Kitchen Dining Inspiration

I happened to see that a blog I frequent (A LOT), An Eye for an I:nterior featured this post of mine, an interesting kitchen design, and I immediately noticed the table and chairs that Jen was putting together, and I'd love to chat about it.

As you notice, the table is raw, rustic, natural, and the chairs are modern, smooth, and white. The thread that they have in common are simple lines.

But, the real interest is found in their differences. I really love this look, and I encourage my readers to go beyond their comfort zone and experiment! Pairing together "rustic" and "modern" makes them each POP, a wonderful study of contrasting style and theme.  Another nice contrast is the juxtaposition of straight lines and curved lines. Each element looks strong and important. It also brings to mind my cousin's kitchen in her summer house in Denmark in terms of the rustic/modern combination.

Just thought I'd take a quick opportunity to share this concept.

Thanks, Jen, for the inspiration! 

Kitchen Remodeling Perspective

Next time anyone connected to a kitchen remodel is super stressed, remember this link, below. In order to understand the whole thing, please click on the link in the post "enormous concrete Virgin." Funny story.

How can I tie this into kitchen remodeling? For one thing, I, too, can get carried away with worry, concern, all sorts of emotions in the course of doing my job. I mean, issues with deadlines, clients, tradespeople, allied professionals, delays, suppliers...there are many opportunities for me to get undone, and the same goes for my clients.

I've been reading this blog I have linked to, checking it most days of the week since mid December. It's helped me have a healthy and more serene perspective on life than I had, previous to finding it. It actually has had a profound impact on me, to tell the truth. It also propelled me, after having been far too lax, to go on a campaign to get every test and go to every doctor that I could think of beginning this past January to get all of the appropriate information on my current state of health. It's all been great news! This blog I speak of is an incredible read. The writing is intelligent and very special.

So, next time you really get undone about something, give yourself a reality check. Emotions can come hard and fast in the world of remodeling. Stop everything and get your perspective back. Sure, some issues are important and irritating and unjust, but there are more important things to get nuts about. There really are.  It's just about redirecting emotions which can potentially do damage to fragile relationships. In remodeling, that's pretty important for all sides to remember. Once these relationships are damaged, it's difficult to backtrack and do repair work.

I'll even add one more life changing (truly) event that happened, coincidentally, a week prior to finding this blog I mentioned. I went to Norway as a guest to an event surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize. In seeing the Bangladesh people who were invited to attend the presentation of the Peace Prize as recipients of the micro loans the Prize was based on, people who lived in huts on dirt roads and have never been out of their village, let alone, to Norway, I thought of my lifestyle, and the words came to my mind "....and I'm stressed?" In front of me was another world, which abruptly removed me from my comfortable world. I learned about life in another world, I saw people from many nations come together, and my own perspective changed dramatically. I shook hands with a Banladeshi woman in her full, beautiful, dress, our eyes locked, and I was just transformed to a different, changed, reality.

Have patience, and all these pesky remodeling issues will work out. Patience, trust, effective communication, and perspective, and you'll survive your remodeling with flying colors and even dare I say, enjoyment!

Do you know what one of the most important pieces to survival of a remodeling experience is? For anyone and everyone connected to it? Humor! That's right! Find it, you'll be glad you did.  

This post was not planned, but I really wanted to share that linked post with you when I checked the blog today. Enjoy your day!

Kitchen Design - Tuscan Style!

I sold a kitchen to my client, Grace, today. We've been working together since January. Lots of stops and starts, beginning with Asian design and ending up with a Tuscan themed design!

Here are a few very simplistic images of what we're planning. They have not been embellished with wall and backsplash details, they are just simple line drawings. I'd like to point a few things out to you.

Floorplan

See the orange dots? That delineates, or transitions, the working part of the kitchen from the dining/furniture area of the kitchen. This is by design so that there is a frame of reference across the width of the room, and the length for that matter.

