Kelly's Kitchen Sync

The 1st Annual "Most Ridiculous Appliance" Awards

I’ve been conversing with Anthony Rocco, who runs a kitchen appliance blog called Appliance Buyer's Guide. He contacted me to thank me for the post on old shallow cabinets and protruding dishwashers, as he gets that question in his business all the time.

Like me, he grew up in this business. His family also own and run The Kitchenworks, a kitchen design firm in South Florida for over 22 yrs, and his mother is a CMKBD and CID as well. Our conversation led to some discussion about the “above and beyond” mentality of family businesses that the average consumer rarely sees – the weekends painting the showroom, or late nights designing a truck logo, or extra meetings to make our service better long after everyone else has gone home. (Okay, we never discussed those actual points, but we didn't need to; we already know. Say another person, "We have a family business" and there is a whole world in that one sentence.)

Anyway, that doesn’t mean that we don’t occasionally have fun with it. I asked Anthony if I could show you his gentle tongue-in-cheek post on the 1st Annual “Most Ridiculous Appliance” Awards for this holiday season and he graciously allowed me to post this for you.

I thought it might be nice to get you started with the 3rd place winner and send you over to his blog to read the rest. With further ado:

 

The 1st Annual “Most Ridiculous Appliance” Awards

This is meant to be a fun and entertaining post. We aren’t reviewing these appliances as good or bad based our own personal use and testing. If you’ve purchased one of these appliances, please do not take offense. We all make mistakes. In fact, your appliance is now “award-winning”.

 3rd Place: Baumatic Ombra Wall Dishwasher – OMBRA4SS

In the slightly off-kilter world of Baumatic, this unit goes for the gold. When is the last time you thought to yourself, “if only the dishwasher was where my oven is…”. For those of you who have these type of thoughts frequently, Baumatic has created a niche product just for you. The Baumatic Wall Dishwasher mounts flush with no handles or knobs. You would think it must open automatically, but this would be too easy. Instead the front glass panel, (the part that makes it look like an oven) tilts out, giving you a makeshift handle to slide the unit open. This is how things are done in the “green” future, so get used to it.

It comes with 6 place settings, 5 wash modes, with a hidden heating element. It also employs residual drying, another green feature you better get used to, which is a fancy way of saying it is without a fan. So, will this British feat of engineering dry your dishes?

I don’t know. But at least no one will be able to find your dishwasher. (….Head to Anthony's blog to find out the 2nd and 1st place winners.)

I never thought of this looking like an oven, but I can see it. I'd be trying to roast a chicken in there. (I suppose I could boil - but getting the broth out would be horrible.) I'd also be disappointed that after all that contemporary sleekness, there was no automatic open - tilting the face seems like I'd be cleaning that mirrored and stainless face a lot during loading.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Grinned at least once at Anthony's interpretation?

Steampunk Sunday: Sideboards

Today is Boxing Day for many Commonwealth countries.Some might think of it as the day when sales happen, but the origin of Boxing Day dates back to the class-conscious Victorian period, when servants were gifted small presents by their employers as a token of thanks for their work throughout the year. Yes, some of that did include “boxing” up the Christmas leftovers, but with the typical Victorian penchant for a bountiful feast, this wasn’t quite the gruel pictured in Oliver Twist. It also grew into a day to help charitable organizations, and people in service jobs, such as drivers and delivery people. (Way back in the days before refrigerators, when ice and milk were both delivered to your door.)

When I grew up, Boxing Day was visiting day. You either opened your house for people to drop in and visit, or you jumped in the car and spent the day visiting. Everyone had a huge spread, and by the end of day you were so full, you could barely breathe.

Where might I be tying in steampunk with this?

So glad you asked! *grin*  Back in the days of lavish entertaining, a dining room always included a sideboard which was perfect for holiday entertaining. Yes, there are a lot of folks on the East Coast  scratching their heads and saying, "But we've always had a sideboard." I know. It's simply not something that's on others' radar.

Sideboards typically held linens, tablecloths, and “table service” – plates, silverware, and glasses. They appeared in the 19th century when the middle class grew affluent enough to afford dining rooms, and were really a chance not only to act as an extra serving table for sweets or meals, they were also a place to show off the silver. (Credenzas used to be different, although I don't see manufacturers making much distinction today. I was taught that the word is Italian and came from the English word “credence” or truth – as in “The food on this table will be tested for poison before the Duca eats it.”)

Now unless you have a home with high ceilings, you might want to avoid the Victorian sideboards as they would completely overwhelm most rooms of today. If your house has 12 – 14 foot ceilings and rooms that are a minimum of 20x20, then they’re all yours:

For those of you with newer homes with 8’ ceilings, I might suggest doing away with the backboard  and perhaps consider the more simplistic Edwardian period, which came right after the Victorian (generations don’t change much at all – one generation wants ornate and curvy, the next generation wants straight and simplistic. Wash and repeat.) I'm still a huge fan of mahogany, but really oak will work as well.

Your sideboard could have glass doors, or a mini-backboard, but more importantly, it’ll allow you to feature your steampunk accessories or paintings above it.

