An Estonian girl who has found a home in Sweden.

Monday, October 8

T minus 27 days — Of Kitchens and Sofas

October 08, 2007 Posted by Vaire

The reason why I want to have a sofa/daybed in the kitchen is Astrid Lindgren. It is her writing that introduced me to the concept of having a place to sleep in the kitchen.

Ever since reading Brothers Lionheart I've had this secret desire to have a kitchen big enough to have a sofa in there. As I remember in the book it was not a very positive thing to sleep in the kitchen, but a sofa in the kitchen can be so much more than a bed for a little boy.

This desire was reinforced in Dublin. The house we rented had a big kitchen and we used to have "house brunch" on Sundays there. Or when friends came over we would hang out in the kitchen, cooking, sipping beverages and chatting. There was no sofa in that kitchen, but there was space to do more than just cook.

I've missed all that. After moving back to Stockholm we talked about buying a bigger apartment, but nothing came of that. When I was looking for apartments I remembered the sofa in the kitchen in the story. It seemed like a good idea to have a sofa for guests to sit on instead of hard dining chairs.

These kitchen sofas do not look like ordinary living room sofas. Here are a couple from IKEA: Meldal and Tromsnes.

Add a mattress cover, a few pillows and you have a cozy place to have your Sunday morning coffee. Or comfortable place for your friends to hang out on while you cook. Or a spare bed.

Perfect, isn't it?