Hi there! I’m Joanna, a writer for Design Shuffle, an online portal for all things interior design from interior designer portfolios to engaging articles on the latest design trends. I am so lucky to be able to spend my days discovering the most beautiful interior design ideas on the web and bringing them to share on blogs such as this one. Thank you Kitchens for Living for allowing me to post today on kitchen islands.The center of activity in the kitchen often centers around the kitchen island, especially if it is designed to accommodate chairs or stools. This gathering place keeps the family and guests together with the home chef while he or she is preparing the meal. Kitchen islands come in as many varieties as cabinets and counter tops—practically endless choices. Take a look at some of my favorite kitchens and islands. Which do you like the best?
A beautifully appointed kitchen boasts a lovely kitchen island paired with white leather and brad trimmed counter chairs. Wouldn’t it be so nice to take a seat and visit with the chef while he or she cooks?
This rustic, gray island is given an industrial feel by equipping it with rollers. Another industrial element can be found in the aluminum work stool pulled up to the island.
A massive kitchen island seats no less than six people. This is the perfect space for any meal. The woven chairs are so unusual and gorgeous. Getting any kitchen design ideas?
A Tuscan kitchen features an extra large island flanked on either end by a traditional style lamp. For its size, it could accommodate more seating than just the three counter stools shown here.
Love, love, love this style of kitchen island. It looks as if they took a small sideboard and just added an extended wood top to accommodate seating and an eating area. Lots of decorating ideas can be found here.
Count them, not one but two islands! I love this look and would be as happy as apple pie to be the home chef of this kitchen. Does this inspire any decorating ideas?
Wouldn’t you love to cook up your favorite recipe in this sleek and crisp white kitchen? The island and cabinetry feature the current design trend of brass hardware.
This ornate kitchen island is as gorgeous as it is useful. The carving and robin’s egg blue of the ‘legs” fits so nicely with the rest of the tile and cabinetry in the space. Many of my favorite kitchen designs include lovely chandeliers like this one. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8Craving even more design inspiration? Then visit Design Shuffle! You can explore the history of interior design and browse through the portfolios of Boston interior designers and more!
TROPICAL MEETS TRADITIONAL
Here in my little corner of South Florida the pendulum has swung , of late, to more contemporary designs in the kitchen. This means less ornate with clean lines. I love it but I realize it's not for everyone. What if your whole house is more classic and traditional? Your kitchen should always work with the architecture and theme of your home. This is exactly the case with a job I am working on now. This Florida home has a kitchen open on two sides, the dining room and the family room. Here's what it looks like now.
She's selected appliances which are slightly different and will be integrated into the new plan. Because the kitchen is smack dab in the center of the home there is not much natural light, so no dark finishes. We have about 95" to the soffits. Last but not least, because the kitchen is so open and visible we need WOW!If you blend the tropical locale of this beautiful home with its traditional decor you find that British Colonial or Bermuda Style is the perfect solution. During the reign of Queen Victoria, British subjects stationed in the British Colonial outposts of the Empire that included Singapore, East Africa, India and the British West Indies, brought with them their language, principles of government, architecture and furniture. There was just one little issue, climate. Certain details had to be modified to accommodate the heat! Some of these details were the use of light airy fabrics, lots of big tall windows and high ceilings. In addition to this they had to take advantage of local resources like mahogany, cane and bamboo. So here's what we're gonna do!1) MOVING ON UP- We're going to remove the soffits so we can take advantage of the high ceiling.2) LET THERE BE MORE LIGHT- We're going to add lights above cabinets, wherever possible and more efficient fixtures in the ceiling and under the upper cabinets. Cabinets will be a combination of medium and light stains with some cane detailing.
3) X MARKS THE SPOT- You will frequently see the X motif as a part of the BC style so we are incorporating it into the design.4) A LUSH TROPICAL ISLAND- This tropical island has to grow. We have the space to make it bigger and more funtional but we don't have the space to add the columns or legs that would make it look like a piece of furniture. Instead we'll raise it off the floor and add some furniture feet and moulding.
