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.

My New Favorite Flooring Find

Flooring is the basis for every room in your house, ground zero if you will.  We want it to be a flattering backdrop for our decor, cabinetry and rugs BUT it's also got to be durable and easy to take care of.  Wood flooring is all the rage and, to be sure, nothing equals the warmth and richness of a real wood floor. 

Traditional Wood Flooring by Monroe Township Carpet & Flooring Burroughs Hardwoods Inc.

If you love the look of real wood but don't want to worry about finish, maintenance or potential water damage (leaks happen), this may be the product for you.  Meet Crossville, Inc.  Not only is it possible to get that "real wood" look in porcelain tile, but now you can even get that "weathered barn" look with SpeakEasy, their latest porcelain tile collection.  Sometimes my clients are afraid to use real wood in the kitchen or bath so this is a great alternative.  I also like the fact that the weathered finish is not slippery like polished marble.  I love pairing the distressed look with super modern design as in the photo above.  Then again this look always blends with traditional or rustic design.The collection features five colors that mimic stained wood.  There's even a color called Sweet Georgia Brown!  Planks are 36" long and you can choose from 6", 8" or 12" widths.SpeakEasy is Green Squared certified and contains a minimum of 4% recycled pre-consumer content.  For more info  about this collection and all the other offerings over at Crossville visit crossvilleinc.com.

Hot Trends Make a Big Splash at KBIS 2014

As many of you know, the Kitchen and Bath masses gathered in Las Vegas February 4-6 for their annual pilgrimage to KBIS, the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show. This year the event was part of Design & Construction Week, a new concept, merging KBIS with IBS, the International Builder’s Show. As a result, it was bigger and better than ever. Let’s hope that what happened there does NOT stay there !Maybe I should limit that to kitchen and bath industry products and trends ;)   Uber interior design resource Modenus hosted their latest Blogtour group who covered the event in a big way! You can get the entire scoop here.So what is trending, you may ask? Here’s the latest scoop from Kitchen & Bath Design News and KBIS co-sponsors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association:Let there be light.  Yes we’re used to lights in the refrigerator but now we’re adding LED lighting to cabinetry as well.

Make that matte.  Last year I noticed a growing interest in matte finishes and it’s even more so this year.  One such surface is the new Dekton by Cosentino.  It's an ultra compact surface including quartz, porcelain and glass.  This makes it perfect for both indoor and outdoor use, even better than quartz as it's UV resistant and can withstand extreme heat.

Keep it simple.   NKBA President John Petrie, CMKBDT tells us, "while transitional styles are still number one, we see kitchen design trending more contemporary this year, with clean , simple lines: less clutter and little ornamentation".Quartz rocks, especially if it’s patterned!  Homeowners have discovered quartz but they're not willing to give up the pattern and movement found in natural stone products like granite and marble.  New finishes by Cambria let you have the best of both worlds.Cambria's  Waterstone Collection captures the depth and beauty of marble and granite while offering the superior strength and performance of quartz. (Here's something for you "traditionalists", they clearly didn't get the message about contemporary in this kitchen!)Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets, We may like our cabinetry look pared down but gimme the gadgets!  Technology reigns, ie anything  touch operated or digital.The new Temp20 Technology by Delta Faucets boasts a digital temperature display that saves you the shock or injury from water that's not the temperature you were expecting.   When the temperature is less than 80 degrees the LED display will glow blue.  It's magenta from 80-110 and red when it's above that.  You can get this feature on your Delta faucet  this spring.A bath to come home to, trends in the bathroom focus on customization and spa ambiance.  In  the high end markets, free standing tubs are all the rage.  They are functional and sculptural at the same time. We are also understanding the benefits of hydrotherapy as in soaking tubs and steam baths.Additional features you may want to include in your new kitchens and baths include the following:-Induction cooktops (and now ranges too!)-Steam ovens-French-door refrigerators (duh, I think we all know that already!)-Bottom freezer drawers (ditto of above)-Touch activated faucets-Electronic (no touch) faucets-LED lighting-Charging stations-Pet stationsI believe all of the above are here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future, and the technology will only get better.

Glass Reflects History and Looks to the Future

The thing I love about glass is that it constantly reinvents itself and that is the secret to staying viable in all economies. Glass has been around thousands of years,  first found in the Mesopotamia region, it’s main component is silica. It’s been so useful throughout history because it is so versatile in its uses.  By nature it is sterile and non pourous which makes it an excellent choice for holding food and beverages.

