Friday, October 2, 2009

Rustic country kitchens - dustcatcher or bliss?

As I have mentioned, my mother lives on a farm in northeast Victoria. It gets very cold and also baking hot. And when the phone lines come down in a storm, you are on your own. She has a wonderful country kitchen complete with uneven wooden floorboards, Aga wood burning stove, a second oven, a window looking out over the pomegranate tree and lots of free standing wooden cupboards for pantry and other storage.

When I recently visited I was rather taken with this little 'Celery and Chicken' arrangement my mother had over the cupboard where she stores some of her glassware.



The jugs on the top shelf are cabbage leaves, and the plate on the left is a lettuce leaf. These plates are made by Royal Doulton and I have two. Here is a close up:



I use them only for eating spinach salad. It just seems to be appropriate.

I really love rustic kitchens. They are great for warming up, being cozy, and sitting and talking. And if things get a bit messy, it doesn't matter. Another kitchen I have spent time in is that of my husband's aunt, who lives in a four storey converted mill in Leicestershire in the UK. She has a flagstone floored kitchen with a huge battered wooden table, a window seat looking out to the back garden and the mill creek and pond and an enormous Aga stove. And my goodness - the food which was magicked from that stove. I know I would never be able to cook pheasant in a wood burning stove, but she can pull it off.

Here are some images of my favourite country style kitchens.

This is my favourite. I know it has been styled to within an inch of its life but the shelf arrangement is cluttered yet clean.










This is a stunning wooden dresser.



I love the simplicity of this one, wonderful for a little cabin.



We have one of these Dualit toasters. They are very effective but boy do they take up a lot of room.










This laundry style sink which has been built into the bench is a great idea. I feel many kitchen sinks are too small.



I love these framed pictures against the industrial wall and with stainless steel too!






These pale green wrought iron chairs make this kitchen delicate and feminine.


But do you do need carefully planned storage if you are exposing your crockery to the world. Isn't this a clever solution? Completely tailored to the needs of the kitchen.



What do you think? Would the dusting get you down? Would you have to keep obsessively rearranging?

Images: (1)-(5) (9)(12)(13) House to Home (6) (11) Mairie Claire Maison (7)(8) Homes and Gardens (10) P0int Click Home (14) Elle Decor France

9 comments:

Unknown said...

hey, these are helpful and I know start trying to finish my own country kitchen! LOOOVE your green dishes - I've used those in shoots, they are awesome.

Mise said...

My kitchen is one of those rustic unfitted ones and I'd never go back to fitted. I like the cosy welcoming feel (I'm anti-chrome) and having grab & go crockery nicely arranged on shelves, and although it all needs dusting, there's incentive to keep it clean and orderly so there are no no-go forgotten cupboards. I love your collection of photos!

Julie@beingRUBY said...

HI Jane
Well I think I like the feel of a rustic kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of the home [well it was when i was growing up]. Somewhere to sit and chat as well as prepare the meals. And.. as much as i like the rustic.. i also like the simplicity of the easy clean.. haha somewhere in between I think.
Have a great weekend. x Julie

the southern hostess said...

Love your dishes!

Jacqueline @ HOME said...

Those dishes are, as you said, very English Royal Doulton, which is very collectable and pretty expensive.
I love these kitchens. I like both rustic and modern. The trouble is, kitchens are very greasy places, and all of the clutter does get quite greasy an then the dust sticks to the grease and....yuk. !! XXXX

jane said...

i love them all! now i feel like redecorating... happy weekend!

Millie said...

Just a delightful collection Jane! Your Mum has great style, she really lets her personality shine through via her dresser display. I'm not an open shelf girl, unless I traded in Mr. Untidy aka MOTH.
Millie ^_^

Laura said...

I love that arrangement of celery stalks...so appropriate and wonderfully imaginative! You clearly have inherited your wonderful style from your mother. I think you and I have virtually identical tastes in kitchens...I particularly love that stainless steel one, and I absolutely yearn for the storage solution in that last photo. How perfectly organized my life would be if that were mine! I could deal with the dusting...perhaps...in exchange for such a wonderful room.

kate said...

love these kitchens! i love the one with the frames against the rustic wall...

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