There is no voyeurism quite like getting to see inside a celebrity home. They’re rich, so it’s expected they spend part of their incomprehensible wealth filling their home with tasteful decor. Some go overboard with the design (Drake) and some go too minimal (every YouTuber.) Regardless of style, it’s always a delight to watch an A-lister parade Architectural Digest through their home for a high brow take on MTV’s Cribs. That is until they get to the kitchen.
More often than not, the famous people of today show off immaculately organized pantries; none of which look like they’re ever used. I blame Kanye and Kim-Kardashian West for the trend, but I’m sure there are other guilty parties. It’s the Pinterest-friendly look: sparse rooms where all the items removed from their original container and decanted into uniform glass containers; fresh produce is easily accessible; there is very little to eat. So when a celeb reveals a cluttered pantry, it is notable. In the case of Rachael Ray’s beautifully chaotic cook space, it’s inspiring.
After fielding a few kitchen tour requests, Rachael Ray finally gave her audience what they wanted: an intimate peek into her wood-covered, upstate New York, cabin home (it’s gorgeous) as well as a look into her pantry. It’s stuffed, but thoughtfully so: there’s a method to the madness. “It’s daunting,” she jokes to the camera, “But I understand it. It’s like a desk with too many papers, for some people. But I know where everything is.”
Ray has everything she needs, and it appears like she actually uses it. Items are in their original packaging, which is on-brand for her middle-class suburbanite audience—nothing is more relatable than shoving your shit wherever it fits.
If I were rich, that is the kind of pantry I’d want—in slight disarray, to reflect where I’ve come from—but full of organic, high-quality products—to illustrate where I’ve ended up. It is the “Jenny from the Block” of pantries. I’m sure there was some speedy rearrangement completed before her team posted the video for all to see, but I respect that it looks like a room that would exist in the home of a wealthy family woman who actually uses her pantry. I salute her.
