Bait and Switch

I've expounded at length before my affection for Nigella Lawson. I like her self-possessed attitude, her articulate and thoughtful nature and of course her recipes, many of which are in heavy rotation in my kitchen. Her Spanish stew has made a welcome appearance on many a winter evening. Or on a Friday night in June, which this year is difficult to distinguish from winter. I added some kale as a nod to springtime.


But ever since she moved into that gorgeous Belgravia townhouse with Charles Saatchi, I wonder if the house is what is compelling me to watch her show every Saturday morning (as lovely as both she and her food are).


My fascination reached such a crescendo on Saturday that I spent hours online searching for revealing magazine photos of the townhouse...and I found that there aren't any!!


This is the closest I came...






...a feature from defunct magazine House and Garden from November 2004. Is this even in the right house? This looks more like a country home than their very modern city dwelling. But I do yearn for that library.


So then I resorted to beauty shots of Ms. Lawson that included at least a portion of the kitchen.



Highly unsatisfying from a house voyeur standpoint.


So then I had to move on to YouTube...or rather, since I have no idea how to pull stills from YouTube videos, I lifted them from La La Lovely Things, who apparently has a bit of a real estate crush as well.


I adore this light fixture. The image is perhaps not clear, but it is essentially a round cage with fairy lights mounded up inside. I find it so whimsical.



And this image I like I believe because of the lamp. I know the Bourgie lamp is not all that unique at this point, but my fondness for it has not waned. Plus which I suppose I also like the fact that I, a mere working girl (in my grandmother's sense of the word, not, well, you know), could, if I so chose, have a home furnishing in common with a pair of stylish multimillionaires.


Additionally, I remember catching a glimpse of the inside of that cabinet that the lamp sits on during one of her shows, and it was painted the most fabulous lime green. I was instantly smitten.

And this sign, which marks her enviable food storage facility, I find utterly charming.

So often these sorts of vintage inspired kitchen items can seem straight out of TJ Max, but this is utilitarian enough to avoid that it comes across as pleasingly tongue-in-cheek to me. Although, I suppose that is because it is likely the actual label from some grand old pile's kitchen rather than an interpretive imitation.

But perhaps the most satisfying image I found was of her refrigerator.

La Ghiacciaia is made by Meneghini, and is meant to be a reinterpretation of the old wooden Italian iceboxes. I covet it intensely.


So I thought, will somebody please do a feature on this house? I'm dying to see more. But wouldn't you know it, the "kitchen" is a set on an industrial estate somewhere far from Belgravia! Which I guess would explain the presence of the very un-Saatchi Bourgie lamp.


So now I am at a loss. I'd love to see the actual townhouse, but I'm afraid it might be a bit more grand than I am hoping for. And the set? Well, I think we as viewers have seen all there is to see.