Dreaming About Kitchens

Many of us have one. A dream. The perfect house. Perfect hair. Perfect gardens and flowers. Perfect lawns. The perfect house, your dream home, and if you're really lucky......your dream kitchen. 

My dream kitchen. That's something to think about, really. What would I want in my dream kitchen? If money were no object and I could have anything I wanted......... space. Most definitely space. Bright light. Windows. Plants, fresh herbs maybe, or just beautiful plants. Perhaps a flowering plant or even a lemon tree, sitting next to a huge window, a wall of glass, overlooking a deck suitable for entertaining and enjoying a nice meal or morning coffee in the shade and soft breeze. Skylights overhead to let even more glorious sunshine in.

This GORGEOUS kitchen from countryliving.com is
so perfect- the color, the window, no island but I can deal
without one! LOVE the color and airy openness.

Overhead is a very under-utilized space. My dream kitchen would have overhead storage in the form of a very cook hanging pot rack. I used to have a teeny tiny one. I would have a BIG one this time, with my Calphalon and AllClad displayed proudly. I'd have loads of cabinet space too, so countertop clutter would not exist. I would have a large container for my favorite utensils to huddle together. Magnetic strips would keep my knives safe and eliminate that bulky knife block I hate so much. A big bowl or two for fresh fruit and vegetables, or maybe breads, would have a prime spot on the counter. Maybe on the island- of course I'd have an island, and it would be perfect for sitting at with a couple of stools.

I'd need a big, deep sink and a cool faucet. One of those neat pull-out types or a restaurant-style spring sprayer whatever that thing is called. You know what I mean- it hangs over the sink and sprays water wherever you want. Very contemporary looking. Just my style. A deep ceramic farmhouse sink would be awesome for washing a big load of fresh produce from the farmers market. 

Let's go back to that kitchen island for a minute. Have you ever seen the islands that include the cooktop? That's exactly what I'd have.  But not just any cooktop. Nope. This chef-wanna-be would go all out and splurge on a Viking. I'd love to have the island built around a flawless stainless steel six burner Viking range. Above that, a stainless steel vent hood. The awesome thing about this Viking range in the photo is unlike other ranges there is no "back" where all the knobs and so on would be- it tucks perfectly into an island space, and would make me oh so happy! The oven would be tucked under just like any other range, but I would also need a cool second oven built into the wall. A cook can never have too much oven space, right? 

Another trend I see a lot and really love is using pennies as a surface "tile." I've seen entire kitchen floors covered in pennies, grouted and sealed, but the counter top penny surface is one I really love. Of course I'd love to have a granite kitchen counter, but I still love the look of the pennies, and maybe could incorporate both into the same kitchen. If I wasn't able to do a true counter top, maybe I might do a resurface on a kitchen table- cover than with pennies!

Now let's talk about refrigerators. Oh man, I hate my current fridge. Big. Ugly. Inconvenient. I miss the side-by-side my last kitchen had, and I really miss the fridge over freezer I had years before that! The fridge-over-freezer is making a comeback in a big way, as evidenced by my recent visit to a large appliance store. Another style of fridge that delights me to no end is the semi-hybrid French doors with the freezer on the bottom fridge. Wow!! Even better, some of them have a freezer drawer at the top of the freezer compartment! Ice and water in the door (man how I miss THAT) and easy access to everything in the fridge section, this style of fridge is absolutely on my wish list. 

I also noticed that stainless steel seems to be the new trend. No more black or white painted appliances, I spied one small forlorn white fridge hidden way back in a section I assume was the scratch and dent area. Everything else was stainless and I'm ok with that!

Let's get the conversation going here- what is YOUR dream kitchen like? What are your must-haves and wish-I-hads? Share your dreams and upgrades with us!!