I loved the Blondie movies! Blondie also appeared in funny papers as I called them - comic strips of
the escapades of dynamic characters drawn with black ink on white
paper. I loved watching the dad, Dagwood Bumstread, wake up too late, rush
downstairs, grab his toast, caress his son Baby Dumpling, kiss his wife
Blondie as he raced through the house out the front door narrowly
avoiding kicking the cute-as-can-be dog Daisy only to knock-over the
mailman sending mail to spiral toward heaven. The Bumsteads had more
kids, Daisy had puppies, but Dagwood continually caused havoc. His
conduct was predictable and avoidable. But it never changed. Dagwood was
the perfect imperfect man. The Bumsteads lived on a perfect street in
America when we were still involved in the World War II. The show was a
positive relief from the war and gave millions of movie goers
aspirations of family life when the war was over.
Kitchens are a huge part of how we live, where we live, how we present ourselves to others. Years ago houses were compartmentalized with special purpose rooms. There were separate places for family living, sleeping, dining, cooking, and other essentials. Today wall barriers are often removed so that we move through one large living space. Kitchens have become more than just a functional room to prepare and or eat meals. Sometimes they become edifices to reflect our status (like the towers of San Giacomo), platforms to impress our culinary skills, and perhaps bait to date. Let's look at some Key West kitchens and others I've grabbed on Instagram.
804 Whitehead Street kitchen in 1908
Bahama Village Home current day - located about four blocks and one century apart
The home below on Flagler Avenue is indicative of current open living style
Another recent renovation on Hilton Haven has the bonus of a water view - surprisingly unique to our island
I am not going to shock readers by showing the before pictures of this Old Town renovation
Novel houses require novel kitchen solutions as shown in this Casa Roma home
The Old Town house below was turned into an illegal triplex, foreclosed upon, ripped apart and rebuilt with attention to detail in design and construction while being mindful of the environment.
Banyan
The photos below are from Instagram which is a great source of inspiration. Some are absolutely incredible and others are dreadfully repetitive.
Boots
4x4
White on white. White on gray. Gray on white. Natural wood with white and or gray. The sameness is everywhere. I see the same white kitchens in big houses and small houses. I see it in Key West and LA and NYC million dollar listings. Whatever happened to the old fashioned eat in kitchen of Blondie. That is my vision of a kitchen.
