Bungalow Kitchens (pb)

The kitchen was and is the most complex room in the house. The demands placed on it in the first decade of the twentieth century are nothing compared to today's demands. Then it was essentially a workroom, a utilitarian space, yet far more complicated than the rest of the house.

During the Arts & Crafts movement, it was believed that family life would center in the living room around the hearth. Today, the kitchen has supplanted the living room as the central place in our homes. Not only must it be functional, it is seen as a gathering place for family and guests, a status symbol, a place for projects, and a vehicle for self-expression.

There are many reasons to have a bungalow kitchen-to either restore the one that is there or to build a new one in a period way. Bungalow kitchens are an important piece of history-the history of the house, of the twentieth century, of women, and of technology. And because of their simplicity, usefulness, honesty of design and materials, they can easily be made to function for the twenty-first century without compromising their integrity.

Jane Powell is a restoration consultant, house restorer, lecturer, and author of six books, including Bungalow Kitchens, Bungalow Bathrooms, Bungalow Details: Exterior, Bungalow Details: Interior, Bungalow: The Ultimate Arts and Crafts Home, and Linoleum.

As a hands-on restorer, she has brought ten vintage homes back to life and sold them to appreciative buyers, and continues the ongoing restoration of her own home, the 1905 Jesse Matteson house. The practical experience of restoring houses has armed her with the kind of concrete knowledge that can only be gained by screwing up, and thus she is uniquely qualified to help her clients avoid many of the pitfalls that go along with restoring an older home. As a restoration consultant, she has helped homeowners as well as house museums with their kitchens, bathrooms, interior and exterior paint colors, and other aspects of restoration and renovation.

She has written for magazines including Old House Journal, Style 1900, and American Bungalow. She writes a monthly column as well as feature articles for the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, and her opinion pieces have appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet, the Oakland Tribune, and on oaklandnews.com. She has also appeared on HGTV's Curb Appeal and Food Network's Ultimate Kitchens. She lives in Oakland, California.

Linda Svendsen was a renowned photographer for more than 30 years. She traveled to all seven continents, bringing back this planet's most captivating images of peoples, lands and wildlife. Her work has been published in the form of calendars, posters, jigsaw puzzles, note cards, and books, which showcase her architectural photography and are sold worldwide. She was also a commercial photographer of note who specialized in architectural interior and exterior photography as well as product, food, aerial and stock photography.

Linda's books include Bungalow Kitchens, Bungalow Bathrooms, Camps & Cottages, Vintage Victorian Textiles, Bicycle Around the World, Good Green Homes, Linoleum, The Victorian Dining Room, Bungalow Details: Exterior, Bungalow Details: Interior, Along Bungalow Lines, Bungalow: The Ultimate Arts and Crafts Home, Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area, and Beyond the Bungalow.