Grace wanted an expanded work area, and she also wanted to interact with her guests, AND, she needed to seat five people within the space. See the large window parallel to the table? It's a very large window, and very low, so the cooktop had to veer off at that angle, which actually works quite well. 

I don't love the configuration of the window seat. I had wanted to angle that back in the direction of the cooktop, but Grace objected. I may push that again, or we'll review that as it comes together as we can add to that at the time. That remains to be seen.

I see I forgot to add the doorway at the bottom of the floorplan. There will be a wide doorway into the kitchen from the foyer, positioned more away from the table than toward it.

We were going to have a large stone hood above the cooktop but today Grace decided against that. We'll do a downdraft instead.

Sink Wall 

Note the open shelving to the right of the window for interest rather than the cabinet-cabinet effect. I didn't want to put cabinetry every possible place. The eye needs to wander and rest on something of interest. So, to the left of the window, Grace will put something decorative in that wall area. Oh, forget the dishwasher, it won't look like that, it will look like a framed door/drawer combination, which will actually be a panel, much more seamless of a look.

Refrigerator Wall

Note the "built in" section where the wall cabinets are positioned to the right of the refrigerator. This surround will probably be faux painted or stuccoed. Again, this is for interest, something different. I think it works in that area. That theme is continued elsewhere, as you will see.

Opposite Wall 

The line of transition, the orange dots I spoke about earlier begins after the arch. This arched area will be, oh, maybe 15-18" deep, maybe less. The TV is in the wall cabinet sitting on the countertop. Then we have a few shelves. The top of the arch, the whole upper arch section, maybe stuccoed and fauxed in some manner. Perhaps we will do mosaic tiles in the center section below the arch, something simple, as decorative items on the shelves will take center stage. Below the countertop are three horizontal areas above the base cabinetry which will be faux painted in a decorative design of some sort.

To the right of the arched area is a wine refrigerator, again, sort of "built in". Above that is another built in cabinet which will most likely project forward about 18", probably more than the arched area. Then we have wrap around shelving, see the floorplan on the upper section, and around the corner is a buffet piece which serves the dining room. And, the microwave and warming drawer are to the right of the wine refrigerator.

Again, lots of possibilities for faux painting, tile, etc. I'll do a post in the near future about the colors we're using. I think you'll really love what we're doing, can't wait to show you. For now, Grace has the samples as she shops for whatever she's shopping for, probably tile. I'll be involved in that too.

One more thing...we purposely wanted the upper left side of this wall (upper left in the floorplan) sort of open, as Grace wanted more of a connection to the family room beyond, and previously there were tall pieces blocking any view. We are widening the doorway to the left of the refrigerator. To the right of the microwave is the entrance into the dining room. See where the towel rack is? That is the side of the buffet piece, but it's actually a short wall, as that is part of the "built in" surrounding the cabinetry.

That's it for the moment! 

 

The Kitchen Designer on the Desire To Inspire Blog!

It's really great to be featured on the wonderful interior design blog, Desire To Inspire! Thanks Kim & Jo! I'm honored, truly, because these gals showcase really fantastic interior design, found world wide, in many different styles. It's a source I go to, to get inspiration, ideas, and information. I have often felt that Kim and Jo have a little bit of a kitchen fixation (in a good way!) as it is not unusual to find kitchens among their collections of interiors on any given day. I'm always thrilled to see these kitchen images. 

It's actually helpful to see the kitchens in these interior design collections, as one can see the kitchen design within the context of the entire home. But even beyond helpful, it is a valuable resource, and one of the very few blogs which includes different parts of the home, which one can learn from, in addition to just enjoying the view, a nice enough activity! Again, thank you!

Le Tour - Belgian Kitchens Today and Yesterday

Today Le Tour de France goes through Belgium, through beautiful Flanders, amongst chateaus, canals, and wonderful little villages. Unfortunately, there was rainy weather and a huge crash! Watching the peloton is really something awesome.

