06.08.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:03 pm by Administrator
In the little free time I have to read, I usually prefer fiction. I enjoy being swept away into another world, far removed from own. While I enjoy non-fiction, it’s not what I turn to for escapism. But I could not resist this book! First, because the author is one of my favorite fiction writers so I knew I could count on an engaging read. Secondly, the book is about something near and dear to my heart (and work)–FOOD!! How to acquire it, prepare it, and enjoy it but, more importantly, how to do these things ethically.
It’s seems strange at first that things like politics, environmentalism, immigration, and ethics can intersect on something as everyday-familiar as our dinner plates. Like many of us who are busy leading lives, working, and raising kids it can be daunting and disconcerting to add one more thing to think about at the grocery store—not just is this affordable/healthy/tasty/will my family eat it? But now also, is this the “right” thing to buy? Can I feel good about spending my money this way?
Kingsolver’s book is no political diatribe. Rather it is an entertaining and engaging look at one family’s attempt to live lightly on the earth. While it has helpful suggestions for all of us who are looking to eat in ways that are healthy for our bodies and the environment, it is not an eco-treatise or heavy-handed pro-organic message. A mixture of anecdotes, recipes, and compact research, you will fly through the book. If you were attracted to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma but found it a bit to research-heavy, then this is the book for you.
I cannot recommend it enough. It’s a delightful read and you will come away from it with a better understanding of how the food you eat comes to you, and why you should think about it.
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05.21.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:45 pm by Administrator
Contractor's Original Design
My solution for this cramped, u-shaped kitchen with no room for an island was to ignore the obvious. In other words, to ignore the “U.” Instead of allowing myself to be limited by the conventional way to design a kitchen of this size and shape, I thought about what kind of layout would work best for the client. In a way, I was working backwards.
As soon as I set myself free to imagine the space best suited to the kind of cook my client is, I realized that she needed a large island with a prep sink so she would have lots of counterspace and room for her family and friends to help her or just sit and talk. It was critically important to give her two sinks: first to allow her mom (who lives with her) to help in the kitchen without being underfoot and secondly, to give her the ability to wash and prep on plenty of counter without taking a single step, or being forced to face away from the rest of the house.
So my challenge then became how to make room in her kitchen for the island she needed. I quickly realized that I had enough room to create an island if I eliminated the cabinets against the wall on the right side of the room. In a sense, I was simply shifting those cabinets over: base cabinets became the “front” of the island facing the cooktop and the 12” deep wall cabinets became 12” deep base cabinets and were placed against the “back” of the island facing the now empty wall (see diagram).
In this way, we LOST NO STORAGE and even eliminated a corner cabinet (which has low utility and is expensive because of the cost of the lazy-susan system). Now, she has more counter than she ever dreamt of and can have several people in the kitchen helping, with traffic problems or a shortage of elbow room (see photo). Not to mention the shear fun of gathering family and friends around the island to chop, prep, nosh and sip a little wine. Here’s the finished kitchen
As functional as it is gorgeous!!
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04.26.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:18 am by Administrator
Last year I had the pleasure of designing a kitchen for a wonderful woman in San Diego. She is an avid cook and entertainer who frequently hosts gatherings for upwards of twelve guests. As a former caterer, she had extensive collections of equipment, glassware and serving pieces. When we talked about her kitchen she explained her desires: a convenient, comfortable kitchen that was open to her dining area and the living room beyond with a four foot professional-style range.
Unfortunately, this lovely lady hired me a little late in the process. Her contractor had “designed” a kitchen already and the homeowners had already purchased a new window (and framed the opening) based on his design. The reason I put “design” in quotations is because her contractor took the measurements of her kitchen to Home Depot and paid a cabinet sales person there $100 to create a plan and a cabinet quote. Don’t get me wrong, the Home Depot offers good products at good prices and their associates are often quite knowledgeable about cabinets. But like most cabinet salespeople, they know little to nothing about space-planning or the needs of a cook—especially one as proficient as my client.
