Mattie & Den's kitchen, which they share with their son, Mackie, is bursting with creativity and life. The cabinet doors are frames for lotería posters and Mexican matchbox postcards. The stove cost them $10 at a thrift store (and yes, it actually works). The kitchen is both well-loved and well-used, as evidenced by the French toast photo.
It takes a lot of devotion to maintain a kitchen like this one (we can't imagine how long a good cleaning must take). Still, we'd rather eat one meal here than a hundred in a super-sterile magazine kitchen. Tell us about the personal touches that make your kitchen homey!
Check out Mattie & Den's Flickr page for more photos of their "casita."
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Comments (66)
i love the floor!
The kitchen that threatens serious retina injury.....I love it. Kitchens don't have to be minimalist utilitarian alcoves for cooking, they can be fun, warm and colourful.
It's charming and GORGEOUS. I love this kind of colour and creativity! Mmmm on the counter tiles!
testing out the comment guidelines on this one?? lol.
i think it is fun. this is nothing i would do since it is way out there... but i can say this... i have stuff. and i put my kids' artwork on the fridge. i am getting ready to shoot pics of my kitchen re-do and almost pulled their artwork down... but thought, hey, it is OUR kitchen and this is how we live. i am a real person and my house is a real house. no staging going on here.
kudos to them for being brave, and as the kiddos say, keeping it real.
nice and bright, but how do you get anything done with knick-knacks covering every work surface in the kitchen? they must be immaculate cooks; I'd spend hours wiping grease and splatters off of everything.
I love it. It's colorful and warm and live a and fun.
what an inviting and cozy kitchen, that is a kitchen you can walk right into and feel right at home...Love it!
it looks like a lot of fun meals are cooked here!
I think I'd lose my food mid-prep...that said, I LOVE this kitchen.
LOVE IT. May I come for breakfast? Like, now?
Yay! I love it. It's like a knick-knack museum!
sensory overload.
i agree with pp about how often i would be screwing up that kitchen with food going EVERYWHERE!
but i think it's very pretty :)
Fantastic. So warm and personal! And I don't even usually like open shelving. I bet their kid loves it too!
Holy Cow! That's A LOT of stuff. I am amazed with myself with how much I like it. Not my normal style at ALL. But hey, for some reason it screams for the family to be together laughing, making memories and nourishing their stomachs and souls. And isn't that what we want no matter the kitchen style?
IThe window is so beautiful. The minimalist in me is getting edgy tho.
I like it, but I think I'd go crazy actually living there. I'm not a clutter-phobe by any means, and I can see that they have some REALLY neat stuff (love love love the stove) but I can't quite enjoy it all because there's too much of it.
Also, that cow creamer in the window sill, in the third picture? My mom had that same one when I was a kid. It had a matching...something or other. A sugar dish? I think maybe it was another cow with a head that came off as a lid? I can't quite remember. But if I ever see one like it in a flea market, it's mine. Mwah hahahahaha.
Ditto, @madsarah. What a fun, soulful, unique kitchen. And reminiscent of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's Casa Azul in Coyocan (though Frida's house looks minimalist in comparison).
can you imagine when you cook in there and the food splatters all over the nice things? ugh, i wouldn't want to be cleaning up that mess.
Me encanta! This place has so much life. I'd never get bored cooking in this kitchen...
It's totally not my style, and I could never live in it, but i appreciate it ... almost like a work of art.
And I now have a crush on your stove :)
I think it's really fun! It makes me think of an Eastern European kitchen run by a funkadelic "Babushka". Super cool.
Sometimes things can be so visually crazy and 'busy' that the whole thing kinda blends together and you tune it out to some extent. It's sort of like how city noise tends to blend together after awhile, though it can seem unbearable to those who aren't used to it.
Definitely a lot of personality.
I think a massive house tour is in order in the name of stylistic balance if nothing else!
I loooooove it!
It's fantastic. It reminds me of PeeWee's Playhouse. Really fun for kids.
Ever since I had a job cleaning houses, I've been obsessed with keeping my kitchen as minimalist and easy-to-clean as possible. (And I still twitch at the thought of deep-fryers.)
However, that kitchen looks lovely, and if they're happy cleaning all that stuff, good for them.
The tiles are great, in that you get the busy colorful look and it's still easy to keep clean. They look like they were hand-made, and probably have great stories behind them.
I love full and colorful places so I rather like this one too, also with its great fairy tale - retro - childhood feeling. But I can't help thinking it crossed a fine line where gathering and exhibiting details became a bit compulsive, like a goal on its own. (My only real objection however is the fridge; it's kinda gross!)
But all in all it makes me think my own kitchen might be a lot more sterile than I thought... hmm... cure time?
What fun! No one can say I have too many magnets on my fridge!
This is waay to crowded for me, but I loved its warmth and sincerity!
