Richard has fiercely hung on to creating my kitchen from scratch… we discuss (vigorously? passionately?) the pros and cons of a flat pack kitchen. My nephew buys and installs, in just a few days, a brand new kitchen in his existing house. I am swayed – wooed by the promise of a short time frame. Perhaps also enticed by being able to use the Ikea software to design, ‘construct’, and select the whole kitchen in a few hours. I would be able to ‘see’ it, play around with combinations of cabinet and drawer sizes, try various drawer front colours, materials, styles…

My beloved husband holds fast and starts designing my kitchen on his antiquated drafting software. I begin to collect images of kitchen ideas I like.

Part of me wishes I had kept a journal of the process. The joys, the tears, the disparate views and the final coming together. Our creative process. Two talented, passionate people each trying to make their mark on what will essentially be the heart of our home. A shared project, the maker and the ‘client’, working towards a unified vision. But I suspect such a record would also include tears, tantrums, a few dummy spits, and some hands flung into the air in frustration. I might have said ‘but it’s MY kitchen’ a few times. I could perhaps be referred to by some (a little unkindly I think) as a typical ‘client from hell’. And my mostly patient husband might have lost it once or twice…

But really, what does all that matter, when finally, we arrive. The format and layout of the cabinets is agreed. The overall design is finalised. The drawer and cupboard front materials and style are determined. The benches are, well…

Richard agrees to outsource the solid timber benches (reclaimed forest reds) as ‘blanks’ that he can cut to size, join and install and we can sand and oil ourselves, thus still putting our ‘stamp’ on this component – and SAVING some time. We decide to bleach the Tassie oak face frames, drawer fronts and cupboard doors to achieve the ‘whitewashed’ look I have my heart set on (but cannot achieve with conventional whitewash paints), again putting our creative stamp on the kitchen – but ADDING more time.

What we are creating together will take AGES. Overall we have added more processes than we have saved; aspects the average person would not even think of including in what should be a straight forward kitchen construction. But what we are creating together will be a standout kitchen. Our compromise, finally agreeable to both, is going to be an outstanding and extraordinary success.

And this, in all its pain and glory, is Richard’s legacy. We cannot achieve that depth of creativity, craftsmanship, fine detail and quality (and all its ‘oohs and aahs’) if all we focus on is practicality.

So, I give in to craftsmanship (legacy) for the kitchen and vow to work harder at letting it go on the things that don’t matter quite so much.