I came across that american classic film Field of Dreams from 1989 (“If you build it he will come”) the other day. As a business strategy, I would suggest that the approach is seriously flawed. But I’ve been spending a lot of time in my kitchen lately and when it comes to kitchens the approach may be just the ticket.

In the sense that you (and those that you live with) are well… already home and so the risks of whether or not ‘he/she/they will come’ are pretty negligible and especially in our mid-pandemic state, the kitchen is in focus.

In our Danish approach to design and architecture we focus on the core attributes associated with that approach (Simple, Smart Function, Beautiful) and with kitchens FUNCTION takes the front seat as it needs to be the most functional room in a home. But if you’re like me I tend to envision the kitchen also as a social hub bringing family and friends together, albeit within pandemic guidelines these days, while exploring and sharing food and drinks. That’s where the ‘hygge’ kicks in :).

In that way, and like many things in our homes, if our kitchen does not function well or it is complicated to navigate or rather than inspiring us it feels drab or creates frustration then we are far more likely to look forward to our favourite restaurant or take out experience and it reinforces the feeling that we are not really cut out for cooking or baking.

Given these last months of challenge and where we have all been doing our best to look after each other by staying away from each other, the kitchen has for some been the saving grace in finding a reinvigorated and comforting place in a world that has been turned upside down. For others though the kitchen remains a source of frustration and reinforcement of a disbelief in one’s ability to create anything edible let alone delicious at home. For those in the ‘frustrated’ category, we tend to believe the road to upending that frustration is to start not with new recipes but with a “Field of Dreams” making sure your kitchen is both super functional and also makes you feel inspired to cook.

So we offer this adaptation of Kevin Costner’s mysterious whisperer in the corn fields of Iowa…

“If you build your kitchen to function simply and efficiently and then make it beautiful and surround yourself with things that inspire you along with a candle or two and some family or friends… you will cook something wonderful!”