Silestone Kitchen Countertops - Classic Style & Modern Function

I had the pleasure of visiting Cosentino's headquarters, the parent company of Silestone, in Spain about 6 weeks ago. We toured Barcelona, we dined, we traveled to Almeria, we learned - I was a part of a small group invited to have a well rounded introduction to two fantastic areas of Spain and to have a multi-layered understanding of Cosentino's breadth of products.

Of course, we all know Silestone as the original engineered stone material for kitchen countertops, a market focus the company has always had and which remains the centerpiece of Cosentino's efforts. To that end, Silestone continues to introduce interesting, eco-friendly, and highly durable materials into the kitchen and bath marketplace. 

That's a general, and brief, overview, with more details to come. But, I did want to start talking about this trip by showing you some great images of a kitchen that I toured, preserved from the early part of the 20th century. The apartment building in which the kitchen is situated was designed by the amazing Antoni Gaudi called Casa Mila.

Below, the pretty incredible apartment building, designed by Antoni Gaudi...wow!

Below, images of the apartment. But first...I thought it would be fun to imagine which Silestone colors and styles would serve nicely as a modern day substitute in the event the new homeowner wished to, um, rip out the countertops (blasphemous!)

Top left: Grey Amazon | Top right: Lyra | Bottom left: Gedatsu | Bottom right: Sonora Gold

Take a look at these gorgeous images of this historically preserved kitchen...

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

It was a privilege to walk through this authentic vintage apartment to see this very interesting kitchen.

The work stations look quite defined, certainly, with ergonomic features such as lower countertops in certain areas, adequate countertop space, adequate storage, and storage that starts well above our typical 4" off the floor.

Shelves and glass cabinets add visual aids to storage and the tall cabinets to the ceiling makes good use of extra storage. The cabinetry is built into the architecture of the space in some awkward but interesting ways. The incredible textured window adds glam in a big way. 

Much more coming soon on this incredible trip to Spain!!

Decorex 2011 – Blog Tour Kitchen Inspiration

As part of the fabulous Blog Tour 2011 group, founded by Veronika Miller of the equally fabulous Modenus.com website, our trip to Decorex, part of the London Design Festival, was simply fantastic, end of story. The creativity and innovation was such a joy to experience. Another type of joy was to see the way that classics, that is, materials or design, were updated to create a new aesthetic, a new definition of classic as well as modern. THAT experience = inspiration.

Here are some kitchen design elements that I found interesting at Decorex.

Below, cabinetry by Woodstock – who doesn’t love that name? Of course, the star is the fresh color, but I love the function too and the height of this taller cabinet.

Below, also from Woodstock, the cool mix of light and dark neutrals. Notice, too, the subtlety of the rounded moldings. Love. Backsplash and styling – needs some love…

Below, gorgeous Dominic-Schuster mirror – could be a backsplash or wall area maybe? For pantry doors? Yummy! And it comes in a gazillion textures.

_{Below, a fabulous update of an armoire, bar cabinet, kitchen pantry, or breakfast room dish storage}

 

Below, a GOR-juss dining table with Hans Wegner chairs by Isis Furniture

Below, Moroccan tile by Habibi (you are viewing the tile at an angle)

And, a quick shot of this very impressive gentleman who I know does something really important, but he’s also cute!

What’s your favorite??

Decoration & Design Building - Fall Market 2011

Last week, I was honored to be an invited design blogger to attend the D and D Building's Fall Market. The D and D building, in New York City, is simply, a fabulous building which houses world class interior design showrooms. Here, you can see the finest fabrics, furniture, lighting, accessories, window treatments, wall coverings, paint, and many more decorative products for the residential interior. It's awesome in its collective design offerings.

The Fall Market had a great array of educational workshops, seminars, talks and panels, with nationally known designers, manufacturers, and print and online editors. Going from a beautiful showroom to a insightful, spirited, talk, for me, was design heaven! Hanging out with the other invited design bloggers to Fall Market was equally inspiring! This discussion, below, was on Transcending Branding Boundaries, hosted by Editor in Chief of Traditional Home, Ann Maine.

left to right: Beth Fuchs Brenner, Peter Sallick, Windsor Smith, Jonathan Adler, Christina Juarez

I'd like to share some of the WONDERFUL products I came across that are located in the D and D Building!

Pierre Frey

EbanistaBelow, interesting organic designs for dining tables

Evanson

Country Swedish

Country Swedish

Country Swedish

Armani Casa

I hope you've enjoyed these selections from the endless products that basically assault your senses once you enter this building! (That's a good thing!)