When I read that this rounds prompt was ‘Kitchen Inspiration’ my heart sank. Sorry Regina but the first thing I did was google the opposite of inspiration. I found disincentive, discouragement, hindrance, characterless, uninspiring, unstimulating and many more. Actually I think ‘apathetic’ best described my reaction to the prompt.

So I stuck my head in the sand for all of February but with only a few weeks before the big reveal I have started to think about what ‘kitchen’ represents to me rather than how it inspires me.

I was a stay at home mum when our kids were babies and spent a lot of time cooking. My husband was the envy of his work colleagues when I packed him off to work with home-made Cornish pasties and slabs of chocolate cake. My lemon meringue pie was to die for. And I thought nothing of cooking for large family gatherings – I even made my own sausage rolls. I spent lots of time cleaning. I was always redecorating. Did I enjoy it? Was I just filling the time? Or was I doing what society expected of me? It was a long time ago and I can’t honestly remember. 

Certainly I spent less time in the kitchen once I went to work full time. Over the years the time I spent cooking from scratch has reduced and we have become reliant on quick, easy, convenient foods. I have lowered my cleaning standards and I can’t remember the last time I did any decorating. These days I would rather be in my studio.

As if reading my mind The Guardian newspaper ran an article on why women still do the majority of unpaid work in the home. Unpaid work covering housework, child care, shopping, cooking etc. According to the Office for National Statistics women did 60% more housework than men in Britain in 2016. And here is the kicker – in heterosexual households where women are the main breadwinner, the more she earns the less he does.

Wow.

Now I have my inspiration.