It does not not one bit cluttered, because every single thing seems to have its own place. Colors come together very nicely, too.
Must be like living inside a hidden object game =)).
At first I didn't like it but after viewing the rest of their home on Flicker, it all made sense and I felt the warmth. I wouldn't want to clean it but I definitely love it!
I guess if you're going to go this route, you should go all the way! Personally I like the countertop tiles the best - very fun!
Oh wow....how do they clean??
I could get a few fun ideas from here, but all together in one place is a little too much for me, and my eyes. But I agree, its WAY better than the sterile/staged rooms I've seen.
The entire house is a work of art. What an incredible place.
I like the tile on the countertops and the chicken cameo in the window. Otherwise I can't concentrate on much else, but you know what? If that house defines them, they seem like pretty colorful guests to have round for dinner.
Fun, happy kitchen. I like it. I would love to be invited for a meal.
It would be cool to be a friend visiting, but I could NEVER live there. I think it says they're creative, fun and the complete opposite of anal, but also a bit wacky (in a good way) though it's making me uncomfortable to even imagine myself having to cook there. LOL
Holy cannoli! I feel like I had a psychedelic trip! Fascinating but not soothing, so not for me. But amazing, nonetheless!
I can appreciate the clever and thoughtful concept, but the intensity of such a space...I believe it would make my head explode were I forced to live there. My compliments to the creators, though.
Ok, you can tell the colors have driven that kid to hyperactivity. **Just kidding**
Not my style, but I kinda like it. It works.
I like it, but I also imagine trying to scrub kitchen grime off of all those little surfaces.
Oh wow man, that's crazy a$$ acid!
I really love it!
Your son is so lucky to have such creative parents! How fun! I love all the color and character brought to your kitchen! What a happy way to start the day! My daughter will be so envious when I show her your pictures!
YIKES! I'm dizzy. But I imagine some awesome meals come out of that kitchen.
*jaw dropped*
this is something out of the back of my imagination.
shhhhh dont tell my boyfriend.
if i could get away with this i would. but knowing me i would stick to three major colors.
cause right now i feel as if i rubbed my eyes really hard and really fast and im see a kaleidescope.
Wow!
Lots of personality here, HIGH FIVE to these homeowners for embracing who they are and what they love and living authentically.
AMEN.
wait.. is that a peeping poultry i spy out the kitchen window?? that is fantastic. it's like he looks.. sad to be outside.
yeah, those tiles are fun. one of those warm, welcoming chick.. i mean, kitchens.. i'd *love* to visit in. (honest typo, but i left it..). holy canoli.. where do you people *find* these $10. stoves??
my own galley-ish 30's kitchen has (albeit older) the same black and white checkerboard tiles i'm always alternatingly fighting/making lamb to.. maybe i should just give in?..
I love what Mattie & Den have done here. The room is fantastic, and every time I get a glimpse of it, it makes me do the Snoopy happy dance.
they must have a cleaning person...
This kitchen is made of win, win and win.
not at all my style, and i am utterly in love with it :-D wow, that is one kitchen to wake up in in the morning!
full of surprises, there IS a method to the madness, and it may be busy but it feels clean
breakfast looks delicious
I like the turkey.
This makes me so happy.
I love kitsch, but this is kitsch overload to me. I couldn't live with it personally, but if it makes them happy, then I say be happy!
I guess this is one of those things that you have to really go all out. If you had maybe a quarter or half of that stuff displayed, you would think it was too much clutter...put it away. This is over the top, so it works. It may not be for me, but it is definitely a visual a mood lifter!
That's amazing! It's so bright and amazingly cheerful, and wow, I'd actually cook if I had a kitchen like that!
Sorry, can't see the forest for the trees.
Or is it the other way around? "Trees for the forest."
I am a collector of Fiestaware myself and about five years ago my fine art involved Loteria cards as well....so I just fell in love with Mattie & Den's sensibility. It reminds me vaguely of The La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Feliz, too....The reason I feel it works is not just the superb use of color but the fact that it has an orderly and very clean appearance here...but I agree with the other posters that keeping the grease buildup off of all these chotchkes would be tough and add extra work even if you had domestic help.
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com
Another Fiesta collector here, although not nearly as brave a decorator as Mattie & Den.
Gutsy job, Mattie & Den. Boldness is its own reward!
Reminds of the stuff in the book "Pad: The Guide to Ultra Living"...
I love it. Completely impractical. It's perfect ;)
I LOVE the stove! It looks like the one Lucy
Ricardo had! (623 East 68th Street!!! Anyone else in love with their apartment?)
I absolutely loathe my own kitchen, and I so wish this one was mine, with my own photos, of course!
Really fun, but it seems like it would be really hard if you lost something small like a pair of keys... it would just blend in with everything! I love tours like this though when people actually have STUFF everywhere, fridges covered, counters covered. Beautiful.