French designer seating and lighting set the tone for two 60′s inspired kitchens
Red-tone, slab-front, wood cabinets are one element in common to these mid-century style kitchens. They also share a fondness for French modernist furniture from the same generation, particularly designs by Jean Prouvé, whose distinctive sheet metal and wood pieces are 20th century classics.
An informal, ‘60s leaning kitchen features Prouvé’s Gueridon Table oak and steel table with laminate top (at dwr.com) easily combined with Eames 1948 Eiffel molded plastic side chairs (at dwr.com) and a bulb-pendant chandy.
The white-brick wall unifies the upper and lower cabinets by providing a continuous backdrop in the open spaces — especially behind the pull out steel table under the counter, left. It’s is a fun homage to Beatles-era white brickwork popular in kitchens of that time and the dark grouting gives it a two-tone effect. Note the way it also dispenses with an awkward low space above the upper cabinets which are bumped down by a beam (far right). These cabinets essentially are composed of wood doors that slide across shelves. 
A loft kitchen in an apartment by New York designer Joe D’Urso flips the scheme, showing how red-tone slab front cabinets play off against sensuous, polished black stone counters and backsplash. This island has reproduction Jean Prové stools (by Miguel Saco) and a bit more open shelving on the range wall. Building a Sub Zero into a cabinet with an open shelf above it injects a modular look. I don’t know why the white-shag rug in the kitchen makes me chuckle but it must be more fun for bare feet than the grey stone-look floor (that ties into the stainless appliances). The pièce de résistance in this kitchen – a vintage Poul Henningsen Artichoke chandelier — tops off the visual deliciousness of it all.
(Source: Domino, Elle Décor)
