I’ve been frying my brain all weekend working on grant applications for my favorite non-profit organization, so I can barely string two words together right now. But it hasn’t escaped my notice that Spring has been springing energetically outside my window, with pairs of birds and squirrels and blossoms everywhere. Seems as good an excuse as any to share some colorful kitchens – orange is a color you don’t often see done nicely in a kitchen, but I have hunted high and low for a few examples today . First, just look at the blue and orange accents in this lovely Massachusetts kitchen photographed by James Salomon – aren’t they perfect against the soft neutrals and creamy whites?
Blue and orange complement each other - photo James Salomon
A vibrant orange accent wall defines this kitchen on a small island off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean – very tropical:
Bold color for a tropical kitchen
This looks like a very red red-orange to me, in a busy Scandinavian kitchen photographed by Pia Ulin. Close enough! I think those are post-it notes decorating that light fixture, obviously carefully chosen to match the pink flowers on the table – or the other way around?
Scandinavian style with bright accents - photo Pia Ulin
This kitchen by Richard Farrell, via the NKBA design competiton, has a yummy rich burnt caramel tone on the walls – I think I can call that a shade of orange, don’t you?
Burnt caramel counts as orange for me today
And of course, there’s the lovely soft orange paneling this illustration of Carl Larsson’s simple Arts and Crafts kitchen – just toasty:
Orange paneling provides the backdrop - Carl Larsson
Orange can’t help being a happy color – this is just what I needed to get me into the right mood to face the week. I hope it works for you, too. Happy Monday!
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Those playful Italians, what will they do next? Have you seen Karim Rashid’s designs for Scavolini’s Crystal line? No boring kitchens here:
Pop Art Inspiration
Quite a contrast
Another colorway
Goes with everything
(photos Scavolini via Trendir). It’s gotta be tough when you always have to be at the cutting edge of design – this makes back-painted and mirrored glass cabinet fronts seem so “last decade”. Here’s an excerpt from Scavolini’s published interview with Mr. Rashid:
Now decoration can add a further emotion and a new meaning to the flat and mono-chromatic world of modernism. With reference to this, I developed some digital graphic ideas to express the spirit of our times. This is what I did with Scavolini. I embellished the glass surfaces to transform two-dimensional kitchens into spaces endowed with more complex dimensions.
The man himself
It’s definitely not flat and monochromatic, I can say that. It would be neat if we were allowed to do our own designs, wouldn’t it – like custom wallpaper? Do you think they’ll be selling many of these?
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Monday of the last full week in January has been calculated (albeit dubiously and by suspect sources) to be the most depressing day of the year. While Mondays have a lot to answer for, it seems really unfair to blue to associate it so firmly with depression. Today, I’m helping blue fight black. I challenge you to find anything depressing about these traditional blue kitchens from around the world (click photos for links):
Villa kitchen in Apulia, Italy
English Arts and Crafts in Norfolk via Fresh Locations
A wall of blue and white in France
More of the same, on a smaller scale
Shades of blue
Blue Kitchen in Denmark by Det Mondaene Skur
A closer look
Danish Kitchen by Det Mondaene Skur
I really don’t know why we refer to depression as the blues – the browns or the maroons would be much more appropriate, don’t you think?
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Today’s kitchen collection is all about efficiency. Clean lines and stainless steel all the way.
Here the look is softened by wood floors and counter, white cabinets and frosted glass. The stainless steel is dominant, but it’s livable: (Click photos for links)
A south-west London home, via filmlocations.co.uk
No softening at all here – this kitchen is lean and mean:
Something better be cooking in London's Chelsea
The hood and island retain the sharp-edged restaurant styling, but otherwise this Italian kitchen is all about sophisticated city living:
Italian style - photo Andrea Martiradonna
This one must be too sophisticated for me – I can’t figure this photo out at all. I’m just not evolved enough to be Scandinavian, I suppose. Still, blonde wood, Hans Wegner, and stainless steel – it looks promising, doesn’t it?
Steel reflections - photo Patric Johansson
A lot of stainless steel means a lot of cleaning and polishing – one thing in a restaurant setting where you have a team of underlings to do it for you – quite another in the average family home, don’t you think?
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I came across this this rustic kitchen in Spain the other day – quite frightening, isn’t it?
Yikes
Okay, I know, diagonals make a space more dynamic. I think it’s working - I’d be in no danger at all of falling asleep in there. (via)
I understand, different strokes for different folks, but this is in Andalucia – home of some of the most awesome tile in the world. Just to redress the balance, here are a couple of examples from the Alhambra Palace in Granada:
Mosaic from the Alhambra
I like these diagonals
Gorgeous, right? I feel better now.
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I’ve really been appreciating our Winter sunshine these last few days – this time of the year the sun peeks in under the eaves and illuminates all sorts of corners and crannies in an extraordinary way. Partly it’s the angle of the sun, and partly it’s the fact that all the shade trees have lost their leaves – but whatever the cause, I really enjoy the effect. And it’s a fact that there is nothing quite like sunshine and shadows to make even quite pedestrian spaces look amazing. So today’s kitchens are all sunny ones – as in sunlit, rather than decorated with sunny colors. Enjoy!
The sunshine brings out the warmth in this airy New York kitchen by Incorporated:
The sun shines in
Two more traditional looks, amply illuminated, from Violetdesigns:
Sunny and simple
Well, OK, these last two have sunny colors as well as sunshine – doubly delightful:
Inviting traditional - love the tablecloth
(via alnebras)
Warm and glossy - quite a feat
The only problem with all this lovely illumination at home is the way it reveals forgotten cobwebs, and shows me all too clearly which walls are overdue for painting – more on that later in the week. In the meantime, I think I’ll find a sunny spot for a nap – like a cat, or a lizard.
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Did you get the news? Pantone have selected Turquoise as the top color for 2010. (via). It is supposed to transport us all, figuratively at least, to the tropical resort destinations we couldn’t afford to visit in 2009.
Pantone Fashion Color Report Spring 2010
Naturally, those of you on the cutting edge of taste will be redoing your kitchens in turquoise right away (leaving more space in those resorts for the rest of us). Here is a little collection of kitchens in turquoise to get you in the mood:
via ellmania.blogspot.com
Chapelhousebandb.com
via crapwelike.wordpress.com
via courtyardantiques.net
Betsey Johnson in her kitchen
Donna Griffith via Desire to Inspire
Well, what are you waiting for? Time to run out, sign up with your friendly neighborhood kitchen designer, and get started!
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Kitchen sinks - traditional style
Weekend escape - baths with views
Words for Wednesday