Kitchen storage design solutions

Image excerpt from Fine Homebuilding Drawing Board column about uncluttered kitchens

Look for my "Drawing Board" column about designing uncluttered kitchens in the August/September 2010 issue of Fine Homebuilding on newsstands now. In it, I illustrate storage strategies that work for small and larger kitchens. Learn how to keep clutter at bay, so you can enjoy a sunlit, airy kitchen. Click here for a PDF of the design column. Issue #213, August/September 2010. Reprinted with permission copyright 2010, The Taunton Press, Inc.

Click here to see the KHS Salem Antique: Kitchen Renovation featured in the column. Visit the KHS publications page to see other magazine columns and articles I've written.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Essex Antiquing: Scenic Highlights and Americana Antiques

The third installment of my Essex, Mass. travelogue video series features Americana Antiques and some bonus scenic highlights. Americana has been a purveyor of antiques and collectibles for 41 years. Tune in for a taste of Essex – its clam shacks and Americana’s antique blanket chests.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast and North Shore Art Throb

July 2010 in Provincetown at the PAAM

There's a lot to keep a house and garden enthusiast happily occupied in Provincetown this month at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM).

Next weekend catch the PAAM Secret Garden Tour and companion Art of the Garden exhibit of floral works selected from the Museum's permanent collection. This year's tour features west-end gardens and a special lecture by gardening expert Suzy Bales.  

If you're fortunate enough to have more time available in P'town, check out the Gathering: Art about Architecture exhibit (June 25-August 29). It explores "art by three architects and architecture by three artists," including work by John Hejduk, Serge Chermayeff, John M. Johansen, Angela Dufresne, Peter Hutchinson, and Michelle Weinburg. Drop by the opening reception Friday, July 9, 2010, 8-10pm.

Meanwhile, have a great 4th of July holiday!

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Samuel Chamberlain Award at Marblehead Festival of Arts 2010

Some twelve years ago when we were new to Marblehead, I strolled Washington Street in Old Town and noticed an irresistible little book in the window of the local used book store. It was a thin, hardbound collection of black and white photography entitled Old Marblehead by Samuel Chamberlain. 

I dashed inside the shop and thumbed through the book’s yellowed, diminutive pages from 1940 and discovered that the brick building I had been calling home was once owned by a sea captain who “commanded the boat which rowed Washington across the Delaware,” and, “It is said to contain an authentic McIntire mantel.” My building and its street, captured in black and white, covered in snow, in what must have been the late 30s, was nearly unchanged. It was as if time had grabbed me by my collar and shown me my place in the continuum. 

Thus was my first encounter with the “American Landmarks” series from Hastings House, featuring the photography and writing of Marblehead’s Samuel Chamberlain, who originally trained as an architect at MIT before becoming a successful printmaker, photographer and author. It was also the first I had heard of Salem’s famed architect and woodcarver Samuel McIntire. I’ve gone on to collect a number of autographed Chamberlain books and to peruse several McIntire carvings and buildings.

Stumbling upon Chamberlain’s charming book of architectural vignettes, rich with history, shared in a personable tone, filled me with a profound sense of belonging. As a young aspiring architect and photographer, raised in an early 1800’s New England colonial, I had found where and what I was supposed to be. This little book seemed to tell me so.

Fast forward to today, and I'm reminded again of my place in the continuum; one of the photos I submitted to this year’s Marblehead Festival of Arts Photography Exhibit won the 2010 Samuel Chamberlain Award. 

If you find yourself in the area, please join me at the Award’s Night Presentation on Thursday, July 1 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm on the grounds of Abbot Hall and then at the Artists’ Reception for Photography afterwards at Old Town House.

The exhibit will be open throughout the Festival. Visit the event website for more information.  Hope to see you there.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Progress at Katie’s beginner (idjit) garden

At my beginner gardening class (offered free through Salem Community Gardens) I was the representative novice. Lisa, our instructor, asked me point blank, “Did you know that pickles are made from cucumbers?” Much to my embarrassment, this idjit gardener had to stop and think about it. That’s Lisa’s new litmus test for the beginner gardener.

After years of admiring the gardens of accomplished gardeners and failing to retain much of the wisdom they tried to share with me, I’m realizing anew that there’s really nothing quite like doing something, to learn about it. Bits of gardening advice I’ve heard only faintly in the past are beginning to resonant with new meaning as I plant, weed, harvest, transplant and inspect the little wonders in my two, four-foot by four-foot, raised-bed plots.

Part of the joy of it is the small scale, the limited negative consequences of the results, and the discovery of something so vast, patiently waiting for me to recognize its simple truths. The garden’s once nearly imperceptible-to-me whisper is becoming a louder and clearer call.

Here’s the latest video of my gardening experiment. Give it a look, but, more importantly, give gardening a try yourself, if you haven’t already. If you’re an old hand, keep digging, and consider sharing some tips on the Katie Hutchison Studio Facebook Page.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast