Retro Kitchens - The Eagle Has Landed

It seems appropriate, as a tribute to Memorial Day, to showcase a 60s-70s kitchen which salutes our national symbol, the eagle! And, our second national symbol, the orange! Ah yes, the brown appliances, the laminate butcher block countertop, the brick veneer, and of course, we must have patterns which don't make sense and colonial style chairs. What more can I say?? Truly, a historically accurate kitchen....have fun!

 

icff - glass kitchen tile style

Brooklyn Glassworks, a new company recently launched, redefines glass tile. Founded by artists Erica Rosenfeld, Dena Pengas and Brad Teasdale, they met several years ago at Urban Glass in downtown Brooklyn, where they currently teach. Over time, they each saw that their styles had strong similarities in their shared love of color, design, and form. More than glass tile, there is a line of contemporary lighting and limited edition furniture as well. All pieces are handcrafted in Brooklyn, NY. Colors for tiles are in seasons, spring, summer, winter, fall. Here are shades of summer.

More glass tile was seen at Stone Source, one of my sources for many years. Stone Source has really fabulous materials. They're lush and gorgeous and always stylish.  I was surprised to see the many choices that are available for their glass tiles. So many colors, sizes, moldings, color blends, and they do custom blends as well. There are a whole lot more colors for glass tile than just green! A great resource.

icff - Kitchen Chic!

One of the reasons I love to go to a show like this, a non kitchen focused show, is to be open minded and look for wonderful items that may not be designed specifically for the kitchen but can be adapted as a useful piece in the kitchen. Here are a few items which blur the lines between kitchen and other living areas. Blurring is a good thing!

Tucker Robbins, blending "authentic tradition and contemporary life" has some very amazing pieces which are used as either tables or stools. And, YES, the pieces come in varying heights, depending on how it is used in the kitchen. The image is just one style, but trust me, you MUST go to the website to see all the other great stools. 

 

I stopped and looked at this piece by d.e.Sellers.  I don't know why, but I thought of things like copper pots, cookbooks, large bowls, and other progressively smaller items as the shelves get smaller. I immediately thought it could be both useful and interesting in the kitchen. It is made of one piece of 4x8 material, the kind used in cutting boards! It's both art and function. I saw it in black on the floor, which looked great.

I love this Pharos pendant lighting by Niche Modern. First of all, I enjoy the color palette. The pendants come in either transparent or opaque. I think I prefer the transparent, although they are both beautiful. The jewel tones are beautiful, and imagine the glow! They are available in either 40 watts or 75 watts. Please do me a favor and hang these low! Too often, pendants are hung way too high! Get that intimate, cozy feeling hung a little lower than normal.

So much more to come from ICFF and KBIS over the coming weeks. Stay tuned! 

icff - A crystal hood for the kitchen

I went to the Elica exhibit at ICFF on Sunday and stopped short when I saw the display of the crystal ventilating hood! Elegance is an understatement, it's crazy bling for the fish odors! They had another one on display too, which changed colors every few seconds. That's a WOW, if I ever saw one! Elica, divorcing from partnership with Zephyr, a well known hood manufacturer, will be in the U.S. under its own power (I couldn't resist.)

Talking about power, I know the next question is, how much? Well, let's just say it's the cubic zirconia equivalent of function, BUT, with 250 cfms per unit, they tell me they frequently install two over a cooktop. But, truthfully, they admit that they suspect many who purchase this are non cookers. What ever gave them that idea??  

And, here is the lighting fixture, Hungry, from Fabbian! I feel so uncreative, I never thought of a storage solution like that for utensils...

ICFF - cool stuff for kitchens

I went to ICFF yesterday in New York. What a show. It seems bigger than ever. ICFF is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and International it is....many countries are represented, grouped together in their own areas. This is a wonderful show. The products are highly creative, with such beautiful finishes, colors, textures, it's the best of the best I think in terms of creativity for modern design. I was crazy about this show. Lots of ideas for kitchens, creative, fun, or just alternative ideas. Really gets the creativity flowing.

I will be putting products up from this show for some time, as I will from the KBIS show as well. There is not a "shelf life" that is just days after the show to be compelled to finish reporting on a show. There are so many wonderful items, it will surely take me months to get through the great items I've seen, so look forward to fantastic ideas and resources over time.

Here's your breakfast table in the city or the country! This table just thrilled me. I love it, and if I could have it in a circular version, I'd put my money right down on it. It's fantastic, don't you think? It's by Mark Cwik.  Love it!

And, along the same theme, from Caba Company, here is barkskin. A natural handmade wood material for wall coverings or anywhere your imagination can envision it. It is an organic, hand pounded bark material. I think it's fantastic. Why not on a backsplash, covered with 1/4" clear glass? It comes in colors, in very soft, subtle shades and in deeper, stronger textures as well.

Sleek Scandinavian Kitchens

After a 2 week absence due to the KBIS show and other things thrown into the mix, it's good to be back with Scandinavian kitchens on Mondays. Here we go!

Here are actually two kitchens, but one has a lot of images. I'd like to take a minute to review what makes them Scandinavian in nature and what is also not only cultural, but good design.

 

The first concept is lighting. Scandinavians love interesting lighting, and lots of it. So, the lighting fixtures must be well designed as well as highly functional. Task lighting is huge in Scandinavia. There are little light fixtures anywhere and everywhere. So, take note of the lighting.  

Second concept is "shapes and forms". This is a more architectural concept, which can be seen, for example, in the mosaic tile wall behind the cooktop and elsewhere. Scandinavians do not fear blank walls, and in fact have used them as part of their design work for a very long time, long before this idea became popular elsewhere. It is the "less is more" effect. Always simplicity and elegance combined, as a functional artform, the essence of Scandinavian design.

Third concept today is something old or hand crafted. Notice the floors, or the wonderful pottery or other items. Some items are old and speak of texture, repetition, or pattern, as we see here as well. There is thought and whimsey both present in Scandinavian design. Nothing is taken too seriously. That seems to be an inherent truth. Enjoy, and I'd love your comments too...

 And, as always, another couple of great Scandinavian blogs.....Lantligt and Karna.