While I won't be updating you on the tour every day (I promise) I do feel compelled to give a bit of a showcase of Belgium by virtue of, what else, Belgian kitchens! Now, it's not the easiest thing to do to find Belgian kitchen design, so we have a mix of the very old Belgian kitchen by Belgian painters, and the uber-cool and awesome new kitchens, found in Design Addict.

The first image is called "A Maid In The Kitchen" by David Emile Joseph de Noter. I don't think the maid is doing her job, do you?  She looks awfully depressed!

Next up is a kitchen by Suzon Inber & Associates at www.inger.be  

Let's take a look at another kitchen from Suzon Inber & Associates.

And one more ancient kitchen. I think they had issues in those days. What a mess! This  was painted by Joachim Antonisz Uytaewael, 1605.

Here is an interesting explanation of this painting from lepg.org:"Another erotic kitchen scene, with the cook spitting a chicken in the center of the picture (apparently a suggestive activity to the 16th century mind). She is wearing the same type of clothing as the woman in the van Ryck kitchen scene, only her partlet is more decently done up. There are two men in the picture. they are wearing trunk hose, gathered to just above the knee. In both cases their nether hose (stockings) are falling down. I think this was probably pretty typical for working men.  The stockings come just above the knee normally and are gartered, usually just below the knee, but since elastic hadn't yet been invented, it would not be untypical for the socks to still end up coming down around your ankles all the time. This scene has wonderful details of redware, cooking utensils, and orange carrots. Most carrots at the time were white." 

Take a look at that site, there's some very interesting kitchen scenes and analysis of the paintings.

An iPhone For Every Kitchen Project?

Yes, I succumbed, followed the crowd, became an iPhone fangirl, and all the rest, I admit it! But, oh, it's soooooooo sweet! Needing a new phone, I researched for a month before the iPhone's release, hardly even considering the iPhone in the equation, discarding it early on as a contender, as I was focused on Blackberrys, the Nokia N95 (with an incredible camera, but alas had some dealbreakers) and other smart phones. I was democratic in my comparisons. That said, I ultimately decided to purchase the iPhone, and it has already made my life and my work easier, and isn't that the test?

Here's why I bought the iPhone, but please note, in general, how important some of these features can be, whether one is a designer or a client. It's a tool!

The large screen

In the end, this was my number one reason for purchasing the iPhone, end of story. I am so done with small screens! The experience of using a large screen (important when having a smart phone) enhances the usefulness of the device by a huge margin in comparison to other devices. I mean, otherwise, what's the point? I want the biggest screen I can get, and this is it (at least from what I researched).

Images - Great for Designers' & Clients' Purposes

The iPhone is ALL about images. Let me clarify that. Kitchen Design is MUCH about images, therefore, how a device handles images, to me, is huge. The camera is 2 megapixels, better quality than most other camera phones (except the Blackberry Curve, also 2 mp), not as good as the N95, with an astonishing 5 mp camera. But, it's definitely good enough.

It's good enough for clients to take quick shots (again, with a large screen as a handy tool) in a showroom (ask permission first!), at a detail from a friend's house, at the granite yard, to remember whatever details you want to remember on the spot.  And, the image can be quickly and easily emailed to anyone, meaning your designer! I don't know how I lived without a camera in my previous smart phones before! A tip when using the camera: hold very still and make sure you have enough light. That's really all you need to know.

Besides the camera capabilities, I quickly loaded nearly 200 images into the iPhone from my computer, of kitchens, built ins, and custom furniture pieces, and it took up a negligible amount of space in the phone's storage capacity. I'll add many more. I've already shown details, and whole kitchens, easily seen on the large screen, to clients at meetings in their home. The iPhone turned sideways, makes the images even larger, if they are horizontal images. AND, to make it even more crazy, the images are organized into albums that I can quickly and eaisly select!  The images are viewable in a meaningful way.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Taking additional images at a client's home that I may have missed with my camera the first time around, taking pictures of images from a book or magazine that they are showing me, of an architect's floorplan before I get my copy of it, is invaluable.  For so many purposes, a quick snapshot tells a story far better than words can.

