The kitchen hunt

We go off to town to look at kitchens. We need a new one. Ours is steadily disintegrating. We've decided to abandon the conservatory/extension idea - too expensive. We also wonder if we really need the extra space. A well designed kitchen will probably solve the problems. We may think of a veranda or something later, but that's not urgent. The kitchen is.

We go round two showrooms. We seem to be faced between a choice of high gloss, quite sterile looking, modernity, or a more traditional wooden look which may be harder to keep clean. We're having a day off to mull over our thoughts. Undoubtedly, if our kitchen was just a place to cook, I would go for ultramodern. For me a kitchen is a workplace. Hygiene is essential & should be achievable with the minimum of effort. However, our kitchen is also our dining area. We enjoy relaxing over our meals, spending time just talking or watching the antics of the birds in the garden. We spend most of our daytime hours at home sat here. I'm not sure how relaxing I find the idea of all that gloss & stainless steel. There is something more warming & welcoming with wood. More conducive to relaxing. Just plain, more human.

Certainly the Fox feels more at home surrounded by wood. For him, the kitchen is the heart of the home, not a domestic lab. The property dates from the 1930s & somehow wood seems more consistent. We've a few more places to look at before we start inviting people to the house to produce some designs. I wonder what we will finally decide on.