I’m Dreaming of a White Kitchen

WHITE SUBWAY TILE, WHITE SHIPLAP, WHITE CARRARA MARBLE AND WHITEWASHED SHAKER STOOLS. Call me predictable, or just call me a cottage-style purist through and through. But I love me a beautiful white kitchen.

There’s just an indisputable timelessness to an all-white cook space.

It’s not that I don’t embrace style trends or dare to take a chance with something fun and fresh. My kitchen hardware has been brushed chrome, brass and, most recently, cement. My light fixtures at the moment are glass and matte gold, and my dishes and rugs? Well, they are a revolving cast of supporting yet sometimes spotlight-stealing stars: colorful Turkish numbers or bold mudcloth options. Delicate antique china and hand-thrown bowls have graced my open shelves, as have speckled enamel camping mugs, or hand-painted ceramics in a delightful mix of flowers and checks.

Like many of you, I want my kitchen and bathrooms to be smart, hardworking and stylish. I want to find a way to invest in my kitchen design so that it pays off for me in multiple ways and yet is still a canvas for my personal style.

We put this issue together with that in mind. Whether your tastes run to the period-authentic or the bold and colorful, I hope you find ideas, designs and décor that appeal to both your pragmatic and your artistic natures. After all, I believe we can have our cake and eat it too—in the kitchen.