Madeline Stuart is one of America’s leading interior designers, her client list peopled with movers and shakers. The Los Angeles–based tastemaker also broils, roasts, sautés, grills, slices, dices, and chops with professional acumen. "I cook every night," says Stuart, whose culinary feats (seared-and-roasted chicken served over a bed of braised escarole is a specialty) are produced in the kitchen of her Hollywood Hills home. Given her years of experience as both hostess and cook, it stands to reason that Stuart dreams up kitchens that look as good as they perform—and that the designer is a prime source for insider advice, whether you’re contemplating a new kitchen or simply improving the one you already have.
Know what kind of cook you are before you start planning a kitchen. If you’re a baker, make sure you have a perfect spot for the KitchenAid mixer and a piece of marble inset in the counter nearby so you can roll out dough. If you’re a pancake person, then get a stove with an integral griddle, but don’t buy one if you don’t like pancakes. People often amass a surfeit of equipment they never use.
I’m a firm believer in laying out the kitchen cabinets before you ever start construction. You need to know where things are going to go, that the Saran wrap is exactly where you need it.
I loathe the affectation of disguising refrigerators and dishwashers with a cabinetry panel. You are in a kitchen; everyone knows you are in a kitchen. That you own a refrigerator should come as no surprise. I love the honesty
and simplicity of appliances.
I use all different kinds of very dense marble for counters—the denser the stone, the fewer stains you’ll have. I’m working on an Arts and Crafts house right now and installing counters made of quartzite (a very, very hard type of marble) in a fantastic sea-glass green. But I also really love stainless steel. It’s old-fashioned as well as very chic and contemporary, and you can give it a beautiful molded edge.
I love cork flooring. It’s warm, resilient, and you can drop a Baccarat glass on the floor and it won’t break. Plus you can stand on cork for long periods of time without getting the leg fatigue you would standing too long on a stone floor.
A kitchen should be succinct. If it is too large, you spend too much time running from here to there. For instance, an island that is too big is a tragic mistake. Not only can you not reach across it to clean it, it becomes nothing but an obstacle.
