I can't believe a year and a half has passed since our kitchen remodel wrapped up. After living with the before kitchen for nearly eight years, with a barely working fridge, a finicky oven, dingy paint and mustard linoleum floors, cooking and just spending time in this still new-to-me space is a dream. If I have emails to write I stand at the counter. It is my "office" and my favorite place in the house.
Side note: it is also quite convenient to live with a talented interiors photographer that you can ask to take some after shots...
A few basics - the walls and cabinetry are "Simply White" from Benjamin Moore. This is our favorite white. It is clean, not too blue or yellow and even on those dark and dreary winter days, it always feels warm and cozy. Nearly every wall of our house, both inside and out (see below), is painted Simply White. The moulding and doors throughout the house as well as the kitchen floor (which is just the fir sub-floor that was underneath the linoleum) are painted a brighter, cooler, "Decorator's White."
The counters and shelves are untreated walnut rubbed with this butcher block oil.
Drawer pulls: Schoolhouse Electric; Induction Cooktop + Dishwasher: Miele; Oven + Refrigerator: KitchenAid; Rug: Homestead Seattle; Magnetic Knife Strip (18" walnut)
Our "Simply White" exterior
Necessities that are always on the counter (as seen in the photos above)...
Vitamix; Breville Oven; Sonos; Olive Oil bottle for my favorite finishing olive oil; Menu pepper grinder (I use one for pepper and the other as a spice mill); Hario kettle + teak trivet; spoon rest, Heath tray with French butter keeper and Maldon salt; Olive wood salt cellar (similar here) for kosher salt; coffee grinder; basket with towels
And on the shelves...
Heath Ceramics plates, bowls (mine are almost entirely vintage though all are still available in opaque white), pasta bowls, large and small mugs; Hario glass carafe + Blue Bottle ceramic dripper; All Clad cookware; Staub 7qt oven; Lodge griddle; Le Creuset cast-iron skillet; stainless bowls; glass bowls; Instant Pot; Bodega glasses in small, medium, large; Duralex Picardie glasses
Other favorite tools etc...
Stick blender; storage clips and also these; plastic mason jar lids; glass straws; oxo scale; 6" ceramic ginger grater; cookie scoops in several sizes; Joyce Chen scissors; stainless scraper + plastic scraper; Blue Bottle coffee filters
GIR Spatulas - regular + mini; GIR ladle; Thermapen; Microplanes - this and this; stainless whisks large and small; can opener; two sets of measuring cups; 4 cup and 2 cup liquid measuring cups; two mini liquid measuring cups; two sets of measuring spoons
Zyliss peelers (two); various sized Ateco spatulas; funnels similar to these; canning funnel (useful for WAY more than canning - use for pouring and storing stocks, soups, beans, fruit sauce); tongs; meat tenderizer; fine mesh strainers like this and this; stainless skewers; grater; salad spinner
Due Buoi stainless spatulas - these may just be one of my very favorite tools in the kitchen. I bought a wide and a slim one from Williams Sonoma a few years ago but now I can only find them here and here. They are so thin and so versatile from cooking pancakes on the griddle, flipping fish, smashing burgers or lifting brownies out of the pan.
We have really basic flatware from Crate and Barrel. This stuff does the job, looks and feels great to hold and it is super affordable. Eventually I'd like to add my dream David Mellor flatware to the mix...
The remaining things that are stashed below the cooktop...
Sheet pans both half and quarter sizes; cooling racks; 13" Staub enameled cast-iron pan; a gorgeous carbon steel pan made locally by Blu Skillet Ironware that our dear friends Omar and Lora gave us to celebrate the kitchen; small butter warmer; Staub ceramic baking dishes
Epicurean cutting boards - large, small, and a black one used specifically for meat. A note on these - I have two large "official" looking cutting boards, one maple and one walnut, that are beasts. They are beautiful, but oh-so-heavy and unwieldy and take much more effort to wash and care for. These slim ones can easily slip into the dishwasher and save me time which I really appreciate.
For spices I highly recommend frequenting your grocery store's bulk section. I prefer PCC locally. They are fresher and WAY cheaper. You can also buy the containers there. I keep blue painter's tape and a Sharpie in a kitchen drawer to label spices and anything and everything else. Chicken stocks, soups, sauces, a just opened jar of tomato paste...
I do not have a pantry so I have to find room for everything in three drawers. I store a lot in jars like these from Bormioli Rocco which almost all of my local grocers carry. I keep my Blue Bottle coffee beans in this canister...
Thankfully I also have this amazing corner storage from Hafale where most of my baking stuff and more goes...
My good friend Rita introduced me to this magic piece of German engineering in her own kitchen, and it was a must have when we were planning out our remodel...
I keep this small folding stool handy so I can easily access the cabinet above the fridge where I keep things I don't use as often. This ceramic waffle iron, cake pans, spiralizer and my giant 10qt stainless bowl...
The only kitchen necessity that I can't store in the kitchen is my Breville food processor. It is indispensable but given my limited storage space it has to live down the hall in the closet. I just upgraded to this one when my old Cuisinart finally bit the dust over the holidays. Talk about an upgrade. This one is insane. It is almost worth it for the adjustable slicing blade alone.
Phew! That was a lot but long overdue. Home (and the kitchen) is where my heart is.
