Real kitchens tell real stories.

Not the ones staged for lighting, counters rearranged for Instagram. I mean, the kitchens that look like someone actually lives there.

A real kitchen remembers things.

It remembers last night’s dishes in the sink because you were too tired to finish them, and the assortment of magnets on the fridge from faraway places. It remembers the recipes you learned the hard way. A real kitchen remembers who taught you how to cook and who did not. It remembers the days you cried into messy pantries and the way you lean against the counter, eating cold leftovers after shitty days at work. It remembers the dance breaks, the late-night munchies, and the window painted shut from decades of renovations.

Real kitchens are a reflection of real lives.

If you listen closely, your kitchen will show you what season you are in, what you are craving, what you have been avoiding, and what you are ready to grow into next. This year, I am paying attention.