“This is My kingdom”: Inside the Kitchen Spaces of Lebanese Australian Women

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of participants’ personal and dwelling characteristics.

Participant Characteristics* Age; employment; migration status Time of interview	Pseudonym	Dwelling type	Number of kitchens	Kitchen layout	Tenure status	Changes to kitchen physical layout
Sydney-based participants
Participant 1 62 years old; unemployed; migrated to Australia in 1980. Interviewed in April 2016.	Deena	Detached house	1	Open-plan.	Homeowner, lived in the house since 2000.	Stove location.
Participant 2 30 years old; administration officer; Australian-born. Previously lived with Participant 1. Interviewed in April 2016.	Maha	Detached house	1	Open-plan.	Homeowner, lived in the house since 2018.	Change the location of the kitchen, and opting for an open-plan instead of a previous separate layout.
Participant 3 21 years old, health worker, Australian born. Lives with Participant 1. Interviewed in December 2017.	Amani	Detached house	1	Open-plan.	Homeowner, lived in the house since 2000.	Stove location
Participant 4 30 years old; teacher; Australian-born. Interviewed in December 2017.	Manar	Detached granny flat on a family-owned complex.	1	Open-plan.	Renting from the extended family since 2010.	No changes.
Participant 5 39 years old; previous teacher; Australian-born. Interviewed in December 2017.	Rania	Detached house.	1	Separate kitchen.	Renting since 2015	No changes.
Participant 6 52 years old; unemployed; migrated to Australia in 1986. Interviewed in December 2017.	Samiha	Detached house with granny flat on site.	2 kitchens in the main house, and 1 kitchen in the granny flat.	The main house has 1 separate kitchen, and 1 open-plan kitchen.	Homeowners, lived in the house since 1989.	A second kitchen was added to the main house, and the existing kitchen was renovated and turned into an open-plan kitchen.
Participant 7 39 years old; midwifery student; Anglo Australian. Interviewed in December 2018.	Jessica	Detached house with granny flat on site.	1 kitchen in the main house, and 1 kitchen in the granny flat.	Open-plan.	Homeowners, lived in the house since 2012.	No changes.
Participant 8 24 years old; health worker; Australian-born Interviewed in December 2018.	Nadine	Knock-down-rebuild house: Detached house with granny flat on site.	2 kitchens in the main house and 1 kitchen in the granny flat.	The main house has 1 separate kitchen, and 1 open-plan kitchen.	Homeowners, lived in the house since 2019.	Kitchens built to meet cultural needs of the participant.
Participant 9 29 years old; teacher; Australian-born Interviewed in December 2018.	Riham	Detached house.	1 kitchen	Dining-kitchen area combine, and the living area is separate.	Renting.	No changes.
Participant 10 30 years old; unemployed; Australian-born. Interviewed in December 2018.	Amal	Detached house.	1 kitchen.	Open-plan.	Renting.	No changes.
Participant 11 46 years old; unemployed; migrated to Australia 1985. Interviewed in December 2018.	Fatina	Detached house	1 kitchen	Open-plan.	Homeowners since 2000.	Separate kitchen converted into an open-plan kitchen with a living area added to the existing structure. Major renovations included the arrangement of bench spaces and allocation of built-in appliances.
Participant 12 39 years old; journalist; Anglo Australian Interviewed in April 2020.	Clara	Detached house	2 kitchens	The main kitchen is separate with sufficient space to accommodate a dining table. The second kitchen is separate.	Homeowners.	The second kitchen was added to the house accommodate multigenerational living needs. Clara family shares the house with Clara’s parents-in-law.
Brisbane-based participants
Participant 13 40 years old; retail worker; migrated to Australia in 1998. Interviewed in May 2016.	Firyal	Detached house	1 kitchen	Open-plan	Homeowners.	Major renovations transferring the kitchen from separate to open-plan, and allocations of built-in appliances.
Participant 14 25 years old; unemployed; migrated to Australia in 2014. Interviewed in October 2018.	Ameera	Townhouse	1 kitchen	Open-plan	Renting.	No changes.
Participant 15 36 years old; unemployed; migrated to Australia in 2010. Interviewed in October 2018.	Nehad	Detached house	1 Kitchen	Open-plan	Homeowners.	No changes.
Participant 16 37 years old; unemployed; migrated to Australia 2015. Interviewed in October 2018.	Zainab	Apartment	1 kitchen	Semi-open plan	Renting.	No changes.

Figure 1. Spatial layouts of Samiha, Clara and Nadine’s houses showing the locations of the main and secondary kitchens. (source: Author).

Figure 2. The main (top) and secondary (bottom) kitchens inside Samiha’s house: a. built-in stove; b. indoor plant; c. dishwasher; d. empty bench top; e. backsplash panel, f. cleaning equipment; g. stove and oven; h. washing machine; i. laundry sink; j. laundry basket. (source: Author).

Figure 3. The location of home-schooling areas inside Jessica and Rania’s houses. (source: Author).

Figure 4. Cooking equipment installed in Firyal’s backyard. (source: Author).