Some people don't care whether their kitchen has personality, let along whether it reflects their own personality. The owner of this kitchen is not one of those people.

I became involved with this kitchen at the very end of the design process: what I call the tweaking phase. Her cabinetmaker had proposed a kitchen that was adequate but cookie-cutter and uninspired: the kitchen needed to live up to the rest of the house in terms of showcasing the owner's adventurous travels and artifacts.

The new kitchen not only has an open feeling and plenty of places for artwork, but we broke through the wall to bring in a fireplace from the adjoining living room.