LivingKitchen – European Kitchen Trends from Cologne
It was fun to see a few reports from some of my “blogger19″ colleagues, visiting the LivingKitchen exhibition at IMM Cologne last week – and I’m looking forward to reading their future detailed posts about the trip and what they discovered (hear that guys – no pressure!?).
I’ve included links to the traveller’s blogs at the end of this post. In the meantime, click here for a LivingKitchen gallery on flickr, giving a flavor of the show for all of us who didn’t get up close and personal with it. My overall impression is classic contemporary European – clean lines, right angles, tasteful neutrals, (no major changes there) but with little accents of exotic finishes, light and color popping up everywhere. I wonder if it seemed different from the floor?
Gorenje Appliances - with touch of 2011's color of the year?
Did you notice the Philippe Starck designed kitchens for Warendorf? He’s taken the free standing look to a whole new level, hasn’t he?
Starck Design for Warendorf
There’s even one with a chalkboard side in that flickr set. And I thought the man could do no wrong…
I was intrigued by some things I learned from the LivingKitchen press releases. Apparently we (or our European counterparts, at least) are now spending 90% of our (presumably) non-working time at home – far less than ever before in restaurants, pubs, clubs, or anywhere else. However terrible this trend is for local watering holes, it is assumed to be good for our industry, as making our homes into better and more personalized places for entertaining means more money spent on furnishings and accoutrements to support this “pimp my home” (yes they really said that) trend. (Full release here)
Interestingly, although the industry continues to emphasize the opening up of spaces, with “disappearing boundaries” between different functional areas of the home, the German magazine “House and More” (in association with LivingKitchen) surveyed its readers and found that 56 percent of those surveyed prefer a separate room to an open transition between the kitchen and living area. Only around 53 percent of survey participants wanted an eat-in kitchen, with 47 percent preferring to keep the kitchen purely for cooking. What drives the decision to purchase a kitchen? 75 percent consider working processes, while ergonomics and comfort are valued by 53 and 51 percent respectively. In comparison, a kitchen’s design plays a rather marginal role: only 47 percent indicate that it is a determining purchasing factor. (Full release here).
I know, there are “lies, damn lies, and statistics”, but isn’t it interesting how the industry focus seems to be at odds with what the consumer really wants? I’d love to know how the Dream Kitchen, developed by Alno and Bosch for the show, deals with this apparent dissonance. Can’t wait for those blog posts!
Paul Anater Kitchen and Residential Design
Leslie Clagett KBCulture
Cheryl Kees Cledendon Details and Design
Jamie Goldberg Gold Notes
Susan Serra The Kitchen Designer
