I have always had a great passion for food, cooking and entertaining – as my friends put it ‘bringing Joy into the kitchen!’. Despite numerous jobs in a corporate environment I felt that something was always bringing me back to my love for health, nutrition and sharing knowledge. After a significant career break in 2013, I took some time travelling. Working in Swaziland I was able to detach myself from the London bubble and came back with a new perspective on what I wanted to achieve in my life going forward.
I am a dreamer! And had many different ideas and plans for setting up something I could call my own, but it was only when I was on holiday with my daughter in Tuscany last summer that KitchenJoy really came to fruition. Although I am not classically trained, I have been cooking for friends, family and loved ones almost all my life!
We did some brain storming (over many glasses of rosé!) and couldn’t believe that we had not come up with this idea before! Now what to do next…all the planning. I wanted to create something within my Chiswick house, so I could share my home with people. In January 2017, an Architect and Construction Engineer came in to prepare plans to extend the existing kitchen further into the garden, and knock down some internal walls.
Despite some headaches, sweat and tears associated with all redevelopments (finding out the foundations were not deep enough and the existing downstairs loo was crumbling away from the outside wall in – argh!) I could finally see the shape coming together a new kitchen emerging!
I wanted to incorporate my personality into the kitchen- keeping it quirky, edgy, contemporary and homely, whilst finishing it with an overall industrial look as a backdrop to the business. When the final stainless steel units were assembled and the appliances installed, things were looking up. The final stage of the fresh concrete worktops laid were literally the icing on the cake!
I hunted around to incorporate bits from all over – buddhas from Africa, hand blown glass light bulbs from the UK, handmade island, bespoke dining table from Surrey, antique dresser from France. The kitchen really is an amalgamation of old and new, each part with its own story (I always have a story!). I am still excitedly waiting on the live wall to arrive!
All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of creating KitchenJoy and quite a journey it has been – though this is only really the beginning! I am so excited to start sharing my passion with others and invite people into my home to share my experience and knowledge of cooking and nourishing your body to support a healthy, yet delicious lifestyle.
