The Ultimate Designer Kitchen

What do a luxurious high-end handbag and a kitchen have in common?  Give up?  Fendi! One of  the most impressive exhibits I viewed earlier this year at EuroCucina in Milan was the one featuring Fendi.  As you can imagine, a show like EuroCucina (a part of the even larger Salone Internazionale del Mobile) encompasses pretty much everything you could ever think  of when it comes to kitchen design.  Not only that, I saw things I've never imagined in my wildest dreams!  The Fendi's Casa Ambiente Cucina line fits squarely in that category. Styling can be described as elegant and sophisticated with details that call to mind to a fancy buckle or luxurious lining on your favorite expensive bag.  Speaking of linings, I was impressed with the cabinet interiors too.  In this case beauty isn't only skin deep it extends to what's inside.  This includes clear (yes CLEAR) roll outs and LED illumination which activates when you open the door or drawer. Fendi Kitchens made its debut at Salone two years ago with its first line of kitchen designs known as Ambienta Cucina, produced for them by SCIC, a high-end Italian kitchen manufacturer.The Fendi exhibit was kept strictly under wraps, no peeking from outside and once you were cleared to enter photography was verboten! Big burly bouncer type guys were on hand to enforce the no pic policy.  Sadly I witnessed one enthusiastic viewer caught in the act.  She was made to show her phone and delete all photos in presence of bouncer! I thought the whole point of showing at a trade show was to garner publicity, no?Fendi Casa Ambiente Cucina can be ordered in the U.S. exclusively through the Luxury Living Group  in  Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Their offerings are truly a marriage of quality and fine design  Check out Kitchens for Living On the Road to view all my pics and comments from Eurocucina 2014 and more!

FTK: Latest in Appliances on Show at EuroCucina

Let’s see.  Where were we?  Ah, yes.  I was going to tell you about FTK at iSaloni.  If you don’t know about my trip to Milan with the Blanco Design Council during Design Week, you’ve got some catching up to do!  Anyway, FTK, or Technology for the Kitchen, is a showcase for innovation in the category of domestic appliances.   The focus is on the seamless integration of cooking and refrigeration technology in the kitchen.   It is a world event so I saw names I am familiar with such as Miele, Electrolux and for the first time at this show, Subzero Wolf (above).  I also saw many unfamiliar brands such as Turkey’s Arcelik (Beko) Group which was also making its debut at EuroCucina 2014. In Europe we Americans have a reputation for embracing BIG! This includes cars, portions and, yes, refrigerators.  Did you know  what we call a standard refrigerator is referred to as an “American Refrigerator” in Europe?  This is a misconception as there are many  NYC apartment owners who I'm sure would warmly embrace their kitchen luxury a bit scaled down! Am I right?  Compact sizing was a popular offering along with ease of operation and low energy consumption. I saw new color choices for appliances such as the return of black and white for high end appliances, as featured at Miele. Ventilation was perhaps the “design star” at FTK with all kinds of sculptural sexy hood choices on show.  All the appliances were design oriented as well as efficient, offering consumers products that meet technical demands while holding their own in the “looks department”.  This means appliances for the home have taken on new shapes, colors and materials in addition to being light, compact, ergonomic and extremely appealing.  Steam and induction cooking continue to take the industry by force.  They’re not going away peeps! Contemporary lifestyles and increasingly open floor plans require versatile, multi-purpose solutions. In some areas of the globe, not only is fresh water a precious commodity, but so is fresh air.  Check out these interesting air purifiers.  Next up:  What's going on in the bathroom? Salone Internazionale del Bagno.  If you'd like to see all my photos from Design Week Milan, I've got you covered.  Just click here.

