You may crave a country kitchen, with dented wood and a soothing Aga.

You may enjoy a kitchen where all the accoutrement are hidden, just as a magician makes their assistant disappear.

You may fear lemon juice for fear of staining your carefully crafted concrete island .

But your kitchen, is your home.

Here is an example of breathtaking design, beautiful and overtly open, filled with ocean breezes and sunlight. Sigh. At the time of writing it is on the books of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty in Double Bay (now there’s a mouthful for a story about kitchens). It’s in Sydney’s coastal Bronte, and you can read all the nuts and bolts on the listing, and let me assure you, they are GORGEOUS nuts and bolts.

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But this is an homage to the wonders of kitchens.

Here are the things I love about kitchens, and I have been lucky enough to inspect some of the most amazing kitchens in Australia, and lingered in more than a few of my family’s.

A kitchen is where somehow or other, you can turn love into a quiche, or a roast or a souffle.

In a kitchen a broken heart can be stuck back together – at least for a while.

In a kitchen a furry friend with a wet nose lingers with hope in his eyes, and a slowly wagging tail.

In a kitchen you can talk about difficult things without having to make eye contact, while plaiting pastry over a pie shell.

In a kitchen you can gather more than ingredients, you can bring together the people you love, and bask in the joy of sharing love, food, wine and time, while a plate of goodies is devoured, refilled, and devoured once again.

In a kitchen a stolen kiss tastes even more delicious.

In a kitchen, for some reason, it is easier to laugh about disaster – whether it be wimpy red wine jus, or a lost job.

And finally, kids in the kitchen. I don’t care about mess, I never really have, and there is no greater mess than a kitchen full of kids; your kids, the next door neighbours’ kids, kids from school mooching about for a piece of cake, kids with breathless news and whispered secrets. It happened in my kitchen. The heart of my home.