Design We Like: Warming the Soul

A modern kitchen counter with wooden cabinetry above and below, a bowl of lemons, a serving pot, a kettle, a mortal and pestle, a knife block, and a pitcher

Design We Like is a blog series highlighting everyday items that complement the aesthetic sensibility of Turkel Design. By sharing these selections from our team, we hope to reveal more about our own design thinking: understated beauty, clean lines, high-quality materials, and work that is built to last. Durable rather than delicate, timeless rather than trendy, these are the workaday essentials that are too well-designed to keep hidden in a drawer. There’s no sponsored content here—it’s a place for us to celebrate the things that we believe would fit in a Turkel Design home. 

As winter shortens the days and lowers the temperature, you need beautiful household items that facilitate the sharing of warm foods and beverages with loved ones. The items on this list of soul-warming serving vessels have two things in common: they’re designed for preparing and/or conveying warm sustenance, and they exemplify the functional elegance of Scandinavian and Japanese design. 

Whether it’s for coffee and tea or soups and stews, these classic yet modern kitchen implements will impress anyone whom you invite to the table—even if you live someplace that stays warm year-round.

  

Stelton Theo Teapot 

Your home should be your sanctuary—and every sanctuary needs an immaculately prepared cup of tea. This elegant stoneware teapot brings a touch of understated Nordic design to your personal tea ritual. We love the bamboo lid and handle, a nod to Asian tea culture. Francis Cayouette, a veteran of Scandinavian design companies, created the 1 ½ L pot.  

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Kaico Kettle 

Materials selection is an essential element of home design; why not carry that idea forward by selecting household objects made from beautiful, natural materials as well? Created by Japanese furniture designer Makoto Kouizumi, this kettle exemplifies the sleek durability of enamelware—iron coated with glass. The smoothness of the enamel makes for easy cleaning, and the natural maplewood handle creates an elegant visual and textural contrast. Unlike many kettles, it even works on an induction cooktop, in addition to electric and gas stoves. 

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Stagg EKG Kettle 

At Turkel Design, precision is integral to our work—the precision of panelized prefabrication allows us to design homes for locations worldwide. Because we also value precision when it comes to brewing coffee, we love the Stagg EKG Kettle, a more technologically advanced yet no less graceful alternative to the Kaico. For the connoisseur who takes the time for a perfect cup of pour-over, this electric kettle, designed by San Francisco startup Fellow, handles the job with exactitude. Made from stainless steel with customizable wood accents, the kettle marries classic design with modern features. We love the digital timer and temperature control, which assure that the water reaches and maintains your desired degrees in Fahrenheit or Celsius. The gooseneck spout never lets a drop fall astray.   

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Cast-iron Sarpaneva pot with wooden handle

Sarpaneva Pot 

Influential Finnish sculptor and designer Timo Sarpaneva (1926-2016) debuted this cast-iron pot in 1960. Its clean lines and fine craft are hallmarks of Scandinavian style, one that Sarpaneva influenced throughout the twentieth century. The rustic wooden handle is designed to lift the lid off the pot; its shape and materiality are meant to recall meals around the campfire. An enamel coating makes it easy to clean leftover soups and stews. The Sarpaneva Pot is a winner of the 1960 Milan Triennial and the International Design Award in the United States; it’s even part of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. We can’t think of a better vessel from which to ladle a hearty cold-weather meal.    

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Get in touch 

Regardless of the climate where they reside, everyone seeks warmth at home. At Turkel Design, we guide homeowners through a refined, predictable process to design warm, welcoming, modern homes, each customized to fit the homeowner’s lifestyle. 

Let’s have a conversation about how you want to live. 

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