Petra Kitchen

Gianluca Tondi, owner of TM Italia Cucine, designed the Petra Kitchen presented at the Abitare il Tempo trade fair. Petra is a new type of custom kitchen that conceals the working components when not in use. A remote control opens the travertine top to reveal the cooktop and downdraft ventilation. The faucet and oven are also mechanized to raise and lower.

TM Italia Cucine calls their home automation system (domotics) “TM_touch’n’go”.  With the touch of a button you can open the kitchen and view the monitor, “TM_Vison,” for watching television or use the Internet connection for searching the web. 

The monitor is show raised on the left end in the first two photos. The tall cabinets are also sleek and have no decorative hardware housing dishes and the refrigerator.
I would love to have seen this in person.

 

 

Add to FacebookAdd to NewsvineAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Furl

Showtime House: Dexter Kitchen

showtime concept design | KitchAnn Style

Metropolitan Home magazine and Showtime Network teamed up to turn a New York townhouse into a modernist masterpiece creating different rooms inspired by 6 of the network’s shows -Californication, Dexter, The L Word, The Tudors and Weeds, plus the soon-to-be-launched United States of Tara.

Johnny Grey Studios designed the Dexter kitchen inspired by the character’s South Florida lifestyle reflecting Miami’s Art Deco architecture and tropical setting.

Grey chose to depart from the typical predictable kitchen.  His blog discusses his desire to get away from the typical work triangle and create a space that will appeal to the visitors’ senses.

Immediately upon seeing the kitchen you can’t help but notice the curved walnut countertops.  I am reminded of the display Grey designed a few years ago for the Electrolux booth at KBIS.  It’s very disappointing there are not more pictures of the kitchen available.  I was able to find many photos of the Dexter Dining Room.

Grey used many natural materials including Aspen, Walnut, Blogged Oak, Zebra grain Maple, Bloodwood and Teak Tiles.   He used Caesarstone on the countertops, windows and bookcases to give a nod to Miami’s modern architecture.  Paints were also inspired by Miami and ranged from ocean blues to spicey hues.

Metropolitan Home’s Showtime House is located at 23 Gramercy Park South and will be open to the public for tours until October 26, 2008. Proceeds from the tour ticket sales will benefit Nemcova’s non-profit organization, Happy Hearts Fund. For more information about tickets and tours at the showhouse, visit www.methome.com/showtime.


 Design Johnny Grey

How to Adjust Concealed Cabinet Hinges

How to adjust cabinet hinges in 3 directions

3 Easy Adjustment Tips to get your cabinet doors back in alignment

After a while cabinet hinges get out of alignment due to various reasons such as people leaning on the door to stand up after stooping down low.

Here are some great pictures to help you understand how to get your doors back in line.  You’ll need a Phillips screwdriver and a little patience.

Height Adjustment – helps you to adjust doors so they align at the top and bottom.

Continue reading “How to Adjust Concealed Cabinet Hinges”

Kitchen Retrospective

House Beautiful is running a series called 30 Days of Kitchens on their website.

Here’s one from the 1960s that reminds me of the kitchen I grew up with.

We didn’t have a large enough kitchen for an island or separate ovens.  We had the hi-lo oven in black, harvest gold and eventually bisque.  Thinking back, it appears my mother was tough on ovens.

We had postform countertops and wallpaper with gold flecks in them which were most popular at the time.  The floor was vinyl and the kitchen phone had the extra long cord that was standard for any busy family.

I do think that HB missed the mark on some of the kitchens they featured or rather didn’t feature.

I always think of pickled maple when I think of an 80’s  style kitchen.

The appliances in this photo are newer but the wood edge countertop is spot-on.  Face-framed cabinets were still very popular as frameless cabinets had not yet taken over.

The non-flush cabinet ends were also typical.  It wasn’t until the 90s and the popularity of frameless cabinets did manufacturers start offering flush ends on framed cabinets.

In the 90’s Accoutrements became the buzzword in kitchen design.

People were running away from the 80’s contemporary design that was too cold and sterile.  Clients demanded ornamental moldings and carved onlays.

Kitchens were also becoming larger with taller ceilings.  Designers started mixing finishes and woods in kitchens

Terms such as unfitted and furniture-style became popular adjectives.

It will be interesting to see which kitchen styles will be remembered for this decade.  I’m sure exotic veneers will be featured.  I think we might also see kitchens with Asian influences featured.  What do you think will be remembered?