5) CROWNING DETAILS- Nothing says traditional like crown molding, columns and pilastersSee a working elevation below. Notice with the X detail, less is more equals WOW. We're still fine tuning the details but I'll Keep you posted!
IKEA'S LIVING STAGE
So it's January again and everybody's writing great posts about new trends (open shelves, fewer upper cabinets, the color orange, horizontal wood grains), and resolutions (already lost 4lbs YAY). Not moi. I'm in the mood for scanning the globe for home/kitchen related tidbits and what locale could be better than my new favorite, PARIS! That famous cheap yet hip ready-to-assemble furniture company, yes, IKEA stays edgy and current by coming up with new innovative marketing schemes. The latest took place in the Paris commuter train station Auber R.E.R. A 581 square foot apartment was erected,and five young stylish occupants were recruited to live in it for 6 days (January 9-14). Oh, and commuters could peak in the windows to witness "hip" living in all its glory!
The purpose of the marketing campaign was to demonstrate how IKEA products work for small spaces in real life. Each of the days is documented via video on the IKEA France Facebook page. Here are the highlights:
1) Day 2-Take out sushi delivery (FOUL! I wanted them to cook in that kitchen! Okay it sort of looked like they cooked on Day 1.)2) Day 3- Twister (A good game choice for small spaces.)3) Day 3-Some guy really into his pink ukulele (This is actually pretty hip as ukueles are making a big comeback. Click here.)4) Day 1 -Sewing clothes with sewing machine and everything (Really?)5) Day 4, below, features a bang up birthday bash! (This must be the coolest cake ever.) This was creative, attention grabbing marketing, a statement about the relationship between form and function. Did they succeed? Has social media made marketing more important than product?
2012 DREAM
Last night I had a dream. Before I share it, let me back up a bit and set the scene. One of the nicest, no actually the BEST thing that has come out of this blog for me is to have been chosen by Brizo Faucets to attend Fashion Week in September 2010 as one of the "illustrious" members of the Blogger 19. This was followed by a trip to Toronto in January 2011, as a member of the Blanco Design Council, to attend IDS (International Design Show). I not only became acquainted with cutting edge state-of-the-art products but also with many talented folks in the blogging community.
Now Modenus, a go-to site for design dreamers as well as professionals, is sponsoring Blog Tour 2012. Veronika Miller, who I had the pleasure of sitting next to at the Jason Wu fashion show is the mastermind behind this venture. They are currently selecting the blogger line up for some new design adventures. All this must have been lurking in the outer recesses of my mind when I went to sleep. To sleep perchance to dream!Hubs and I arrive at a hotel and check in. We are down in the lobby where I discover that a great meeting is about to take place. It's an advance gathering of potential candidates for the 2012 Blogger World Tour! Lo and behold, in walks in the King of Kitchen Bloggers, Paul Anater along with Nick from Cupboards, who I've never actually met. We all fall into a big group hug and I am swept into the event. Wow. All "potentials" are handed a "blog critique" and mine is pretty complimentary, actually. Paul leads the group which now also includes Erin Lochner of Design for Mankind. As the meeting unfolds I begin to see how unprepared I am. Yikes! I'm dropping pens, struggling to keep up when it occurs to me that I need to take pictures and blog about this! I must go to the room and get my camera. (It never occurs to me to call Hubs and ask him to wait for me even though he's being really good and waiting for me on the sidelines.) I feel the big brass room key in my pocket. I pull it out and it says 27. (I dream a lot in numbers.) I locate a very helpful bell hop who helps me figure out what floor that's on. He consults a chart which tells us that 27 is actually 7151 which means I'm on the 7th floor. Now I can grab my camera and get back to the group. The bell hop senses my sense of urgency and puts me on the closet elevator which is for freight. Did I mention he's wearing a hairnet?Everyone knows dreams are meant to be exploited for shameless self-promotion. So there you have it, just a lil wish for the new year. If I don't get that I'll settle for health, prosperity and another great year for Kitchens for Living where my dream is to motivate, inspire or help you create your own DREAM KITCHEN. Happy new year!
