There's some interesting stuff in there, but I thought the featured chef's kitchen looked awful. All I could think of was how dirty all those open shelves must get, and how precarious all those stacks of glass dishes look. I know it's a working kitchen, but it would still drive me nuts.

I agree with harriet....that kitchen just makes me nervous. I could not work with all that clutter....wow that's a crazy statement given my name!

Funny how the look of the featured chef's kitchen is the total opposite of the Peacock kitchens! Obviously, the key is function over form (although the Peacock kitchens are so pretty there doesn't seem to need to be a trade off.)

In the chat, Peacock mentions 2 colors he recently used to paint ceilings - one is a softer red, and one looks like a brighter melon. He style is usually so calm, and those colors seems jarring. Anyone ever seen anything like that? No way would I have the nerve to do a kitchen like that, but maybe a powder room?

Gah! Talk about horror vacui--that kitchen is awful. I could never find anything in there, and I don't think it's at all efficient--hanging junk on the chandelier is just (poorly thought out) decor, not efficiency.

I saw the pic of the chef's kitchen and thought it must have been a "before" shot! I couldn't live with all my "stuff" out in the open like that - cluttered and dusty! What did you think about the closeup of her ladles? And the chandy???

Thanks for posting the link, it was a nice (if a tad sentimental) article, but the slideshow - WOW - the kitchen is my kind of space; brimming with great cooking tools, practical work surfaces and the feel that only comes from a well loved and truly used workspace. They can have the cookie cutter Peacock kitchens, I would take Ris' in a heartbeat.

sandyponder

I love the look of the chef's kitchen. I have this weirdness - clutter to me is bric a brac and "decor" stuff all over, but having a huge assortment of *tools* (pots, implements, bowls, etc.) is not clutter, it is.... I can't think of the word.....help me.... like having a paint brushes all over if you are an artist, or stacks of pots and shovels in a potting shed, not clutter... It just belongs there and is beautiful.

Well, after those kitchens, I'm feeling A LOT better about mine. I was having some kitchen-panic today (what if I don't love it as much as I hope/should)

The chef's kitchen was very chaotic. I think it is fine to have cooking tools accessible, but the pottery could be displayed in a diningroom breakfront.

The purple kitchen was really odd too-- the island seemed a bit long and purple cabinets? I did like the backsplash-- I've seen those tiles in person-- they are really fun. Sometimes too much fun = circus tent, though. I liked seeing the use of soapstone-- I think it will become more and more popular.

The slideshow had some better kitchens in it.

Interesting to see the White House chef's kitchen is rather normal. Refreshing, actually.

For the most part, the kitchens on this site are SO much better. Some of the ones in that article looked dated or had fairly big flaws (no ventilation over the cooktop?)

I'd love to continue commenting, but I need to get back to work.

Lightlystarched, I'm an artist, and I can't work in an overly tidy environment, but there's a difference between having one's tools to hand and accessible, and clutter. Brushes all over the place is lack of respect for tools. Brushes cost the same as knives. Think of knives laying around on the counter, or stuck in a jar, vs. knives on a magnetic rack or in a block.

I think what we're talking about in the chef's kitchen is visual clutter, which is an art kind of thing rather than a cooking issue. There's nowhere for the eyes to rest in this photo--they just leap from item to item.

When it's one's own clutter, and one is totally familiar with each item, the visual mishmash fades away and becomes a familiar background rather than a riot of oh-my-gosh that's awful. That's what mothers-in-law are for...to remind us that our homely, beloved clutter isn't so lovely to look at :)

What bothered me about the chef's kitchen was not so much that it looked cluttered but that a lot of the stuff on the shelves is not there for utility reasons. All the colored glass on the top shelves looks like it's there for "decorative" purposes, but I can't see how it wouldn't get all gunky in short order. A busy kitchen is a messy place, with all kinds of particulate matter (grease, dust, bits of food) in the air. All of that gets caked onto anything that is sitting out for any length of time.

I have nothing against keeping tools at hand, but for me, at least, they need to be neat and easy to keep clean. I like being able to grab a dish off of a shelf and be pretty sure it's clean. Having to wash everything off before you use it is a pain.

What about that polka dot kitchen? I thought that looked like a before picture too.

I don't see practical work surfaces, literally, because they're all covered! And to the extent that there's no room to even shove things aside so that you could make a bigger clear area. There are pans and dishes stacked under things on the floor?! I am a cluttery person, but I couldn't live like this. I'm not even sure it could classify as clutter, because I expect some breaks between piles with clutter. That room would depress me. How would you ever get it clean and know it's sanitary?

I'm glad she's happy, and I think the theory behind it was good...

I'm one of the ones who love kitchens like that. It's a good one. I could cook there!

I could remove all that stuff from the counters and cook there! I liked it, except maybe the "island" was a bit out of scale and too cute for me.

The clutter gave me the heebie-jeebies! I actually thought that chef has one of those compulsive hoarding conditions, cause that's what rooms look like of people who have that. I know a professional chef who is the chef for a high-end french restaurant. His home kitchen is very orderly--frugal even. He has two sizes of Le Creuset pots that he uses constantly, 2 or 3 sizes of fry pans, a saucepan, a mixer but no food processor (he likes to chop by hand and I think is as lightning quick as any machine!), and he always tells me that one needs only 4 different knives (paring, boning, bread and Chef's). His kitchen is spare, yet he can cook anything there.

I also thought it was ironic that the author of the article starts out by saying how some kitchens are designed to be places where family and friends congregate--yet from what I can see, the featured kitchen could definitely not be that, cause there's no room to congregate.

How great that we all don't like just the same things. Here's a link--I hope--to Julia Child's kitchen exhibit at the Smithsonian. This is my inspiration kitchen for what I imagine my last little home might someday be. Bring in one of those staging crews to pile her counters with colorful clutter, though, and it'd be much a good match for the Washington Post one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Julie Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian

Rosie- I am so glad someone mentioned Julia Child's kitchen. She had a pegboard with tools etc hanging from it. It was no showplace but not anywhere near as cluttered as the others. I liked Julia's but wouldn't want mine that way. I am too organized. You have to admit it's fun to see other people's kitchens.

I don't mind Julia's nearly as much. Even though not fancy, which is fine, it seems to have specific, organized places for things, not just stacks and piles and jumbles, and I see some clear counter workspace, as well as a table.

Julia Child's kitchen is homey and functional. The pegboard holds everyday tools that I imagine she used quite frequently (others maybe not so frequently). there is not an overall vibe of chaos. It is a lovely space-- one of my favorite things about the new American History museum.

Yes, I like Julia Child's kitchen, too. That's a functional space. I don't think I'd want to eat anything that came out of the kitchen of that chef in the article, though.

I'd call it a *C* kitchen -- cluttered, cramped, chaotic, and claustrophic. Ugh.

The other one with the awful polka-dotted backsplash looks like a clown's costume gone wrong. And get rid of the kiddie-crayon-box chairs. Best features: the Greater Swissy Mountain Dog (cluttered kitchen) and the Portuguese Water Dog (polka-dot kitchen). ;P

WHOOPS. It's a Swissy, OR a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, combining the nickname with the real name of the breed was an accident. ;D