The perfect kettle and the beauty of utility

Or the pursuit of finding perfectly ordinary objects that fit into our everyday lives

Hey! Today I want to talk to you about my lust for a kettle, and then later maybe I’ll tell you about Depop or face masks, but let’s see how you feel.

Lust was the wrong word. It’s true love. I’m head over heels, deeply, and crazily in love with this kettle.

💚 The Sori Yanagi Kettle 💚

I don’t own it, I have never touched it, and it’s $220. But I do have his butter knife.

I read about the Sori Yanagi Kettle in Designing Japan: A Future Built on Aesthetics, a book by Kenya Hara, Muji’s art director. He talks about the beauty of utility. That is, the idea of form vs function are two sides of the same coin. Hara wrote a literal essay about this kettle, but here’s a bit of it.

How does it fit perfectly? It has to do with the beauty of utility.

• The handle and spout are blunt and weighty, giving a feeling of security.

• It has a flat wide bottom, which we love both for aesthetics and heating up water faster.

• Because of where the air holes are, and the size of the kettle, it also doubles as a humidifier? Excuse me?

• The handle will never get hot, and it’s designed so it’s never awkward to pour water out.

Anyway, this kettle won the Good Design Award in 1998, and then again, 15 years later in 2013? Who wins an award for the same one thing, 15 years apart? This humble hot water house is overachieving!

So I hate to get conceptual on you but the real reason I love this kettle is what it represents. Yes, you have utility in your kitchen. But we should also prioritise it being beautiful, y’know? Or, as Hara puts it:

Or, if you don’t want to read that: get a kettle you love and you’ll feel rich (in life)!

How are you feeling? Do you want to read a couple of pieces I wrote this week?

Okay, we got pretty deep, so let’s take it back to why you’re here.

I’m writing a new series called Perfect Purchases

I can’t tell you what will be perfect for you specifically, but I can help you find out. This one’s about specific search strategies on Depop and how you can pretty consistently buy things that make you fulfilled.

Mostly this article will tell you that weird search terms are the path to greatness

Here’s the best sheet mask

You can also have a read about Go-To’s sublime sheet mask you might have read about in this newsletter a couple of weeks ago. It’s genuinely an uplifting treat, and it sets the benchmark for all masks. No other that I have tried even approaches the beauty of this one.

Use sheet masks after cleansing, before moisturiser.

Okay, talk to you next Sunday! Your mission this week: uncover the things in your home that have the beauty of utility.

Much love,
Sam