The Home's Heart
A look inside The Kitchen issue + what I'm loving right now
I love to eat. I also love to hang out by the kitchen while my husband works his culinary magic every single night. My personal design bias is kitchens that look like people actually cook and hang out in them. But I do understand those who like their spaces pristine, and in this issue we offer plenty of both styles, from Colorado and around the world. We’re hoping these examples serve to inspire and allow you to create spaces you’ll love. The kitchen is the room that gets major traffic all day, so it’s nice to find comfort and joy in whatever you do there.
Also in this issue: a zillion fun products to enhance your kitchen, from bowls to microwaves (hats off to Café, which has made the first beautiful microwave I’ve seen), tips from James Beard-nominated Colorado chef Caroline Glover, whose restaurant Annette is my favorite in the Denver area (that comes from an eater, so it’s not feint praise). Beyond the cooking and kitchen fiesta, we feature a large family homestead in Castle Rock and a downtown-Telluride, loft-like home, as well as the striking geometric works of Boulder artist Carin Reich.
Pull up a seat in your kitchen, get yourself a beverage or a nosh—preferably both—and enjoy!
What I'm Loving
Dishing It
Though I don’t cook, I do love to bake and I’m our home’s clean-up crew, and so my favorite things in our kitchen are related to those two activities. This minimalist, well-designed Oxo dish rack is simplicity and function in a modernist package. It also takes the dull and ugly out of dish racks.
The Great Jewish Baking Show
Almost 15 years ago I was a celebrity-profile writer, and I did a cover story on the wonderful Jennifer Garner. We are both bakers, so we talked a lot about that. A few weeks later, I received a recipe for her biscotti, along with two Silpat Baking Mats. I still use them whenever I bake cookies, which is often. They keep the bottoms from burning (key because I like my cookies crispy) or sticking to the baking sheet, and they’re dishwasher-safe. Williams Sonoma, $26.95.
Underfoot in the Kitchen
As a design lover, I gravitate to a long slice of carpet in the kitchen. But my husband, the cook, has always denied me this pleasure, because the mere idea of smushed food bits in a carpet leaves him queasy. Enter Jim Rodriguez of Aztec Carpet and Rug, who loves to create customizable pieces for anywhere in your house. Jim put together a long runner of Chilewich fabric—yet another brilliant Sandy Chilewich idea, because we can literally hose this baby down. Husband is happy, and I have a lovely, space-defining bit of rectangular blue in the kitchen. Win-win. Chilewich Bouclé in Turquoise, $12.50 per square foot.
