Four years ago, I observed that the all white kitchens trend was over. Now, there are variations. Today, the white kitchen — often amusingly referred to as “the one true kitchen” — has been copied to death. Apart from light fixtures or other details, it’s often difficult to tell white kitchens from one another. In concept, they are very lovely but the look has become … [Read more...]
Black French Range in a White Kitchen
Stove color makes a statement in a kitchen. Black implies serious culinary business. Over the last ten years, the 2003 Something’s Gotta Give kitchen (actually a movie set) provided a much-copied formula for a popular black and white look: white Victorian-style cabinets with black counters and accents. That scheme created crisp, high contrast drama. The latest variation on the … [Read more...]
Retractable Skylight Kitchen
A rectractable skylight opens this kitchen ceiling to the outdoors. When a house wins architectural awards, the kitchen rarely plays a role in its design. But in the case of Elliott House, a four-story contemporary glass and concrete home in London, the kitchen is key due to its location on the top floor and to the retractable skylight in the ceiling. With the roof open [top], … [Read more...]
Smart Kitchen Ideas
A pair of kitchen design ideas that deliver charm and convenience. Aren't we always looking for kitchen design ideas that will make our day-to-day lives easier? It's double the pleasure when the outcome is attractive. Instead of struggling with dark, hard to reach corner cabinets, install open shelving. These floating stainless steel shelves solve the dead space dilemma and … [Read more...]
Antique Gray Hutch Kitchen
The French gray hutch in a wall of new cabinets is one trick of the trade used in this soft palette kitchen. Many from the kitchen obsessed crowd would start buying for their dream kitchen with a French range. But the first purchase for designer Samantha Lyman and her client was the pair of vintage Dutch ship lights for her kitchen. The large scale vintage pieces are copper … [Read more...]
Hardware Love Kitchens
How black-finish kitchen cabinet hardware becomes a design element for a white kitchen. Cabinet-look kitchens are particularly prone to hardware overload. What I mean by that is a sea of kitchen cabinet hardware that grabs attention by repetition. That's the case in this classic white kitchen because all the hardware is black and the cabinets are white. The very first thing I … [Read more...]
Green Painted Floor Kitchen
Nothing says updated cottage style quite like a leaf green painted floor. A recent post, Various Degrees of Green, featured kitchens where green was king. Various verdant shades appeared on cabinets and walls. There even was a pea-green gingham ceiling. While the ceiling is often referred to as the fifth wall, the floor doesn't often come into play as a major feature but the … [Read more...]
Jasper Conran’s Country Kitchen
In a historic house focused on antiques, Jasper Conran's kitchen island quietly rocks. English merchant and designer Jasper Conran (menswear, women's wear, home goods) wrote a book about country life in 2010. Published pictures of his own historically important (18th century) country house, Ven, followed. The focus was on the glorious yellow living room and amazing antiques. … [Read more...]
Riveted Range Guard Kitchen
The riveted range guard wall above the range takes on uncommon decorative power. For a spacious kitchen in a newly constructed Spanish country home, architect Pablo Carvajal and designer Isabel Lopez-Quesada created a stunning riveted range guard behind a white Lancanche Sully with an electric (or perhaps induction) top. Protecting the wall with fireproof material is … [Read more...]
Color of Toast Kitchen
Dark neutral walls -- the color of toast -- add some formality to the look of a kitchen. Walls the color of well-done toast may not sound like a recipe for a style trend in the coming decade. But a quick study of this sleek-but-not-slick, chic-but-not-impractical kitchen by Swedish-born designer Patrik Lönn shows how adapting a dark neutral color scheme usually associated with … [Read more...]
1905 Townhouse Kitchen
The art of creating a townhouse kitchen addition and aging it to look renovated rather than new. That was the goal for Bay Area architect Andrew Skurman, set out by collector Susan Dossiter, who wanted the new space added to her family’s 1905 San Francisco townhouse kitchen to resemble what she described to House Beautiful magazine as “an old English service kitchen.” … [Read more...]
Refrigeration in Disguise II
An integrated paneled refrigerator can be designed to blend into a kitchen or steal the show. An integrated paneled refrigerator can be made to look like part of the kitchen's architecture. It's a necessary appliance needed but hated by many -- especially me -- because it's large, usually unattractive and it commands attention. Given a do-over, I would either hide our … [Read more...]
Urban Chic Kitchen
Mixing styles creates a sophisticated industrial style kitchen in an urban London loft. I have been a magazine junkie most of my adult life and in the last decade I have added several European journals to my list. This industrial chic urban London kitchen found its way into my ever expanding idea file for several reasons. While I tend to surround myself with vintage, I am … [Read more...]
Sage Island Kitchen
A sage green painted island adds a touch of country style to a kitchen with a variety of accents. Sage green dominates the theme of this Los Angeles kitchen where designer Madeline Stuart created a traditional kitchen with a four color palette. The centerpiece of the kitchen is the sage green English-style worktable island. The top is butcher block trimmed with a ring os … [Read more...]
