The Scandinavian Style Breakfast Room

There was one photograph, similar to what I took below, that made me very quickly email the realtor back to say, "book it!" What is not shown so well is this structure of sorts that has a curved, stone, thick, back to it and the front is seating, like a curved sectional. It is situated in the perfect spot, and definitely a surprise in this room.

There is a variety of interesting elements in this room...the brick floors for one. These are real bricks, not veneer! I've never seen this used as flooring in a kitchen, a real kitchen. I'm a barefoot walker around the house, and it did not bother me to walk on this floor. Of course, the plants on the walls and ceiling are crazy!  It certainly was THE most interesting breakfast room I've ever had the pleasure to dine in.

And, always white, everywhere, as the perfect shade to complement these colors of nature, the brick and the green plants. Simple, not "decorated" per se, just sort of accumulated elements, creating a comfortable space.  

What makes a breakfast room/kitchen dining area great? I think one way (not the only way) as we see here, is to create the quality of the space feeling "real," not contrived, but to show an authenticity, with a goal to delight, and ignite, the senses. It's one particular look.

Did you say you wanted at least SOME accessories to integrate into this look?? Ok, come with me over to Desire To Inspire's second day of shopping the antique boutiques for some very wonderful furnishings and accessories to get this look! Thanks DTI! 

White Kitchen - Scandinavian Style!

I haven't really shown you any images from my trip to Copenhagen yet! I have so many....over 2,000 to be round about precise (call me obsessive, I'm guilty!) And, let's not forget my 10 (at least) magazines too. Lots of good stuff. Don't get me diamonds, just get me a Scandinavian interior design magazine! (I didn't really say that, right?)

Speaking of good stuff, I went a little crazy with taking lots of images of this very soft, romantic, Scandinavian style that everyone loves so much. I found this wonderful style (so much style) in some very special antique stores, Atelier September and Fil de Fer.

I have shared these particular images with Desire To Inspire, my good blogging buddies, because they have featured one of the stores before and I thought they would enjoy them, a fresh look from being IN the stores. I think they enjoyed them so much that they are doing a feature today AND featuring more, and different, images tomorrow! 

What's missing is the kitchen! The apartment we stayed in, in Copenhagen, definitely had this same romantic style going on. I saw pictures of it online and booked it immediately! I just HAD to stay there. So, here is a kitchen design connection to this romantic Scandinavian style that Desire To Inspire is showing.

Today I will show you the kitchen, tomorrow, I will show you the adjacent breakfast room which will make you fall right over!

Don't forget to check back with Desire To Inspire tomorrow too, to see the complete look, connected with my images here.  

Here are previous posts in Desire To Inspire...on Scandinavian Style  and more Scandinavian style and good Danish design too. I would encourage you to use the search tool in their blog, but watch the time, you'll be there all day!

Creative Kitchen Designing

I visited a blog I have been following for some time. It's about a "gut" renovation of a charming, old house in Sag Harbor, that really wonderful town on the east end of Long Island.

I've been waiting SO patiently to see what was going to happen in the kitchen, and finally, the images are up. Brooke Williams, Domino blog editor extraordinaire, (and mom-to-be very soon) did some pretty interesting things with her and her husband's kitchen. Definitely alternative!

Take a look at this kitchen post for more very interesting images and information on the kitchen.

The message, here, is that kitchens come in all different types and styles for all different reasons, and, in the end, should be as individual as you are!

Perhaps you would not have certain design elements or products such as is designed into this kitchen (no upright refrigerator, only 2 under counters opposite the range!) but Brooke and her husband thought this through carefully and decided a spacious, open feel was what they wanted most. Likewise, kitchen countertops made of unfinished, reclaimed antique wood, which will need to be finished on site. Another alternative idea! My understanding is that this will be a second, weekend, residence, another reason to make it a laboratory and venture beyond the typical.

Feel free to seek out, find, and then express your inner "kitchen!" You may get a range of comments and reactions, but, who cares, it's a reflection of who you are, and that's as it should be in kitchen interiors. I see it as having a very interesting mix of textures. Good work following your kitchen bliss, Brooke!

Blogging Kitchen Blogs

Let's see who's talking about what in the kitchen focused blogosphere...

K+BB Green's Jeff Holloway, CKD, who blogs on green kitchen and bath products, issues, and ideas, also looks at green focused kitchen and bath issues, but look beyond that post, and you will be enlightened in a green way.

Peggy Deras, CKD, from Kitchen-exchange, has a great post on a free service for lighting questions. Let me tell you, planning lighting for any room in your home SHOULD be given first rate attention. It's a small price to pay (in this case none) to get it right the first time and to "see" clearly what you need and want to see!

Ann Porter, CKD, of Kitchann Style has a very interesting post on opening up, or visually enlarging small kitchens. Now, the conventional wisdom says that one must pack in as much storage as is possible in a small kitchen. As Ann says, it's more about finding alternative storage solutions, with the benefit of a much more spacious look to an otherwise small feeling kitchen. I like this way of thinking!

Laurie Burke, from Kitchen Design Notes, talks about the maintenance of soapstone.  Soapstone is a quite misunderstood material. No need to be freaked out by scratches...with a little elbow grease, your countertop is brought back to life and lustre. Explore, there is more on soapstone in the blog.

And for pure style, one of my fave design blogs, Desire to Inspire always manages to sneak in some great kitchens in their posts, which are a joy to see, especially in the context of the whole house, apartment, or whatever the environment! Take a look and get, well, inspired...  

