Design Starts With Purpose

II - Kitchen Ideas
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While I was typing out today’s title, “Design Starts with Purpose” I couldn’t help but think about Proverbs 25:11 –

An idea well-expressed is like a design of gold, set in silver.” (Good News Translation)

 There is no other room in the house more important to the life of the home than the kitchen. For years, it has continued to evolve into more than just the place to eat and enjoy meals, but it is (even more so) the “Gathering Place” for family and friends to experience the HEART of the HOME.

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When I’m having that initial consultation, asking the homeowners what they want in redesigning or redecorating their kitchen, one of the first questions I ask is this:  “What ideas do you have for this kitchen?” Some responses are:

To have plenty of counter space

To have space for a long table with plenty of seating

To have ample storage – cabinets, drawers

To have room for a hutch

To have modern appliances

To have everything simple and organized

To have additional seating room – for a couch, chairs, etc.

They start telling me all that they are wanting to add or to simply “have” in their kitchen. And of course, I’m steadily writing it all down.

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But then I ask the same question, another way –

“When you think of what you’d like for people to experience in this room, other than eating, what comes to mind?”

Then I get answers like:

To feel wanted

To feel at home

To feel comfortable

To feel happy

To feel invited

To laugh, to eat, to share stories, 

To bond

ii-kitchen-english-cottage

Now we are getting closer to how true design starts. It always starts with “PURPOSE.”  What is the real purpose for this room? We tend to think of purpose as the “function or use.” But you know, God has a purpose for all of our lives and that purpose is more than just “getting the job done.”  That purpose is more than how He wants to use us. It is more than accomplishing the works He has for us each day. No, His purpose for each of our lives has been designed to submerge and saturate our entire life into “Experiencing HIM.”  To know Him.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Ephesians 1:17

In our homes, the #1 purpose of our kitchen is to get to know and love one another deeply, from the heart. To have experiences in the kitchen that bind us together, that allow us to be “us” and feel safe.

Kitchens, more than any other room in the house, set the tone of the home. It really does.

If our kitchen is cluttered, chaotic, unclean, not tidy, over loaded, un prepared … it speaks a language. There are words heard in Kaotic-Kitchens and those words matter.

But when the hub and heart of our home – the kitchen – is a well thought out IDEA, that is also well expressed, then it is “like a design of gold set in silver.”  As another translation says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver, so is a word skillfully spoken.”  

Homework:

Look at your kitchen today. Is it a design of gold set in silver? Is it speaking skilled words … words that express the idea YOU have for your kitchen?

Why not grab a sheet of paper and write down the IDEAS you have for your kitchen. Not just the use, but the experiences you want to help encourage in that one room. Then, after you have written it all down…get busy! You may need to purge, declutter and organize. You may need to paint the walls, or paint the cabinets. Are your cabinets overloaded? Is your pantry a disarray?

My friend, Mike Smith, was boasting on his precious wife to me the other day on the phone. He was sharing with me how Nancy organizes the spices alphabetically and keeps such a clean and organized kitchen. To hear a husband share that one truth about his wife let me know …

Nancy has a kitchen design of gold, set in silver and her kitchen is speaking skilled words of “Welcome & love.”

Have fun!

Let’s work in our kitchens for the next 3 days and then, SHARE YOUR PHOTOS on our Facebook group page – 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lisannrippy/

photos came from:

*kitchen ideas blog

*yelp.com

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lisa rippy

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