When we first walked into the old Craftsman bungalow with the real estate agent, we were all pulled, as if by a magnet, into the kitchen. It’s a long room with windows on two sides, looking out across the deck to the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Mountains. It instantly felt like a room we could live in. We bought the house.

The shelves and counters have a certain amateur handyman quality to them, and there aren’t enough drawers, and most of the cupboards are so high I need a ladder to get anything down, but I love this kitchen. I love the light, especially in the afternoons when we’re cooking, and I love the bright aquamarine walls. Jon’s grandmother’s kitchen table sits in the corner, and we had the brilliant idea of moving a small sofa into the facing corner by the largest window. Some days I barely leave this room at all. The cats like it too.

We have quite a lot of cooking gear, but I’m not very fond of special gadgetry. What I particularly love are our old cast iron pans, Le Creuset pots (some handed down in the family), and pottery made by friends and local craftspeople. Good wooden spoons, a vast selection of knives and a Y vegetable peeler are in constant use. We have a flat-bottom Joyce Chen wok which is acquiring a remarkably good patina.

Most of our equipment is either handed down, gifted, or bought at IKEA or our local kitchen store Gretchen’s, but I’ve found some of our favorite stuff for sale at Amazon, if you’re looking for a particular item yourself.

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