Kitchen Love, Italian Style at Acheo and Poggenpohl

Ok so you got me, Poggenpohl is not Italian.  They are German, except when they're in Milan, then they're Italian.  Good enough? I can hardly believe I’ve been home for over a week!  Images and impressions are still swirling around in my head from the wonderful time I spent with Blanco and some fellow members of the Blanco Design Council in Milan.  Design Week was not limited to the extensive exhibition at the Rho Fairgrounds but also included events all over town.  We visited two memorable and cutting edge showrooms on our visit.   The first was Acheo (pronounced AH-kee-oh), located in the Brera district.  Brera is also known today as the design district.  It is also one of the few really old areas of Milan which saw 80% destruction during WWII.  Acheo opened it’s showroom there in 2010.  Today they are a showcase of quintessential contemporary Italian design for the kitchen.They put on an impressive pre-dinner spread for us and the peeps from Modenus Blogtour Milan.All through our trip we saw many products not available here in the US.  Some will become available, perhaps in other versions.  One such item is this Durinox work top and sink (below) which is a part of the Blanco Steel Art collection.  Think stainless steel on steroids!!  Seriously, it is made with a finishing process used in the auto and aerospace industries so it is super scratch resistant and more than twice as hard as stainless steel.  It is available, as shown, in Europe from Blanco in Germany.  The sinks only will be available for undermount installation here in the US.We found that in Milan you could miss half the experience if you failed to look up!  Look at these cool light fixtures at Acheo!The other showroom we had the pleasure of visiting during our visit was Poggenpohl.  I think you could argue that they set the bar when it comes to innovation in contemporary cabinet design.  As I mentioned, Poggenpohl is a German company and they claim to be the oldest kitchen brand in the world!  Some years ago Poggenpohl  teamed up with the Porsche Design Studio to develop the P'7340 line of cabinets. Both companies focus their concentration on the overall line as well as  providing unsurpassed quality of product. Above is a Porsche Design Kitchen P'7340 by Poggenpohl.  It's hallmark is the aluminum frame which surrounds each box. Originally designed with men in mind, it has evolved into a brand appealing to discerning contemporary design devotees of either sex.  Chief Poggenpohl designer Manfred Junker was on hand to explain the intricacies of design detail that go into the product including their trademark, no handle, fronts.  In fact, he claims, they are the first to offer touch control on the refrigerator and dishwasher.  Here's what they have to say about that on their website: "Handleless fronts emphasize the clean, uncompromised lines of the kitchen furniture."Poggenpohl took care of our tummies too.   After all, design spotting can work up one hell of an appetite!     This newest version of P'7340 (see below) features a contrasting counter top inset made of solid New Zealand pine with a wire brushed finish.Next up:  FTK (Technology for the Kitchen)  This was the section of iSaloni featuring the latest trends and products in kitchen appliances.Click here for a peek at all my Milan photos!own and automatically completes the closing cycle

Euro Cucina 2014

I'm home and just about recovered from my jet lag.  All pics are up for your perusal.  It was a fabulous trip and my heartfelt gratitude goes out to the golden peeps at Blanco, including travel mate Christy Emens as well as Lori Dolnick of Frank Advertising.  I was honored to be included with fellow bloggers Marilyn Russell (DesignMagnifique), Kelly Morisseau (KellyMorisseau.com) and Grace & Ken Kelly of (kitchendesigns.com).  Having been to many trade shows in the US over the years, I've always wanted to experience the bigger, global picture.  Now I have and it was amazing. I arrived on Monday morning ready to explore.  Lori and I took a stroll and stumbled upon a delicious lunch and a very cool design museum but first things first.  I'm dying to tell you about all the products and trends I saw at the big show.  Euro Cucina only comes along every two years as a part of the Salone del Mobile. Milano.  There is also a whole section devoted to the bath called Salone Internazionale del Bagno. Kitchen gadgets and appliances are shown in the FTK section.  I did a pretty good job of covering those but I estimate that was only about 20% of the entire show, the rest being furniture and other aspects of design.  Here's what caught my eye.

Counter tops were either very thin or chunky, like 1/2"  for the thin and 3" for the chunky.   I saw a lot of mixing of materials, in fact, that was probably the one biggest trend I saw for both counter tops and cabinets.  It is also one that can easily be adapted to our US market.  Counter top materials are much more adventurous than the usual granite or quartz that we are used to here. I saw wood, Corian, recycled composite material and more.  The overlapping installation here was also quite common.The kitchen sink saw some new innovations including lots of accessories and different methods of installation.  The inset style above, by Blanco, is factory installed by Leicht for a perfect fit.  This particular one is not available to us in the US but we can get the Precision model with the distinctive square corner interior for undermount applications.  Cabinets featured lots of defined graining in woods such as white oak, rosewood and walnut in both horizontal and vertical directions, sometimes on the same door.  I also saw some interesting variations on the popular slab and Shaker silhouettes.

