Froukje's Kitchen

Today I wanna have an Apartment Therapy moment, a Desire to Inspire post, and talk about Dutch kitchens.

The Dutch have taken the concept of gezelligheid even into their kitchens. It has to be not only efficient but also a charming place, where you are going to display nice pots of Mediterranean herbs or pretty Italian utensils or expensive German knives, or your Dutch Senseo coffee Machine, or your Philippe Stark orange squeezer in the shape of an octupus, or souvenirs from your travels... or all of them together !

In Brazil a kitchen has generally tiles from floor to ceiling, marble or granito counter tops and is always separated by the rest of the house with a wall and a door. Microwawe, fridge and stove generally do not come integrated. The objects and kitchen utensils go always back into cabinets after being used. It is NOT a room to receive guests but a work place. It is NOT a place where you hang art on the walls or show off your utensils.

I also like hugs and kisses and I completely agree with you on that, Franka !

Traditional Dutch porcelain set.

All the photos displayed here are from my colleague Franka. She is the proud owner of a new kitchen and generously accepted to talk about it. " My kitchen is country style. I have been looking at hundreds of kitchens until I found one which I liked. When looking for a new kitchen I decided it was important that the salesperson had enough imagination to think about solutions together with me. My kitchen is positioned between the back yard and the living room , so I can also use it as an outside kitchen. I needed immediately a new kitchen as the old one was ugly and falling apart. It was difficult to clean the old tiles and I just couldn't stand it anymore. Also, I needed to redo the floors in the living room and in the kitchen, so we did the whole together. I preferred to keep it white because it is easier to please potential buyers if I need to sell the house in the future. I like to show off my dishes and objects through transparent door cabinets. "

During all these years which I have lived in Holland I have seen so many TV programs about kitchen, bathroom and back yard renovations ! The houses are relativelly small in Holland and space is precious. Therefore I guess the Dutch instead of buying bigger homes they prefer to make every space - such as kitchens and back yards - an extension of their living rooms. They place recipe books and flowers in their kitchens and like to display signs of cooking talent - which is a cute thing. Dutch householders many times pay thousands and thousand of euros to modernise their kitchens - but think important that they look antique or genuine farm style.

And you reader ? Are there big differences between Dutch kitchens and kitchens from your native land ?