BEST COOKBOOKS OF 2011
As the year draws to a close I would love to share with you my cookbook picks for 2011. As I've mentioned before, the hubs and I love to craft a meal together. The big question is, especially on work/school nights, WHAT TO COOK? With all the resources for recipes we have at our finger tips, you wouldn't think that would be the case, but it is. Unless you've invested the time to plan ahead you'll draw a blank both in ideas and missing ingredients. A great collection of cookbooks is always an incentive to plan ahead. Think of it as RESOLUTION #1 for 2012. Be prepared so that you can eat healthy and achieve RESOLUTION #2 "Get in shape"! So here you go, my faves for 2011.Mourad: New Moroccan by Chef Mourad Lahlou
Always a sucker for exotic spicy flavors, not to mention the HOT guy on the cover, this book definitely makes the cut. Bon Appetit and Epicurious agree. Mourad is the real deal, hailing from Marrakesh and currently residing in San Fransisco, where he owns a Michelin-starred restaurant. This self-taught chef puts a spin on traditional Moroccan fare with easy to follow instructions. Just perfect if you're in the mood for something a little different.
I'm a big fan of the Food Network and love English chef, Jamie Oliver's high energy cooking magic. With his new book, Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast you can create Jamie magic, even on those school/work nights, in 30 minutes or less. It's all there, meat, potatoes, salads and what I like is that the recipe includes the whole meal including sides and even a complementary dessert.
Next up on the hit parade is Anito Lo's Cooking Without Borders because it is all about what makes American cuisine great, fusion. Anito Lo is the chef-owner of Michelin star–rated restaurant annisa in New York City.This book is filled with 100 recipes offering the best flavors from all over the globe.
My final selection, also a New York Times favorite, is Truly Mexican: Essential Recipes and Techniques for Authentic Mexican Cooking by Roberto Santibañez, a Le Cordon Bleu–trained chef and owner of the Brooklyn restaurant, Fonda. I love Mexican food but my pet peeve is chain restaurant "Mexican" food where it's all buried in melted cheese. That's not how it really is folks! This book focuses on salsas, adobos, and guacamole. Mr. Santibañez is able to apply his gourmet training to the cuisine of his heritage.Happy holidays to all and my heartfelt appreciation to you for reading Kitchens for Living. Bon appetite!
Elements Converge In Dream Kitchen
Another year is winding down. We have been blessed again with many interesting projects. As we are in “finishing up mode” I thought I’d share with you one of the best of 2011. This project was a true collaboration. Our clients, a couple of sweet snowbirds from Chicago, were very hands on which made it fun to see this kitchen take shape. The existing space was on the small side, the cabinets a little dated.
Our assignment was to add a whole range of state-of-the-art appliances and a clean unique contemporary feel that would flow into the existing family room. Naturally storage and function were also of the utmost importance but the real challenge was in fitting it all in!!
They chose a rich coffee bean stain for the cabinets to match existing cabinetry in the family room. The cabinet fronts were not ordinary doors, no way. Together, with our clients, we designed the Soldono and the Soldono Pacifica Doors just for this job. The Soldono custom door features a cherry frame around a horizontal grained oak center panel all stained in a rich espresso color. The center panel is beveled on one end with stainless steel grip strip inset on the frame. No hardware sticking out in this kitchen! A select few of the upper cabinets sport the Soldono Pacifica custom door which received center panels in olive ash burl veneer for a huge shot of “unique”. 
Stainless steel serves as an accent finish and is found in the appliances and in the monster-multi-functional Hafele appliance garage. Refrigerators are Subzero, ovens are by Gaggenau, cooktop is by Miele and the dishwasher drawers are by Fisher Paykel. Thank you to Linda Roberts at House of Appliances for her guidance. Counter tops are Caesarstone quartz by Stone Palace and the backsplash is painted glass by Florida Shower Door & Mirror, Inc. Clearly they do much more that shower doors! Perhaps the "piece de resistance" however is the glass tile behind the hood. It truly looks like water cascading down the wall behind the hood! The sink is a Precision by Blanco and the glass theme is picked up again with the glass table. You can find a listing of all the trades on the Local Resources page here at Kitchens for Living.
