Like many young couples when they buy a house, Charlott and David Wyatt found that it pays to do one thing well and do it at the outset. Mrs. Wyatt loves to cook and enter- tain and her ambition was to have a light, cheerful kitchen where she, her husband and guests could be comfortable while the rest of the house went through its growing pains. So it made sense to concentrate the bulk of the immediate budget in that one room. Costs were kept under control by Mrs. Wyatt's unfeminine strategy of making up her mind first as to what she wanted and sticking to it. And she was completely realistic about both her space and her requirements. "I fooled around, pen in hand," she says, "until the kitchen I wanted came through." Then she worked closely with architect Robert McCracken and RCA Whirlpool to achieve a personal, practical kitchen that has everything on her list: a big, smooth, unobstructed counter; a pivotal work area where she can swing from oven to counter, refrigerator to sink; an island with chairs where people can sit and talk to her without being in the way; and, of course, good equipment. Her requirements in that realm: the carefree qualities of both a dishwasher and a disposer, a combination wall refrigerator-freezer (she was willing to wait until the model she liked was available), two wall ovens, one electric and one gas (to give her the advantages of both types of cooking heat and be independent of possible power failure), an electric cooking top, a washer- dryer and as much compact, easy- to-reach storage as the kitchen could comfortably accommodate.
Pink is Mrs. Wyatt's favorite color and the kitchen, she says, "was the only room where I felt I could use it without upsetting my husband." That the effect is crisp, not sugarplum, is due to the fact that Carnation Pink countertops, floor, shutters and chair cushions are relieved by lots of white in cabinets, curtains, and brick wallpaper, and by the burnished metal hardware. According to Mrs. Wyatt, Chicago gets no award for being dirt-free, so she chose easy-to-clean Robbins vinyl floor tile, laminated plastic countertops. Storage is designed for her 5′ 5′′ height. Cabinets over island hold glasses, seasonings. Pots, pans and dishes are by the cooking top. Especially valuable: a storage wall of stacked cabinets in alternating pink and white with adjustable shelves for good china and silver serving pieces.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | June 1959
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