Modern Kitchen by Los Angeles Architects & Designers Griffin Enright Architects

It can also be molded into almost any shape. Its transparency allowed us to have the first windows offering light and at the same time protection from the elements.

   The international design movement of the early 2oth century gave us architecture featuring large unbroken expanses of glass.  A quintessential example is Philip Johnson's Glass House and who could forget the 90s phenomenon, glass block! Corning Glassworks , an American company founded in 1851 continues to explore cutting edge uses for glass.  You can visit the Corning Museum of Glass where over 40,000 objects representing 3500 years of glass and glass making from Egyptian to 20th century are on display. But if you can’t make it to Corning NY, check out this timeline available on their very slick website. The following video produced by Corning shows some amazing cutting edge technology featuring, you guessed it, glass!  This is not a new video, apparently made in 2011, but it looks pretty futuristic to me just the same.  Note the kitchen and bath applications! Last but certainly not least, here is a sight we’re going to be seeing more of in the coming years, Google Glass. Do you agree?  Weigh in now!

Ancient Elements Create Artful Counters

I’m in love.  Let me back up a moment.  You all know how I like quartz counter tops and I will continue to sing their praises BUT this is LOVE. You're looking at a “petrified wood ammonite counter top”, made from natural wood turned to stone, over time, and ammonite shells.  These components are fit together and formed into a slab using clear resins.These fossils are sourced in Madagascar.  The material is 3cm (1 3/16”), polished or honed and you can find this glorious slab at Stone Gallery Miami. Slabs are approximately 110” by 65” and will run you in the neighborhood of $14,000.   This is a quintessential example of Kitchen Art with a capital "A"! The above slab contains amethyst from Brazil.  If you spec this $19,000 slab don't even think about not back lighting it.  This example is showing  the slab illuminated to highlight the natural color.  All these slabs are solid 3cm material, no veneer here.Stone Gallery specializes in the most beautiful granites and marbles and it’s not all 14K a slab! Their showroom is located here in West Palm Beach but they have a brand new location in Miami.  See the Kitchens for Living Local Resources Section for further info.

The Rest of the "Hot Pepper" Kitchen Story

Happy new year peeps! Back at the drawing board this week after a nice holiday break. I got a lot of annoying little things done AND spend a little time in the studio but that's another story. Last post I told you about my dream kitchen. I don't know about you but I'm still dreaming and that was just enough to pique my interest. The lovely Shannon Pepper of Shannon Pepper Design in New Zealand, YES, New Zealand (who knew they were rocking such awesome design down under?)  shared some of her musings with me:

Modern Kitchen by Auckland Kitchen & Bath Designers shannon pepper design

 KFL:  What parameters were you given before designing this kitchen?Shannon:  The kitchen needed to be very functional for a busy family of 5. The kitchen is very much centralised in the home so it also needed to be very " good looking " for better words. There needed to be space to tuck things away like appliances etc to keep the space tidy.KFL: What was the biggest challenge of the project?Shannon:  Hmmm, I'm not sure there were any real challenges in this project as the client was very easy to deal with and realistic.  The space was very proportional and easy to plan. I say that but originally, in the plans from the architect, there was a window on the hob (stove) wall which we were trying to work around. After much thought  the client decided that since the space would only look out onto a hedge and wouldn't  offer much light  we opted to remove the window and add under cabinet lights to keep the space light.

Modern Kitchen by Auckland Kitchen & Bath Designers shannon pepper design

 KFL:  Is there anything you'd have done differently if you could?Shannon: Not really,  I love this kitchen and loved working with this client.KFL:  Can you describe they type of client you were designing for? Shannon:  The clients were both doctors and they have 3 children under 12. The family is busy with extra activities after school for the children and wanted a space that was functional and easy to maintain.KFL: What brand of cabinets did you use?Shannon:  The cabinetry used is a Dezignatek vinyl wrapped (known here as thermofoil)  product. The colour is white gloss and the profile of the doors and drawers is Milan. This product is great for giving you a painted finish look but without the chipping and scratching possibilities of paint.Not only is this a dream kitchen but it sounds like it was an all-around dream job too.  Check out Shannon's website for more pics of her beautiful projects.