Appointments

This really makes me happy. There are TWO alerts you can set. I set one alert the day before, the second alert two hours before the appointment. I'm covered! 

Internet

While not super fast, to be able to enlarge text and images, and situate a page sideways, is far more valuable than any other device out there for that reason alone.  

Google Maps

If you don't have gps in your car and you need to get to my design studio, again, you're covered. Google maps has already saved me from being late to an appointment after a detour in the road changed my route.

Email

I have 4 email accounts loaded, and the large text and fast scrolling is delightful to use, mostly, due to the large screen. A vast improvement over my previous pda.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the features that I'm enjoying using. Sure, it's not perfect. There is not one phone that is, that I've found. But, for my profession, where images are so important, it's so much and more! It's an elegant device, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The images shown are from my design studio and have been (very) quickly enhanced to show the possibilities, as I never NOT tweak an image straight from the camera. All right, they're just ok, but it gets the job (an important job) done.

Oh, please take a look at this absolutely over the top, hysterical video on the iPhone from the New York Times technology critic, the adorable David Pogue. 

Kitchens on Le Tour De France!

The first stage of the 94th Tour de France began today in London, for the first time ever. They say one million spectators lined the streets to take in the start of Le Tour, the route going from London to Canterbury, 203 kilometers. 189 of the world's best cyclists are now on their way toward 20 stages in all, through villages, mountains, long flats, and ultimately, of course, into Paris (wait till you see the luxury Paris kitchens I already have lined up!)

I have a personal interest in the Tour. My son is a bike racer and aspires to great cycling accomplishments! We frequently attend races around our region. I'll be watching the Tour every day. I must say, the producers of the tour tv footage frequently include amazing views of the French countryside and villages. Turn it on for an hour, you'll see what I mean. It is a fabulous tour of France. Those aerial views are crazy!

So, in honor of the first stage of Le Tour, beginning in London, here is a collection of kitchens from England, in England's distinctive, and really wonderful, traditional styling. Images from Kitchens Bathrooms and Bedrooms magazines. More images will follow, coming from my binder of clippings I have accummulated for some time. More coverage of the tour, and of regional French kitchens will follow from time to time over the next three weeks of the Tour. If it's Monday, it must be Belgium - tomorrow's Stage 2! Enjoy!

Kitchen Design Details - Banquette Height

I've added a new category, "Kitchen Design Details". Sometimes, I'll come across a useful piece of information, or am reminded by a detail from an image that I feel might be important to pass on, so I thought I'd create this new category.

It's funny how this happens. Today, I saw an image in the hot, new, building and design site, PointClickHome. I immediately honed in on the built in banquette. First, let me say, this is a beautiful image, isn't it? It is a lovely representation of a rectiliniar design.

What I want to highlight in this image is the height of the banquette, nothing else. When planning a banquette, consider the following:

• What is your table height?
• Will you want a cushion on the top of the banquette?
• How comfortable will you want the banquette to be? 
• If you want super comfort, then think in terms of THICK cushions, sofa-like, as much as 4-5" thick, and watch the firmess of the cushions as the cushions dimension will then compress easily or not, changing your seat height.
  
• When planning for thick, comfy, cushions, your banquette may be as low as 14-15" high, which LOOKS very low, but have no fear, this is an acceptable height to plan for, if, for example, your cushions are a medium firmness.
  
• If you do not want a cushion, your banquette height may be 17-18" - measure a chair and compare that height to your table height to determine a comfortable height
  
• Try to experiment in advance with a variety of seat cushions you have on hand from existing furniture, to guage your comfort needs/desires. And, yes, take that sofa cushion off as well and try it out!
  
• Visualize if you will want to linger at the table or even stretch out with a book, or if the purpose is for quick, efficient, meals only. This will also help you focus in on the comfort factor you want designed into your banquette.
  

