Culture

Dakota Johnson’s Green Kitchen Is The Only Cultural Icon I Care About

The bowls of poisonous limes live rent free in my mind.

by Lavender Baj  21 October 2021
dakota johnson green kitchen

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There are very few things that I think about more than Dakota Johnson’s green kitchen.

For those unfamiliar, back in March 2020, the Fifty Shades of Grey star and woman who roasted Ellen DeGeneres appeared in one of Architectural Digest’s ‘Open Door’ — like Vogue’s ’73 Questions’ but for people who care about backsplashes.

At the time of publishing, there are over 100 ‘Open Door’ videos on the Architectural Digest YouTube channel, but none really have made any kind of cultural impact other than Johnson’s. Watch it, then we’ll continue:

There’s a particular moment that’s become ingrained in pop culture — the lime bowl. “I love limes. I love them. They’re great. I love them so much and I like to present them like this in my house,” she declares in the tour.

Only, Dakota Johnson actually hates limes — she’s allergic to them, as she told late night host Jimmy Fallon. But despite the fact that the video is built on lies, Dakota Johnson’s glorious green kitchen lives on in our minds, serving as interior design inspiration and meme fodder for all mankind.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Dakota kitchen — and her faux love of limes — served as the only thing keeping us calm. As pointed out by Glamour last year, Dakota’s house tour is “the best vacation you’ll ever take”.

Enough memes to feed a small village spawned out of this tasteful green kitchen, with some poking fun at the world’s obsession with the room, while others dubbed it a “cultural reset”.

Heck, this iconic kitchen even got its own merch (if you want a sticker of the kitchen, RedBubble has you covered, apparently) and has spawned its own Spotify playlists.

The Things even went so far as to credit her for the comeback of sage green in interior design — and in our hearts. Whether it’s in your kitchen, on your nails or in your wardrobe, the Dakota Johnson effect has left us all obsessed with a very specific shade of sage green.

The trend has dominated TikTok and honestly, if you haven’t recreated this kitchen in The Sims 4, you’d be the first. Not to mention, living your best Dakota Johnson life with a green kitchen now serves as a motivator to finish uni, join the corporate world and make bank so you too, can fill your green kitchen with limes that you are allergic to.