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View From My Island: The Grand Outing of the Kitchen

When I was growing up as a child in theGone are the days when you felt you needed to
sixties, kitchens were always a hiddendetain your guests in the comfort of the
affair. If it was not separated by a wallItalian velvet sofa in the lounge while you
from the other rooms in the house, then aexcuse yourself and slave away in the dark,
divider had to be installed to hide it fromhot and steamy recesses of the kitchen
the rest of the world. Inviting friends overpreparing their food. Now there is no shame
to the kitchen to show off your new kitchenor cringe to invite friends over to the
island or cooktop was not the thing to bekitchen because kitchens have become the hub
done.of family life and social entertaining.
Architects, home builders and appliance
But not anymore. The kitchen of my adultmanufacturers have all taken heed of the new
years has now become the focal point of thetrend and have made kitchens not only
house and the people who live in it. There isfunctional and efficient but also
still the obligatory lounge room to receiveoverwhelmingly stylish. Even whitegoods now
guests but it is now just a little room oncome in different colors of stainless steel,
the way to the grand, open space of kitchen,earthy brown, luminous orange or buttercup
family  and  rumpus  rooms  combined.yellow  to  suit everyone's desire and taste.
This is where most families now gather afterFriends are invited to hover around stylish
a long days work - the parents preparing themarble-topped kitchen islands as they
family meal while the children (if they arecontinue with their socialising, talking
in their schoolyears) do their homework inabout nothing and maybe even lending a hand
the family dining table or (if they arein washing the vegetables and peeling the
already young adults), sit and chatter aroundpotatoes. Even wine bars are now in the
the breakfast nook or family room couch.domain of the kitchen (not the basement or
Kitchens now exude warmth and welcome helpedthe lounge) as friends sit down and relax in
by the oak or teak oil-finished kitchenthe midst of kitchens sipping their favorite
cabinets that usually line the kitchen walls,red  or  white.
as well as mahogany or red cedar curio
cabinets housing revered family treasuresEven when alone, my kitchen has always been a
such  as  photos  and  bowling  trophies.delight and a quiet refuge from the hustle
and bustle of the outside world. When I wake
I have long used my kitchen as my lounge -up in the morning, I find no greater joy than
one of the rooms in the house that I considerseeing the sun streaming through the beige
most comfortable, functional, tribal andvoile curtains of the northeast facing
welcoming . My husband and I and anyone of mykitchen window into the deep purple flowered
kids who occasionally fancy themselves as theafrican violets and tall and lanky chinese
new Jamie Oliver can showcase our gourmetfortune plants that brighten up the farthest
talents as we gracefully move around the redend of my granite kitchen benchtop. And when
and brown speckled granite kitchen island orI come home from work in the evening, I open
benchtop to the glistening stainless steelthe very same northeast facing kitchen window
sink to the brown flattened glow of theto be greeted with the sweet scent of the
ceramic cooktop. All these in view of theorange jasmines that line the backyard fence.
rest of the family, and often times friends
and guests who we show in straight to theMy kitchen has certainly come a long way from
kitchen/family/dining room area to sit in ourits hiding place in the sixties and I intend
beloved dark aubergine brown no-nonsense, yetto enjoy it and keep it that way for a long,
sumptuous and very practical "Virginia" sofa.long time more to come.



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