Real People Real Kitchens: Atlanta

Got Potluck?

Paula's the pretty one on the right, with the sassy smile. She and Tom are the potluck hosts. Potluck is always on a Wednesday and it starts around 7:30pm so people have time to leave work, pick up their dish and get over to the party. It used to be a weekly event, but now it's about every other. As for the "throne" upon which the hosts sit, the wire cemetery bench once belonged to Paula's grandparents. It was on the front porch and Paula would lay and read books on it all summer long. Then they disappeared. Twenty years later, when she reunited with an old neighbor, Paula saw the exact bench in her friend's driveway. "It's all yours if you want it," said the neighbor.

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In 1992 Paula and Tom rented studio space in this commercial loft in the historic Farlie-Poplar district of Atlanta. In 1996, they took over additional space and started creating a home. A real kitchen was priority. They did the job rather quickly. "We put the sink where the plumbing already was and threw in basic cabinets from The Home Depot. We put the word out that we needed appliances and ended up getting everything at a bargain." The kitchen, open to the rest of the living space, is conducive to successful potlucking.

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Tom built the island from an old carpenter's cabinet. It offers prep space, storage, and display opportunities. Since Paula and Tom are both quite tall, Tom made it taller than the standard counter. As for the role of the island in the potluck ceremony – why, it's front and center, the stage for all the contributions. Paula says, "The food goes on it and we congregate."

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One day at the antique mall, a farmhouse painting in the paint-by-number style (left) caught Paula's eye. It was $40. Paula's junking conscience was fueled. "I don't really need it," she recalls thinking. A year later, Tom was at the old Lakewood Antique Show and found the little red farmhouse painting (right). It was only a buck. He brought it home. Seeing the cute little painting, made Paula think about the big one again. She suggested they scoot by the antique mall and take a gander. The red farmhouse painting was still there and it was marked down to $10. She still didn't need it, but she wanted it and the price was right. And now these two amateur artworks hang together happily ever after in the good company of an angel by Indiana artist Kevin Titzer.

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The screen door (at left) is like the front door of their home, separating the studio space from the living quarters. it also lends a nostalgic country kitchen feel and allows for cross ventilation through the entire 4,000 sq. ft space. Paula and Tom used heavy duty grade screening because otherwise the cat would scratch right through it.

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The Potluck is announced and confirmed via email and everyone communicates what they're bringing. "It's pretty loose," says Paula, "occasionally there is overlap but nobody cares."

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Paula bought this cabinet at the Lakewood Antique Show. Paula got the idea to put most of her serving dishes here after touring the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. Even though the cupboard at the Biltmore was more grand and the dishes a bit fancier, the general idea -- to keep like things together -- was there. As it pertains to potlucking, "People can just go to the cabinet and help themselves." The white church on top is an old handmade donation box.

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As Nick Boxer treats his Caprese salad to a fine dressing made from aged balsamic, basil oil and a nice finishing salt, he and Jon Baime, both producers, catch up. Jon Baime brought hashed browns in a crock pot. It was his sister in law's recipe. About these dinners, Jon says, "The dinners are a nice break from the hurried world. Catching up with friends on Wednesdays actually reignites my energy."

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Renee Daniel came with Nick. He's the cook in the family.

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An old firehose cabinet hangs above the old stove. Paula has relegated "all that little stuff you don't know what to do with but you can't throw away" in there. Most dear to her, are the three tea cups that belonged to her grandmother. Her grandfather traveled a lot and would bring tea cups home to his wife as a souvenir.

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