Our list of perpetual projects includes a kitchen remodel someday. I collect images of inspiration constantly, but yesterday Ikea posted the best kitchen on the Swedish Ikea blog. They call it Jam Factory. Everything I know about this kitchen is based on the Google Chrome translation from Swedish to English, so be gentle.
This kitchen has a lot of work space and a lot of storage space. There is plenty of room for a few stock pots. There are lots of shelves to store your jammed treasures and several baskets of lemons and limes. There are fresh herbs within an arm’s reach so you can tarragon your cherry preserves or basil up your strawberry marmalade. Over the island, they hung good lighting, which comes in handy if you find yourself hulling strawberries in the wee hours of the morning. There is a scale to measure your ingredients by weight, of course. I spotted a jelly bag draining on a shelf and at least nine different kinds of large metal spoons. I only hope there is a commercial stove just out of the photo’s frame with six big burners on so you can process everything at once and an oven so you can bake enough bread to eat all the jam. See more photos of the jam factory & links to all the Ikea pieces you need to build your own here. We were in no way compensated by Ikea for this post.
Photo: Carl Kleiner for Ikea
krista and jess 
My first thought: it looks pretty, but with everything out in the open like this, things are going to get dusty. If it’s your dream kitchen, I hope you get it though.
The dust issue is an important consideration with open shelving. I can see it being a major annoyance if this kitchen were real. Our real future dream kitchen plan includes a section of open shelving for things that move quickly, and closed cabinets for everything else. In the way that a rolling stone gathers no moss, plates and cups I use every day will not have time to get dusty. Another consideration is that home-canned goods should be kept in the dark for long-term storage, but for short-term jam admiration, this is better than adequate.
Oh, I’m glad I’m not the only one who started critiquing this photo. It is pretty but unless I quit my job, there’s no way it would stay that way!
I also love the phrase “short-term jam admiration”.
*drool* Yes, there are some practicality improvements needed, but…. *want*
My thoughts exactly…
I don’t think that with all the jam-making going on that 2 hotspots on the stove will be enough?! ;-)
Pretty it is, and so cozy (and don’t we just love cozy kitchens) – but having a kitchen myself without any exhaust hood I have personally knowledge of how bad things can get. You will soon find out that dust is the least of your problems ;-) – the fat layer of cooking grease on practically EVERYTHING is much much worse. Trust me on that LOL ! :P
Ha, you’re right about the layer of grease everywhere. The stove that I imagine just out of the frame would of course have a powerful hood vented to the outdoors. Interesting note on the hot plate… I know some master jammers who keep a two-burner hot plate in addition to their stove for jam and pickle making. You can sterilize bands and lids or make up an extra batch of brine quickly without getting too close to the waterbath canner.
Everything that Princess and Jess said. Hood is needed. Awesome stove is needed. Hot plates are seriously awesome.
Sounds nice – but yeah, you would probably need a little somethin’ somethin’ for that layer of grease … Unless, ofc, you had a kitchen like that ONLY for jam and pickle making. Now wouldn’t that be nice! ;-)
Yes! Second kitchen!!!
A farming family we’re friends with has a quasi-kitchen off their real kitchen. It has a deep sink, a hood, four burners, and thats about it. They do all their canning in there, and process maple syrup, and all that sort of activities. It’s quite useful. They also have the other corner of the room set up as a greenhouse. That room has about 6 major functions.
So glad it isn’t real! I was already measuring…!!!
That *is* a really pretty and organized kitchen. But. I’m just not seeing much counter space besides those two islands in the middle. Unless this is an interesting butler’s pantry/secondary canning-type kitchen…
Maybe it’s just me, but I need space for my jar prep (as they’re getting filled pre-canner) and for post-canning cool down and space for the cutting board(s) and the Squeezo attached to the counter with the giant bowls catching stuff and the perpetual box(es) of fruit/veggie that’s sitting on the counter or dining table.
It looks a bit like a BnB sort of kitchen – mostly for admiration purposes, although real cooking does go on. My Mom had one – albeit scaled down – and it was a stone (well, you know!) to keep clean.
She was able – and did – turn out some of the most amazing yummies, though.
I’m so glad this discussion injected a bit of reality into my dreams! I was ready to start ripping the doors off my cabinets until I heard the word ‘dust’…