The Kitchn Archive: Feb 2015

From cobalt and aqua to robin’s egg and navy, blue is one of our favorite colors. But you might not see it in the kitchen quite as often as some other hues — especially when it comes to cabinets. Shake off the traditional white or gray, and go bold as we explore a look we love: kitchens with bright blue cabinets. Then, don’t forget to tell us which color we should investigate next!

Any small kitchen that looks this lovely is a major win in our book. We love it even more when we discover that the details we’re looking at are mostly budget picks — pine shelves from The Home Depot and cabinets from IKEA. But what about that pretty gray floor? When the owner pulled up the old linoleum, she discovered there was hardwood beneath. However, it was in really bad shape and couldn’t be refinished, so instead she did something really smart.

Call it a residential hazard, but I will never get tired of seeing the insides (specifically, the kitchens) of other homes in Brooklyn. There’s something amazing about getting the chance to peek behind the scenes of the brownstones, lofts, and high rises that make up this borough. You find lovely surprises — like this well-designed kitchen that has a lot to recommend it to our attention. And this kitchen, while small by many standards, seems expansive by New York standards.

Who: Charlie Marshall of The Marshal Where: Manhattan, New York See his kitchen: Chef Charlie Marshall’s Tiny, Well-Ordered New York City Kitchen A major feature in Charlie Marshall’s small kitchen is his kitchen cart, placed against the far wall. What’s notable about this cart is its solid wire construction, butcher block top, and the three pull-out drawers on the top shelf.

I live right next to Quang Ba flower market, the central flower market for all of Hanoi, Vietnam. On a regular day, the street around the market comes alive late at night: flowers will be delivered to the market after midnight, resellers load up trucks, motorbikes, and bicycles in the early morning, and the rest of the day a trickle of tourists, shoppers, and passers-by stroll through the market. But for the weeks leading up to Tet, the flower market has been completely different.

Who cooks and eats here: Chef Charlie Marshall of The Marshal Where: Manhattan, New York Chef Charlie’s mantra — do more with less — is nowhere more evident than in his tiny New York City kitchen. Space constraints are a reality for most New Yorkers, and it’s no different for Charlie. He has very little countertop space, and no dishwasher — quite a different setup than at his Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, The Marshal.

I have a large dish cabinet that has taken on piles of prep bowls, odds-and-ends (like vitamins and water bottles!), and nice serving dishes that don’t see much use because they’re buried. This is just one of the cabinets in my kitchen that needs help. I’ve set out to pare down, categorize, shift to underused cabinets, and provide easy access to everything. Erratic piles, be gone!