Me, I don't think this particular cushion would serve my purposes for comfort, being so thin, but that's just me. Know what you want to feel when you sit down at the table! 

 

KBIS 2007 Kitchen Design for Better Homes and Gardens Midwest Living Magazine

So, I've been real busy since KBIS, and I took so many pictures and brought back so much information that I have more to share with you! The "Idea Center", which is either three or four full, real, kitchens, produced on the KBIS site in a wonderful, huge area, was, as usual, well, wonderful! Meredith Corp., produces these kitchens, each from a particular magazine, and each has a specific theme. It is a trends spotting experience also! In this case, trends that I am spotting are:

• a soft contemporary styling
  
• walls of tile or stone
• rustic features
• an eclectic look
• mini version of a work stations concept
• comfortable feeling
• large, multi-functional sink
  

From the press release: Midwest Living's kitchen at KBIS, "Back to Basics" is a relaxing weekend retreat, with its ‘back-to-nature’ kitchen and bath space. Pairing the Heartland’s agricultural heritage with contemporary cabinetry and appliances, the converted barn is designed to relax and enhance the weekend getaway experience. The space plays on the growing trend towards more outdoor living, as the entire structure opens to nature with an 8’ entrance flanked by barn doors, an outdoor shower, and a screened porch with daybed.

How gorgeous is this?? Enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely Beautiful Kitchens

I love the blog Absolutely Beautiful Things, authored by Anna. Today, I looked through it and found a few posts on particularly beautiful kitchens, which I'd like to show you.

The first post shows a gorgeous white kitchen which is actually very similar to one that I did recently.  And, in Anna's later post Kitchen Love Part Two, please check out the inspiring ways to use shelving on walls and in pantries. Anna is an Interior Designer in Brisbane, Australia and owns a very wonderful shop called Black and Spiro.

Please also take a look at the blog At Home With Kim Vallee. The advice on this blog is excellent. It is practical and insightful and creative, a special and important combination. Kim's writing translates into focus and direction and makes it easy to follow too.

And one more, more shelving from Small Space Style, another blog with great ideas and again, very practical advice.

I need to do a post about shelving in kitchens, it is so HOT these days. These blogs have inspired me! In my practice, I am designing with open shelving more and more. It is accepted more than it ever was. A shelving post is coming soon!

The image shown is one of my favorite images. I love the way this shelving looks. That said, I must say that of course it is completely misplaced and even dangerous due to the placement of the range underneath it. I think this image was from a show house some years back. You can tell it's old because of the dishwasher. Nonetheless, I love the shelving if we look at that alone! 

Scandinavian Kitchens and Independence Day!

It turns out it's perfectly appropriate, and I even wish I had planned it this way, that I'm two days late for my weekly Monday Scandinavian Kitchens exhibit. Today, being, July 4, Independence Day, is the perfect tie-in to dedicate this post to my parents, who came from Copenhagen to the U.S., at that time, sailing past Lady Liberty, to pursue the American dream.

My parents, especially my mother, wanted to assimilate as seamlessly as possible into American life. She quickly found a church to become a member of, got involved in school and PTA activities, made lots of genuinely good friends and was happy to gain citizenship and to feel like an American. My father founded a business, made his fortune, later lost it all, blaming it on unions, also typically American! I lived the American dream growing up, and while assimilation was important to my parents, the wonderful Scandinavian cultural traditions remained intact. Food, the language (between my parents), the fantastic Danish modern furnishings, the special Danish sense of humor, and more, remained inside the home as I grew up. To think of the furnishings that were thrown out in later years, I can't go there! I was raised in two cultures with perfect balance and proportion.

So, hats off to my parents and those who dream of a better life in the U.S. I still cannot imagine the pain there must have been to leave one's home country, family, friends and all that is precious, but the promise and draw of the United States surely burned strongly then and burns ever stronger in so many people dreaming of living in the U.S. And, the dream of a better life became official on July 4, 1776!

