From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. This piece first aired on 13th September 2024. You can listen to it here.

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If fire marks the beginning of human civilisation then the idea of home really starts with fire, too. Being warm but also cooking food. In medieval Europe, the  great hall had a central fireplace, its smoke curling up and through the roof above, and was used by several families to cook on. This was common around the world, even into the twentieth century in some places, like the circular tulou houses of Fujian province in China in which up to 50 families might live and who cooked communally. Without fire, there was no home. Which is perhaps why we light candles and even run crackling fires on our TV screensavers to evoke the comfort of home.  The cooking fire has now been replaced by the stove and yet it isn’t this that is the greatest source of comfort in a kitchen, however good the food. A comfortable kitchen is all about the ease of access. Having things to hand, at the right height, in the right place. The design of order and accessibility.

In the 1800s, the kitchen was a rather dismal place, tacked on to the back of a house, often separated into the part in which you cooked and the part in which you washed up, the scullery. In Australian country homes, the kitchen was even separate from the house, in an effort to minimise fire risk. How different from today’s showpiece kitchens where everything is proudly displayed and you might even walk through it to get to a stylish sitting room. The kitchen really is the heart of the home.

Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky came up with her ideal kitchen in 1926, known as the Frankfurt kitchen, and it heralded a rational approach to kitchen design. Cupboards were fitted rather than freestanding, and a food preparation area was set below a window for good light and with a swivel stool so that the cook could sit and enjoy the task. The rubbish bin was removable for easy emptying and a range of aluminium storage bins held everything from flour to sugar. It was utilitarian but not stark, and it still looks quite contemporary because its ideas around organisation are still relevant. Others were working in a similar vein, at that time, like American psychologist Lillian Gilbreth who used time and motion studies to come up with the kitchen triangle, where oven, sink and fridge are all within easy reach. These developments have remained as a foundation of good kitchen design. They’re helped by the improvements in kitchen technology with all kinds of ovens, cooktops and small gadgets that make food preparation easier. We expect cupboards with carousel storage, varied bench height suited to different tasks and good lighting. In fact, no other space in the home has undergone such intense scrutiny and development, so perhaps it’s little wonder that we’re so keen to put them on display.

Order, which is not the same as tidiness, is in fact one of the greatest of home comforts in general. To know where things are and to not waste time searching for them is, for some, a challenge, but when implemented in a way that makes sense to the person living there then order in all forms is the home comfort few of us would do without. Which means that an orderly kitchen can look as sterile as a laboratory or as lived-in and characterful as a barn. It still works. The comfort of the kitchen is how it welcomes you into the space and inspires you to cook. To nourish your body primarily while also nourishing your whole being.