Kohler

And here is the last, and I hope you'll agree, the best post of the series on my trip to Kohler's headquarters at Kohler, Wisconsin. The trip was a visual feast! It was also an actual feast throughout the weekend since my trip was centered around the Kohler Food and Wine Experience - a weekend event (among many all year 'round) that I highly recommend which takes place in October of each year. 

The piece de resistance of Kohler Village, to me, is the Kohler Design Center. A three level building of beautiful products and room vignettes in beautiful settings surrounded by fabulous materials, products, accessories and design elements, I want to share some of this gorgeousness with you. Without further ado...here we go (all images have been enthusiastically taken by me)!

Please see MORE images on my pinterest board, "Kohler's Design Center", and follow me!

I was so excited and wanted to take as many shots as I could that I did not stop to take note of each and every fixture, fitting or designer's name. If you have questions, please ask and I'll get the information to you!

Below, a stunning interplay of warm and cool tones in a graphic, strong, yet elegant setting

Below, this is a part of a larger master bath which is designed via a universal design philosophy

Below, modern, sophisticated, whimsical...creative

Below, an interesting combination of patterns and proportions that works beautifully

Below, I'm not sure what else to say besides: ahhhhhhhhh. I'm relaxed.

Below, I feel like a superstar being in this space, perhaps somewhere in Paris?

Below, a closer look at beautiful warm design elements set against the purity of white

Below, I feel like I'm living in a loft in Soho - very cool design elements...always love the cool/warm mix

Below, a stunning environment that feels like it's in a penthouse - a warm modern design

Below, seen in the image above from a different angle. I'm on board!

Below, simply stunning, elegant, perhaps Will and Kate's powder room?

Below, I'm awed and excited - I think I'd like to hang out in here!

Of course I knew that Kohler is all about design and function but visiting Kohler's headquarters was a reminder as well as a series of new visual lessons about their quest for beauty, innovation, always a celebration of tradition and a commitment to a strong and clear look to the future. Sounds like copy text, doesn't it? Can you question Kohler's intense interest in design in the most open way, celebrating all design styles? I can't. Just look at the previous posts just below this one. Kohler is a giant in the kitchen and bath industry...for very good reason. I'm also very proud to call Kohler a great American brand. 

From this....

to this, introduced in 2010, the NUMI!

I hope you've enjoyed these posts. Don't forget to see more fabulous images on my Kohler's Design Center board on pinterest! Kitchen images are on that board too!!

Kohler - A Great American Brand

I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of visiting Kohler at their campus in none other than: Kohler, Wisconsin at their invitation. To see and feel the heartbeat of this great American brand was a professional goal fulfilled. 

I visited Kohler's headquarters at the end of October during a perfect fall weekend. It also happened to be the weekend of Kohler's Food and Wine Experience, a weekend filled with food and wine related events, seminars and workshops. I'm not overstating that this was such a great series of events that I'd love to go annually!

There are clearly several posts which I would like to share surrounding this weekend. First, you'll see some interesting pieces of Kohler's history. Second, I'll give you a look at the weekend's events which I know you'll also love. Third and probably fourth as well, you've just GOT TO SEE Kohler's fabulous Design Center! It will be worth the wait, I promise!

John Michael Kohler was 10 years old when his family came to the US from Austria and settled on a farm near St. Paul, Minnesota. At age 18, he moved to Chicago and became a traveling salesman for a wholesale grocery house and later sold furniture. His territory was the western seaboard of Lake Michigan. He formed a partnership in 1873 with Charles Silberzahn when they bought a foundry and machine shop from Kohler's father-in-law, Jacob Vollrath.

Kohler expanded the foundry to manufacture decorative iron pieces, cooking utensils and plumbing products. At the end of the 1800s a new factory was built in today's existing location, Kohler Village. Halfway through construction the plant burned down. Three months later John Michael Kohler died. Kohler's sons rebuilt the plant and renamed the busines John Michael Kohler Sons Co. in 1901. This is the overview. 

Below, plumbing begins...

In 1883, John Michael Kohler, and I quote, "enameled the inside of a horse trough/hog scalder, attached four cast iron legs, and sold it to a farmer as a bathtub. By 1891, the company expanded its line to include roll-rim bathtubs, washbowls, and drinking fountains. Acceptance of the Kohler bathtub and other enameled cast iron plumbing fixtures rapidly spread beyond the farm community. Cast iron products attained the reputation of being durable, sanitary, and 'superior as to beauty of design, excellence of finish, and quality of workmanship' " 

Below, a bathroom from 1900

The mission of the company, from a 1900's catalog:

Over twenty years' experience in the manufacture and sale of Feed and Ensilage Cutters, Horse Powers, Feed Mills, and other Agricultural Implements has given us a thorough knowledge of the business. It has always been our aim during this time to manufacture the best goods that ingenuity and money can produce. There are grades of cheaper machines than ours on the market, we thoroughly believe, however, in the maxim, "That the best articles are the cheapest in the long run" and we have made it a rule not to see for how little money we could make an article, but how good we could make it for a moderate price. The fact that farmers who bought our machines twenty years ago are still using them, is conclusive proof of their excellence and a good endorsement. Our cutters and powers are all built on the most improved, scientific and practicable principles. We manufacture both the fly-wheel and the cylindar cutters. 

We trust that the following pages will prove interesting and if in want of any machinery therein illustrated you will give them a fair, unprejudiced inspection and trial. Liberal discounts from lists allowed. Correspondence solicited. Respectfully, Kohler, Hayssen & Stehn Mfg. Co., Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA.

As I put together this post, I truly am honored to have had the opportunity to learn about the history of a great American brand. I also walked through several large, old buildings (with state of the art machinery) that houses Kohlers factories and foundry. I saw the molten iron worked by expert craftspeople. I also saw highly skilled craftspeople work with great precision applying a finish. Impressive procedures, machinery and cleanliness are what I observed first hand. This was no small tour - it was 2 1/2 hours of walking and learning, led by a retired factory worker. It sure was memorable. 

I hope you've enjoyed this first installment of my time spent at Kohler's headquarters. More to come, just wait!