I was, quite literally, horrified at the thought of this incredible lady being forced to live in her dream house for the next twenty years with such a ho-hum kitchen. While many contractors and even some kitchen designers justify planning a space with conventional solutions as economic or even efficient, I knew that my client deserved better. Not just because of her skills but also because this was the house she and her husband had been working and saving to build. It’s on a lovely hilltop in La Mesa with a view over downtown San Diego to the ocean. When they purchased it, it was a shabby “fixer-upper” in real-estate agent parlance. And boy did they fix it—the house was torn out to the studs. To transform it into their dream home was a big project and their budget was realistic but still constrained.
The contractor’s design was uninspired to say the least, though I can’t really blame him—all his training is to the side of not taking risks, not being unconventional. I, however, ignored everything he’d assumed about how kitchens should be done. The original design featured a u-shaped kitchen with the sink at the window on the right, the range centered on the middle wall, and the refrigerator and some additional counter space on the left wall. The problem is that it put the cook with her back to the open great room. While she could look outside, she could not interact with her family inside. The placement of a large sliding glass door made the use of any kind of peninsula extending the cabinets awkward and in danger of clogging up traffic.
My solution? Read my next blog post to find out.
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04.14.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:41 pm by Administrator
Welcome to my kitchen design blog. As a cook and kitchen designer, I believe that kitchens should be both functional and beautiful. Here I will offer advice, inspiration and perhaps the occasional rant. For more about me see my website www.kitcheneeringstudio.com.
Thank you,
Moorea Hoffman
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:41 pm by Administrator
“First we shape our dwellings, then our dwellings shape us,” Winston Churchill.
For several months now, I have had the following quote as part of my email signature. I can’t remember where I first ran across it but it speaks to me of much more than just the pleasures of a beautifully designed space. As a designer those pleasures are, of course, very near and dear to my heart but this quote hints at the truth that within the oft-perceived “superficiality” of design is the very real affect an environment has on the people who dwell in it—for better or worse.
Leaving homes aside for a moment, I’d like to define dwellings more broadly—after all, when we spend six, eight, or more hours a day at school or work, we can be said to “dwell” in those spaces, too. As any cubicle inhabitant can tell you, a human being’s daily environment will affect him physically and psychologically. If only school architects would remember this. My own high school was a windowless, concrete-block prison—practical no doubt—but hardly conducive to free- or even clear thinking. Contrast that with the gracious, elegant Spanish-style architecture of my college where we benefited not only from that magical technology—windows—and the natural light they provided but from expansive lawns, mature shade trees, walled gardens and roses.
As adults, many of us don’t get to work in an environment of our choosing. Fluorescent lights, lack of privacy, lack of movement when you are chained to a computer—all contribute to the exhaustion we feel at the end of the day—above and beyond the natural amount of tiredness we feel from labor expended. I bring all this up because a client of mine recently commented that she felt guilty for being able to remodel her home. In today’s economy where some people struggle just to pay the mortgage, she is in a position to enhance her home to better meet her families’ needs. While it’s true that remodeling a home seems to be a kind of luxury—and luxury has become a dirty word of late—I want to argue that point a little, at least as it relates to my little corner of the word.
It should not be a “luxury” to have a kitchen that works. It should be a given—in every house, for every household. Certain elements of design—custom cherry cabinets, natural stone counters, expensive glass tile—these things can and should be considered luxury items. But the space-planning? A second sink? Enough counter-space? Quality Appliances? These are things that should be in the Cook’s Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, too many contractors, architects and housing developers think—when they think at all—about the minimum requirements of kitchen: stove, fridge, sink.
Home as Haven. We’ve all heard that phrase. And these days, that haven is needed more than ever. But how can a home be a haven when the room in which you spend a significant portion of your time is working against you? A dysfunctional kitchen—as most are—means that the process of cooking a healthy, cost-effective meal for your family takes twice as long as it should. That’s time you could be spending with your kids, your spouse, your bubble-bath and book. And that doesn’t even take into account the pleasure that cooking can become when the kitchen is designed to make it easier. Why is it considered a luxury to turn a chore into a pastime?
Well, as you can see, my first blog has become somewhat more than I intended. In the future, I will try to stay on target a little better. J However, I hope you found something to interest you and I welcome your comments and suggestions.
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