It is with great pride as a Danish-American, that I share with you some simple, yet lovely, vignettes of Scandinavian kitchens, with a little bias toward dining together, on this July 4! Enjoy! 

 

Here is my cousin Lis in her kitchen in her and her husband's summer house.  A great memory:

 

 The top image is from the wonderful blog chezlisen and the next image is from Huset Fullt adnother enjoyable Scandinavian blog!

Kitchen Appliances - Retro, Color, Cool

I've been wanting to show you the very cool appliances from Big Chill Retro Appliance, and now, seeing this post from Desire To Inspire, this is the moment to do it! As soon as I saw these Big Chill refrigerators, I knew they were done right.

I don't know what 50s or 60s vehicle the special logo comes from, but it's the kind of thing that you know you've seen before. And, the lines of these refrigerators, I feel like I've seen that style before too. It has personality, not just bulk. I'm wild about the lines of this refrigerator!

Very interesting too that the ranges are identical to Elmira's line of ranges, another great line of retro inspired appliances. Oftentimes, one manufacturer distributes the same item to multiple brands, I think that is common knowledge. That said, there could be some tweaks of differentiation on the inside of the appliance, tailored to a brand's specifications.

Now, I know that Scrappy Girl over at Domino Magazine is interested in retro cool appliances for her future kitchen renovation, and I've been wanting to send this over to her, so here it is. Don't you just love the chrome trim? And those handles!

Of course, we know these appliances are also all about color! That's where a whole lot of fun comes into the pictures, yet, look at how wonderful these images of soft colors looks on these appliances.  

The Big Chill's website has good information on it. The FAQ answers all your questions, I was impressed by how complete it is. The Big Chill is based in Boulder, Colorado. Cool, in more ways than one.

Green Kitchens - Consuming to Conserve?

Very interesting article in The New York Times, Buying Into The Green Movement. This piece talks about our eagerness to literally "buy into" the green movement, causing critics to question the fundamental issue...are we "consuming to conserve", thus, this line of thinking being a paradox? Are we eager to buy new green products, products, whether green or not green, which may not truly be needed at all, thus, creating an unnecessary environmental impact?

I can't advise new homeowners whose kitchen is 40 years old and damaged, to forego renovating their kitchen. I am not of that philosophy, although some may be. To me, THAT is an oxymoron. However, there are ways to think a little deeper as to how one can be green, with, or even without, the use of green products.  

Let's take new kitchen cabinetry. A client may have an interest in designing with "green" products. One issue, which has a huge environmental impact, of course, is fuel. A homeowner may want to consider if they really want to order green cabinetry from a fabulous and highly styled eco-sensitive cabinet manufacturer, their single order being trucked in from Washington State, if they live in New York.  Is it wiser to buy cabinetry within a radius of a few nearby states, which will be delivered in a truck along with other orders for multiple local deliveries? This is one approach to thinking green in another way.

And, what about countertops? I know at least one of my suppliers will make wood kitchen countertops, which can be shipped along with the kitchen cabinetry. I also carry wood countertops that come from Atlanta, Georgia, and from far away Denmark (some woods which talk of being from sustainable sources-except for the jet fuel transporting it from one place in the world to another.) Likewise, slate countertops which I use on occasion, originating from Vermont, are relatively close by and intrinsically eco friendly.

Can a kitchen be designed in a green way to use less cabinetry but still maximize storage? Absolutely. Another way to "think green."  I did it in my own kitchen in some very clever ways, which I will describe in more detail down the road.

I am open to all ways of lowering our environmental impact, including the use of products which, while they may not be green according to one set of specifications, may indeed be green(er) than previously thought, when compared to how they are transported to their destination, how they are designed, or according to other alternative ways of defining "green."

Other ways of thinking about the green movement and consumer behavior are presented in this article. I thought it was very interesting.