Kitchen Designer Diary - A Day In The Life

From time to time I will share with you real life client meetings, like today. It was an interesting day today. I had received a call last week from a woman who asked about my kitchen design services, as she and her husband are planning a kitchen renovation. I was immediately intrigued when she said they lived on Fire Island. Fire Island is a very long, and very narrow, strip of land, beyond the south shore of Long Island, about 1/2 an hour off of Long Island by boat, reachable only by private boat or ferry. No cars are allowed on the island, and there are several small towns. It's all about the beach on Fire Island!

I was born and raised on Long Island, and I had never been to Fire Island, the residential section of Fire Island, as opposed to the public ocean beaches, a totally separate area, so I was interested in going. The trip there and back was time consuming. I live on the north shore of Long Island, a straight shot across the island from the ferry on the south shore. Here's the math:

1/2 an hour to the ferry

1/2 an hour on the ferry

2 hours 45 minutes between ferries (once on Fire Island)

1/2 an hour on the ferry back

1/2 an hour back home, once on the mainland

= close to 5 hours and a fair amount of wear and tear!

But, again, I was interested in seeing it, so off I went. I thought I'd be met at the ferry, so after wandering around a bit, I called, and they said they'd be right there and asked if I rode a bicycle. Hmmmm...I dressed in a skirt and had 2 heavy bags with me, but, this was an adventure, so, I must do adventurous things. "Sure, I said, I ride a bike."

Some minutes later, up came a man (the husband) riding a big old bike and holding another bike as he rode, a female style bike, bright blue. The husband took my things, put them in his basket and off we went on the way back to their house.

We rode on some beautiful, very small, narrow, paved lanes, typical for the island, past lovely, small homes, with beautiful gardens, such lush growth everywhere, a front lawn with large seashells, tall beach grasses blowing, and passing others on their bicycles too. Weaving from one lane into another, we eventually got to the house, leaned the bike up against the house and went inside.

The home was beautiful in its simplicity, exposed beams everywhere, as the home is not winterized, and it was all in white. There was authentic, and beautiful, mid century furniture pieces by famous designers such as Hans Wegner, and a light by Louis Poulsen. It was very inspiring. We talked, all went well, and I immediately thought of a new line of cabinetry that I will be announcing soon (!) which would be just perfect for this particular setting. The kitchen is wide open to the living room and dining area. I know exactly what to do here. This kitchen needs surgery! The estimate was received well, it was asked that I fully measure, we'll see what happens.

It was a long day, oh, and how can I forget to mention the pouring rain on the ferry trip back, complete with rough seas, thunder and lightning (and let's not forget the below "E" gas fill-up at the self help mini mart gas station where one must go into the mart, fill up, then go back to the mart, then back to the car (in the rain)? Ugh.  

All in all, I had a great day, met nice people, saw a beautiful place, and an interesting home, it's definitely all good. 

Kitchen Cabinet Order Process

It was a very busy week last week. Of course, a large cabinet order for a kitchen had to be edited while I was away, which I did (while I was away). Then, it had to be looked at in its entirety again right after I got back, to do the back and forth editing with the factory, which I did, and have just finished.

I thought it would be interesting to give you a little glimpse of what is involved in ordering a kitchen, this stage of the order processing, which is the final stage. It's a stressful time. It's decision time, fish or cut bait, do or die, last chance and all that!

I do things the long way. When I put in my cabinet order, it's probably 95% accurate. Usually, that is because I need to rush the order writing somewhat so that I can reserve a particular week for delivery...timing is always critical in my line of business! At this time, the client and I go over the final plans and they place the deposit with me. In the course of going over every final detail, more issues often arise, changes, rethinking, etc. on the part of the client. I permit that, I never discourage it, because I want my clients to have things "their way." I want them to have every opportunity, even if it comes later than it should, to make their kitchen the way they want it.

Sometimes, as in this case, the client kept thinking and rethinking things well after we first placed the order, and I continued to accommodate this client until the day before I left for my trip (a surprise two hour meeting!) And, then we emailed and spoke again while I was away!

When the factory gives me back their interpretation of my written order, and before production, it looks like the image, here! I need to start from scratch with every single dimension for the entire room, taking another look at a couple of hundred+ cabinet order details, and taking everything else (appliance specs & more) into consideration all over again. That's how I do it.  It takes focused concentration for long periods of time.  As a result, I never, ever, have a problem with a cabinet's fit, and I'll often come up with new, better, ways of detailing a cabinet during this time.

There are four pieces of information that I check, one against the other, constantly: the specifications list in the contract, the floor plan and elevations, my order to the factory, and the original dimensions from the space. Back and forth, one to the other and back again.

Sometimes I have not been 100% clear in the order, and sometimes the factory makes a mistake or misinterpretation on their edited copy of the actual order. They check me, and I then check their final interpretation before it goes into production. We communicate via phone and email. To me, it's not over until it's the last day before production (well, the goal is to have it be over when the factory begins their editing process!) You can get a sense of how detailed a designer is if you ask him/her to tell you how he/she edits their orders with the factory. Sometimes I call it engineering the cabinetry to fit, as I design all cabinetry to the 1/8". If they roll their eyes at the thought of this stage of the process, it's a good sign! Now the order is done, and guess what, when the cabinets arrive, I'm doing the whole thing all over again to remember why I did what I did!