Hacienda Cocinas

Simmering with aromas, conversation and activity, the kitchen—or cocina—was the most inviting room in Mexican haciendas of days gone by.  The colonial hacienda and convent kitchens—often sites of meal preparation for 100s of people, were spacious, well-stocked and laden with cherished & well-worn implements.

Though the long hours spent grinding, chopping and rolling food ingredients are a fast-fading feature of Mexican kitchen life, the simple furnishings, colors, glazed tiles and old culinary implements remain popular in today’s hacienda style kitchens.  Homeowners are combining these old world elements with highly functional polished-concrete surfaces, modern fixtures and appliances.  Favored paint colors include creamy whites and warm, golden yellows, with rich blues or rusty reds as popular accent hues—for nichos, stove hoods or for use as door/window surrounds.Contemporary smooth concrete surfaces are paired with long, arcaded countertops and islands fronted with lustrous Talavera tile. Most often, tile styles are mixed for a modern display of color and pattern. Colored concrete tiles, widely used throughout colonial Mexican homes, are favored for flooring. Stove Hoods, inspired by the old colonial kitchen hoods, these dramatic, sculptural hoods are plastered and painted in rich, saturated colors—usually blue, yellow or red. Most often, the wall and stove hood colors are coordinated with tile colors. Stencil work also adds additional interest—used around doors/windows, counter fronts or stove hoods. Solid simplicity and furnishings have a pared-down beauty.

Key hacienda kitchen elements include rustic wooden prep tables & chairs, handcrafted pottery, stone culinary implements, hanging shelves and colorful trasteros (open cupboards) and space-saving alacenas (built in wall cabinets). Repisas (hanging shelves) are hung on colorful walls and old morteros once used for grinding coffee are pressed into service as containers for fruit or other implements. As the evolution of the Mexican kitchen picks up steam, authentic colors and hacienda elements continue to add perpetual appeal to newly built kitchens. Many of the old stencil patterns are now available through haciendastyle.com