Julia's Kitchen

Come behind the scenes at Imagelicious for a #KitchenTour and see Julia's kitchen in Thornhill, Ontario.
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Toe kick drawers are my favourite thing about the kitchen. They utilize the space below the bottom drawer and I keep my cutting boards and baking sheets there - it's super useful and my oven is always empty since I don't have to store baking sheets there. My second favourite thing is my sink - it's very deep and big and I can fit a whole frying pan inside - it makes cleaning easier.

Tell us about your kitchen?

I spent hours and days on Pinterest looking for ideas for my kitchen before doing the renovation. It's the heart of the house and I spend a lot of time there, so I wanted it to be not just beautiful, but also very convenient. It's a good size kitchen with every drawer having its purpose. I tried organizing everything without stacking as it was the biggest challenge in my tiny condo space. I like being able to get a pot out without taking anything else out of the drawer.

What have you done to make your kitchen cosy, functional, beautiful or inspiring?

My kitchen is organized around a very beautiful Butcher's Block island. Originally I wanted to actually use it to cut produce, but it's too pretty, so I don't want to ruin it. Everything else is around it - I can dice my veggies, turn around and place them in a frying pan. Then turn to the sink to wash my hands, turn to the other side to grab spices. Everything is organized in a way that I minimize the amount of time needed to gather the ingredients and it inspires me to keep cooking!

How do you keep organized while cooking?

I try to clean up as I go, which could be as simple as just piling everything into my deep sink. But in most cases, I try to put jars back on the shelf, produce - back in the fridge and used bowls in the dishwasher.

Any tips & tricks for organising your pantry, fridge and ingredients?

If possible, don't stack anything. make everything as easily accessible as possible. For example, I knew that I had enough spices that they'd be a few rows deep on my shelf and that would mean that I'd never remember what I have in the second and third row. So, I purchased a special step rack for my spices and it's easy to see everything. For my pantry I chose to have drawers instead of shelves, this way I can easily see everything that is in one drawer by pulling it out.

Do you do a lot of cooking and what are your favourite dishes to make?

Yes, I cook a lot. We rarely eat out. Maybe once or twice a month. On occasion we get prepared food from a Russian grocery store, but rarely do traditional take-out. I cook 3-4 times a week after work and on the weekends. I like making simple dishes that are full of flavour and require minimum amount of ingredients and time. I also love baking!

Where do you turn for new recipe ideas?

Do you plan out your recipes for the week or do you like to be spontaneous?

Spontaneous most of the time. I usually plan when I have dinner parties.

If you had three wishes, what would you do to make this your dream kitchen?

I would add more toe-kick drawers! I would get a second oven. I would get a 6-burner stove.

Whose kitchen would you love to explore? Send us a message!