Sharon Kitchens knows how to go with the flow. It’s how she
found herself in Boston (well, Somerville actually), living happily in a
top-floor unit at the Davis Square Lofts. Kitchens, owner of SK Public Relations
and blogger behind Delicious Musings (www.skpublicrelations.com/blog),
had not intended to move from Maine, where she had been on hiatus
from the movie biz in Los Angeles for the last few years. While visiting a
friend, she had simply tagged along to look at the lofts. “I walked in and that
was it,” she says. “There was no way I wasn’t living here.”
Who can blame her? The place is incredible. Built on the former
site of the Comfort Pillow factory (the other half of the complex is a
renovated tin-toy factory), the condos are accessed by a series of bridge-like
walkways and stairs with grid-patterned fencing. Off the living room and
bedrooms at both ends of the space are decks, which are accessed by garage
doors. The multi-mullioned panels look cool and let in lots of light, and
what’s more, they’re easily raised — as soon as it’s warm enough, up they go,
practically turning the condo into an outdoor living space. It gives off an
industrial chic meets the boardwalk effect that blends a city aesthetic with a
laidback vibe, much like Kitchens does herself.
Kitchens grew up in Syracuse and forged her career in New York
City and then in Los Angeles, but she says it was the childhood summers spent
with her aunt and uncle in Magnolia, Arkansas, that defined her. “That’s more
of who I am,” she muses. Her aunt, whom she describes as “a true Southern
belle,” was a big influence. Kitchens says, “I try to live according to her
values — be gracious, hold tight to traditions, work hard, and volunteer.” Both
her aunt and her dad love to cook and have great respect for local farming, so
that carried over as well.
It’s no wonder that community and the environment are everyday
concerns for Kitchens. They are, in fact, two of the aspects that make living
here so special. Kitchens and her neighbors often organize communal gatherings,
like their themed potlucks, “Sundays at Seven.” Kitchens explains, “It’s
something to look forward to at the end of the weekend, instead of thinking
about Monday. Fun drinks are generally involved.” Recently, they had a brownie
bake-off, spurred by Kitchens’s purchase of a vintage 1930s cookbook.
The group also participates in a farm share from Enterprise
Farms. Each week, they get a box of in-season produce from organic East Coast
farms. Kitchens eats the fresh tomatoes like they’re apples, and a neighbor has
been known to grill the grapefruits. This summer, Kitchens is planning on a
share in The Food Project, a nonprofit based in Boston. She says of the
ventures, “I am so glad that producers are getting more attention now. Knowing
what I am eating and where it came from is really important to me.”
The gang also joined forces to plant and tend their own garden on
Kitchens’s back deck, right outside her airy bedroom, with its floaty white
curtains and duvet. There are 10 raised beds with various vegetables and herbs.
They split the cost, the work, and of course, the food. Kitchen explains,
“Having a garden is a way to learn more about what we put in our bodies. It’s a
fun, healthy outside time with friends, and a way to get back to basics.”
As for how she cooks the fruits of their labor, she says, “I
stick to Alice Waters’s regimen of olive oil and sea salt, then throw it in the
oven.” Her simple, honest approach is echoed in her surroundings, like the picnic
table-like kitchen counters and shelving filled with colorful ceramic bowls,
not to mention the antique furniture finds. When we visited, Kitchens was
taking a batch of granola out of her small commercial oven. “I am working more
on my cooking and learning to sew, too,” she says. “Basic life skills are an
investment in yourself.”
Marni Elyse Katz blogs about design at www.stylecarrot.com
