The Power of “Kitchen”

More years ago than I'd like to admit, I sat in my grandparents' Snohomish farm kitchen and waited for my bowl of red beans … the kind that had cooked all the live-long day in a basting of bacon (and bacon fat) …. and which was destined for scooping with the whitest of white bread, slathered with room-temp butter. Salted.

Can I interest you in a bowl?

That kitchen. It used to be the mainstay of a home; the heart, if you will. But then it turned itself into a galley, as if we had all been pirate-ized. (I myself have a galley kitchen, but if I have any say in the matter, that will change soon.) For a brief bit there, we pretended that the kitchen was NOT the gathering place of the home. Instead, we put more weight on the living room. But how could a room devoid of tastes and smells and bubbling pots ever compete with a kitchen?

Today, home buyers are looking for that integrated, updated, chair-populated gathering place. They don't want a galley kitchen; they want a kitchen with a big island in the center, and lots of chairs for the visitors that will flock for a taste of whatever you've got in the pot. They want a livable, holistic, spacious focal point that will nurture all who linger and gawk.

Looking for a new home? I'd like to suggest you allow yourself to get kitchen-centric. Say "no" to the smaller kitchen. Wait for that home with the gathering point. You'll be all the happier while you're stirring that pot of beans.