From the Editor: Learning from Monet

Photo: Povy Kendal Atchison

When I think of Monet’s kitchen in Giverny, France, I think of blue. On a tour of the famous artist’s home, I was mesmerized by the kitchen. Built in 1883, the spacious room accommodated a large wood-burning Briffault stove, a fireplace and a central kitchen table that served double duty for food prep or an informal meal. Well-used copper pots hung on the wall. But what I remember most are the magical blue tiles from Rouen that surround the room.

While reviewing our kitchen issue, I recalled Monet’s kitchen, and noticed today’s culinary spaces retain elements from that kitchen built nearly 150 years ago. We may have live-edge farm tables (or large islands); we may still hang copper pots.  Our stoves may still be the size of a tank, but they operate by electricity or gas. And like Monet’s, many kitchens are enhanced by beautiful walls of tile.

In this issue, a mountain home designed by Lisa Yates of Collective Design, includes a stunning wall created by combining organic materials and neutral colors, arranged in a custom pattern that flips rectangular tile on end. “It looks bold, but it has a hand-made feel,” she says of the almost plaid backsplash.

In Parker, homeowners requested a calm, timeless feel for the kitchen. Erika Crane of Unscripted Design chose Moroccan zellige handcrafted tile, to achieve that result. Joyce Clegg of Dream Homes Inc. was asked by the homeowners to move away from an all-white kitchen and add some color. Excited by the homeowner’s directive, she incorporated tile in three rich neutrals and relied on Colorado Tile installers to create a mosaic pattern.

Back to Monet’s beautiful kitchen: He loved to entertain, and dinner parties were hosted in the yellow dining room—painted an unforgettable shade that feels as though you are inside a sunflower. And I noticed, coincidentally, that our September/October cover of a kitchen designed for a family getaway in Steamboat Springs creates that same combination of blue, yellow and joy—the same joy found in Monet’s home.

It’s no mystery why for so many homeowners the kitchen is their favorite room. The owner of a renovated home outside Denver says that her designer, Ashley Scheidel, immediately understood its importance. “It’s our favorite room,” she says. “It’s where we do a lot of cooking, entertaining and simple everyday family living.”

What could be more important than that?

Darla Worden
Editor in Chief

As seen in CH&L’s September/October 2025 Issue.