Artful kitchens

We've all seen extravagant kitchens, the kind with granite counter tops, stainless appliances, two sinks, an island, food waste repositories that all but march themselves to the garbage can or compost pile. I've done my share of ooh-ing and ah-ing over design elements, not to mention envying upscale details I would love to have in my plain, generic kitchen.

Rarely, however, have I seen anything as charming as this newly erected  shelf in my Canadian family's kitchen. I saw it for the first time this weekend. With its delicate balance between beautiful and practical, these spice and dry-ingredient holders are as appetizing to the eye as the smell of roasting potatoes is to the nose. The shelf was custom made from baltic birch by my son; the mason-jar type containers were hand painted to reflect their individual ingredients by my daughter-in-law. You'll note that the artist is not quite finished with her project, but that only intensifies the personal statement this feature makes.

I think you'll agree, kitchens can evoke beauty without extravagance.