LED lights illuminated the interior of all cabinets including drawers.  Just open the drawer and contents are illuminated.  Cabinetry, for the most part was sleek on the outside, party on the inside!  By that I mean that interiors were tricked out to the max to ensure convenient and efficient storage. Oh and yes, that 's a truck load of chocolate on the top, almost as intriguing as the drawer.  If you think that's eye candy, just wait till you get to the end of the post!

CleverStorageUS by Kessebohmer showed this blind corner pull out (below) which I specify all the time.  I think it's really the best way to take advantage of an awkward space.

Traditional styling was represented but examples were relatively few.  Some very opulent looks, traditional with high tech functionality

Visual Texture was abundant on cabinet fronts with laminates that look like the real deal.  But don't let looks deceive, these laminate fronts behind us (below) are by Leicht and are smooth as the proverbial baby's bottom!

Italian men were also on display and I would be remiss if I didn't cover that aspect of the show.  So there I was minding my own business, when a fashion show erupted (it was actually in the Bath section of the show).

 This is just the first in a series of posts about Milan and Salone Internazionale del Mobile.  Upcoming posts will include our visits to Acheo and Poggenpohl showrooms and much more.  So what do you think of these kitchen trends so far? I think some will make it over the pond but you can always know that whatever we do, we'll do it with an Americano twist. More later :)Click here for a peek at all my Milan photos!

A New View into Kitchen Design

This year marks my twentieth anniversary in this industry.  I was originally a fashion major but when I fled the retail life for this industry I came to it totally green.  I still clearly remember my first day looking at a floor plan.  I couldn't tell a door apart from a bathtub. My, have we come along way!  Around 5 years ago I converted from hand drafting to computer, yes I was a hold out.  I taught myself Chief Architect and never looked back (although I still look forward to learning it much more in depth). Today there is a wealth of real photos at your disposal on websites like houzz.com or modenus.com available to help with design ideas and options.  We live the adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words"!  One company is taking it a step further, meet VDS (Virtual Design Studio) This tool was developed for Austrian Laminate Maker EGGER.  Choosing an exact finish for your new cabinetry can be daunting.  This tool allows you through HD video projectors, to see wooden textures on real objects.   This touch screen interface allows you to choose out of Egger's 700 options.  For the first time the viewer has the option of making a choice  in  full scale mode and with a truly realistic impression.The days of color sample chips are quickly coming to a close.What could be next?   Follow me April 6-11 as I cover iSalone, a part of Design Week in Milan. As a member of BLANCO’s Design Council, I’ll be traveling with a small group of my fellow members Marilyn Russell of Design Magnifique, Kelly Morriseau , and Ken and Grace Kelly of Kitchen Designs,  I'm thrilled to be included with with such talent and will  be Instagram-ing, FaceBooking, blogging and Tweeting up a storm! I hope you join me. 

Getting Ready to Meet Milan

Where can you go to see the genius of Leonardo da Vinci as well as the brilliance of contemporary couture and cutting edge design?  MILAN!!!  This year I will be one of the more than two million annual visitors to Milan.  I'm excited to be a part of the Blanco team covering the Milan Furniture Fair or more properly referred to as, Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano.  

Originally an Italian furniture show, the event has grown, since 1961 into a major international happening for the design world.  Always held  in April, this year Milan Design Week runs from April 8-13th.  Besides being a major world fashion and design capital, Milan is home to the 5th largest cathedral in the world, Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

Santa Maria is home to many da Vinci paintings, including The Last Supper,  and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Naturally I will be very interested in the EuroCucina/International Kitchen Furniture Exhibition segment of the show. This, along with the International Bathroom Exhibition are a part of the big event every two years.  A little (Italian) bird tells me that this year we will continue to see an abundance of natural finishes.

Technology designed to improve the kitchen experience will be its own category and for the first time, American manufacturer SubZero Wolf will be joining the mix.

The Bathroom Exhibition's theme is all about creating a "temple for the mind and body" with the latest products and accessories you need to create the "spa experience".

SOOOO if you haven't put Kitchens for Living into your regular-blog-reading-rotation, now might be a great time.  It's so good to know what's going on in the rest of the world and I'm so excited to share iSaloni and all my impressions of beautiful Milano.  You can  also follow me on FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram for updates.