What’s Your Dream Kitchen?
It’s true what people say: Everything is bigger in the United States.
We sadly kissed our little kitchen in Berlin goodbye:
and replaced it with this big guy in the US:
We’re calling the burbs of Denver home for a couple of weeks until we head into the mountains and get all rustic. We’re so thankful to the couple letting us be here again while they’re gone. I’m just having a really tough time adapting to the much, much larger space. (For reference: the island in this kitchen has the same square footage as our entire kitchen in Berlin.) I have no idea when I would need two ovens, especially now that I’m used to my microwave and oven being the same appliance. And I cannot tell you how much food we keep forgetting about in the fridge already because we’re used to our standard German fridge that’s the same size as a dorm fridge in the US.
The good news is that I probably walk a good 1/3 mile putting away dishes. Making dinner is even more. All this walking might balance out the fact that the grocery store is a good fifteen minutes’ drive in these suburbs, so I can’t walk. I know that we are beyond blessed (spoiled?) to call this home for a few weeks no matter how different it is from what we prefer.
We’re still a bit overwhelmed with our adjustment, so how ’bout you tell us what you like? Are you into a big kitchen, a little one, or something in the middle? Maybe you can’t live without two ovens. Then again, you might not be able to stand having more than two mixing bowls. Whatever it is, we want to know: What’s your dream kitchen like?
April 25th, 2009 at 5:20 am
I like a big kitchen. I think I’d be okay with living in a small house as long as it had a big kitchen — I’d be willing to sacrifice other living space for more counter space. In fact, I joked with Mr. Savvy yesterday that we should get a Tumbleweed tiny house and convert the entire bottom half into a kitchen. I’d be just fine.
Your new digs look lovely! Do you have culture shock?
April 25th, 2009 at 6:04 am
I like the look of the big kitchens but I think the size of mine is just fine. It’s probably 250 square feet…
April 25th, 2009 at 6:52 am
These days I don’t care what the kitchen’s like, as long as it’s clean. My own is constantly littered with kid debris. I dream of a kitchen that stays clean when I clean it. :)
April 25th, 2009 at 7:07 am
My actual kitchen is a little bigger than yours (picture #1). My dream kitchen looks much closer to picture #2 — it MUST be an eat-in kitchen. Personally, I think the kitchen is the heart of the house where everyone should be able to hang out, children should be able to sit at the table and do their homework while parents cook dinner, etc., and there is no way that can happen in a tiny kitchen. I cannot WAIT to upgrade from my little coffin-sized kitchen.
April 25th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Well, I like a big kitchen, but I like the open plan where the family room and kitchen flow into each other. That way I feel connected to the rest of the family while cooking.
I have to say I giggled when I when I read that the island is the say square footage as your Berlin kitchen. That’s insane. My mom and stepdad live in a huge house (just a hair under 5000 sqft) and I always feel a bit disoriented when there. It’s too big. You can actually lose a person in it. Oddly though, their kitchen isn’t that big and is totally closed off from the family room. Weird.
I look forward to seeing your summer photos.
April 25th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Hi Katie,
Thanks for visiting my blog (I did write the short verse you asked about)! We are currently renting, and have a small kitchen, although I don’t know how it compares to your Berlin kitchen. I only have two saucepans, and one cast iron skillet. I don’t have room to store more than that. I would like a bit more counter space, but I know I don’t need it, because I have lived without it for eight years now. . .
April 25th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
my dream kitchen cooks me dinner ;)
April 26th, 2009 at 2:40 am
I’m not a fancy girl, by any definition. I look for what I need to get the job done and nothing extra because I like things tidy and extra stuff takes extra time. That being said, the kitchen is not my space in our home. For the past 22 years, I’ve been living in homes where the kitchen is “man land.” The only thing care about is ‘clean.’ And he’s good about it – for a man. :)
April 26th, 2009 at 5:11 am
I don’t care how big it is, as long as it is functional. And I am with the others about the clean part. I hope you are enjoying your stay in Denver. We used to live in Boulder and I miss it sometimes!
April 27th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I love your thoughts on culture shock, and this post is great too. I’m with Emily – I might like a big kitchen, but it’s not my dream or what I would pick for myself, because I would just feel wasteful. I grew up overseas and I still struggle, 8 years later, with being okay with the extravagance of the American lifestyle. It’s just taken for granted and treated as normal here, and that never ceases to amaze me. :)
May 1st, 2009 at 6:48 am
Welcome back to the U.S!
I loved your little Berlin kitchen. It was so well thought out that I stole a couple of ideas for mine which is much smaller than I had before I retired. BTW, we just returned from Japan. Going over, I took 300 plastic Easter eggs for an Easter egg hunt for my dau in law’s students. We always take a carry-on with items our fam and friends want from the U.S. and I return with a carry-on filled with fav Japanese snacks. Some of them actually survived the trip in the bag and not my stomach.
While there, we went to Joyful Honda which is about a three square block department store with every organizer and every kind of paper goods in the world. Most of the grocers there charge three yen for every plastic bag used though they give oooooooodles of packing materials free. Go figure!!
Again, welcome back. How long will you be in the US?
May 1st, 2009 at 10:27 am
Wow that is a huge change, though I am use to American sized kitchen. My dream kitchen would be huge. Lots of counter space, working space, and drawers, etc. right now I have a small kitchen, not as small as yours back in germany but small by american standards.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
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May 4th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I loved you sharing your Berlin Kitchen. I’m sad that you have to leave it after how beautiful it turned out. I just want a kitchen with a big pantry so I can fit all the kitchen tools and food.
Good luck on your new place, I really do think of you because of your amazing job on that little kitchen!
May 15th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Katie! Just spotted a familiar looking kitchen over on decor8 – yours! Congrats on the mention. You guys totally deserve it. Small kitchens will takeover the world someday!
-John
January 11th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
My dream kitchen doesn’t have to be any bigger than your German kitchen, however I do need easy access to the kitchen table or a bar so my kids can help out in the kitchen (I have two 7yos and an 11ys who are wanting to learn how to cook). I am currently trying to learn to live more with less and hoping to pass that on to my children who have latched on with much enthusiasm to the living large in the US way of life :P Here’s to hoping for new and exciting changes this year!
December 10th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I actually prefer small kitchens—they are really very handy for cooking.