have the urge to incorporate a pot rack.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that open-plan living and minimalist design became fashionable. Built-in appliances became popular, as did the desire to hide everything in cupboards, cabinets, and pantries. I find it so interesting that, for the most part, this design style is still alive and well today.
Informing Today’s Kitchen Design
As I journey through the book’s pages and look at the sketches again and again, I am struck by a desire to be more creative with the kitchens I work on. I would consider cabinets and counters at odd angles, use curves, and incorporate an island and a peninsula, not one or the other. Ideally, I would also have work surfaces at varying heights for different activities. If space allowed, I would definitely design a pantry. Of course, combining unusual and interesting materials—along with some colour—would make the kitchen truly unique.
Here’s the best sentence in the whole book, in my humble opinion: “The kitchen would be more practical if we design it for cooking – not for fashion.” However, a little fashion is never a bad thing.
Here’s a subtle, warm call to action that fits the reflective tone of your post and your work as an organizer and designer:
Does this journey through kitchen history have you looking at your own space a little differently? Whether you’re dreaming of a redesign, rethinking how your kitchen functions, or feeling ready to declutter or renovate, I’d love to help. I offer complimentary consultations to explore what’s working, what’s not, and how your kitchen can better support your lifestyle.