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. 450px-5275MilanoViaMadonnina   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.Acheo,Milan,woodtops,blancoThey put on an impressive pre-dinner spread for us and the peeps from Modenus Blogtour Milan.food2acheo-LAll 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.BLANCOsink Acheo Showroom-LWe found that in Milan you could miss half the experience if you failed to look up!  Look at these cool light fixtures at Acheo!Acheo, Italianlightfixtures, milanThe 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! Poggenpohl, porschekitchen, milan 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,touchcontrolrefrigerator, milanPoggenpohl took care of our tummies too.   After all, design spotting can work up one hell of an appetite!Poggenpohlmilan     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.Poggenpohl.PorscheDesignKitchen,P'7340,milanNext 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.DSCF9449-L 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.

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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.Blanco Steel Art Precision Sink KitchensforlivingThe 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. The sculptural Attika sink also by Blancowood cabinets glass doors Composit 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.

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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!
eurocucina2014 drawers led light drawer organizer
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.
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CleverStorageUS Pantry Pullout Kessebohmer Schiffini
Traditional styling was represented but examples were relatively few.  Some very opulent looks, traditional with high tech functionality
Traditional Cabinets EuroCucina Whitecabinetswithgolddetail
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!
Leicht Eurocucina2014 blancodesigncouncil
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).
Fashion show sponsored by Ceramics Sant Agostino 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!

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.  

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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.

 

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Santa Maria delle Grazie

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

lastsupper

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.

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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".

Photo courtesy of iSaloni blogSOOOO 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.