Grace over at Sense and Simplicity has the perfect element for a sideboard (although I’m sure she wasn’t thinking steampunk at all.) However, it’s simple and classic where the decorations change with the season and is something that can be done relatively easy.

 Very charming sideboard and decorations via Sense and Sensibility

They don’t have to be only for the dining room – they work well in larger entry ways, and today’s kitchen/nooks combinations.

Earlier pieces than Victorian, such as some early Georgian pieces, had some nice brasswork and tiers that lend themselves very well to visions of steampunk:

A George III antique mahogany sideboard – love that brasswork. It’d frame photos or accessories perfectly.

Now, if we wanted a harder edge on the steampunk element, once again I turn to the steampunk designers behind Restoration Hardware – they really do a stellar job of recreating some of the earlier periods. So, let’s look at this, their Bulgarian Zinc Objêts:

 Add some nice rich walls or wainscoting and decorate that table with a few lab jars.

These are meant for outdoor use and originally based on 18th and 19th century garden furniture, but I think they’d go great in a steampunk house. Steampunk varies between the soft curves of Art Nouveau and the harder industrial edge. The table is 36" square and 30” high - perhaps a little large for a side board (Let's all contact them and tell them we want a side table). At the very least, we could flank our sidetable with one or two of those architectural pieces and top it off with an Italian lever press coffee machine.

 

 La Pavoni Professional Lever Machine

 

I was poking around Art Donovan's site for inspiration and found he's been busy - yay! A couple of his latest wonderful wall sconces, even though they're marine cabinet lamps, would be perfect.

 Sage Marine #3 Cabin Lamp

I might also add some apothecary jars, which would be perfect to displaying all sorts of curiosities. A quick search for “vintage glass apothecary jars” found these which were recently sold on Ebay for $15 for the lot:

Really, there's no limit on the items that could be added. Except silverware...I had some once and the amount of time spent cleaning it is scary.

Happy Boxing Day to you!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and happy holidays to everyone!

I leave you with a little humor and song courtesy of the a capella group, Straight No Chaser....

 

The future of sinks 2011 - 2021

Some of you might know I write over at Kitchen and Bath Business for KBB Collective – The Designer’s Corner. Since I’d mentioned earlier this week that I’d be sharing trends and future design, I thought I might start now by linking back to my latest article on the future of kitchen sinks.

A lot of our design ideas come from overseas, and it’s no exception for sinks. For some, a sink is a sink is a sink; however, the industry is slowly gearing up for the push from the next generation of homeowners, who expect innovation as a matter of course.

If you’re interested, the post is here: Are you ready for a sink revolution?

Kohler’s Stages™  45” sink

While I don't personally need a sink of the size shown above, I can definitely picture a few of my former clients who would have loved it.

So, questions:

• If you had a kitchen large enough, could you see forgoing having a prep sink and a main sink in favor of the one large one like above?
• Could you see it positioned on a island like this, and working side-by-side with your significant other or a friend? Or would you be plotting his or her demise? *grin*
  

Let me know in the comments!

There's no place like home for the holidays!

 

“Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine
Of a friendly face
For the holidays, you can’t beat
Home, sweet home…

            - Written by: Bob Allen & Al Stillman, 1954

 

 Don't you love this time of the year? There’s nothing better than family and friends in homes filled with food and laughter…but that’s not what I’m going to talk about. I was simply luring you into a happy mood before I gave you homework. Evil, no?

If you’re planning a new kitchen for 2011 or beyond, here’s your chance to think like a designer. The holidays are a great way to collect a minefield of data on how your family will use the kitchen.

“Gee, thanks, Kelly. As if I have time to add that to the list,” you say. “Why would I want to do that?”

Because it’s fun and you’ll make your family nervous informative. There is nothing better for your future kitchen plans than to observe a kitchen full of people getting into each others’ way. It’ll show you exactly how your family uses the kitchen during this busy time of the year as well as pinpoint with unerring exactness what not to do.

Don’t look at me like that -- it doesn’t take long and you only need to observe; there’s no test. Specifically, what you’re looking for is:

• How many times everyone says '”Excuse me”.  (Not a drinking game unless you want it to be. Send pics.) Keep an eye on the key "excuse" area. Is it by the oven? Entry to another room?
• How many times people cross paths to get what they need. Yes, it's a variation of "excuse me" but you're looking for the realization of how much easier it would be if the mixing bowl storage was closer to the prep counter.
• The number of times you bump into someone else. Bottlenecks happen around the appliances and the most used counters. Do you have any of these too close together?
• Which counters get filled the most. Where’s the favorite space? Once it’s taken, where’s the next one? Does anyone complain about using the second one? If so, what’s their reason?
• The (frustrating) areas where guests and family members get in the way. People want to talk with you. If there isn’t a defined sitting/staging/conversation area, where do they end up? I find that leaning against the dishwasher seems to be the #1 place.

Sure, this is the “fullest-room” scenario which isn’t the case for the rest of the year. However, knowing that your entire family gravitates toward the refrigerator and the opened door blocks off the path to the kitchen entry, or that it took full battle gear to beat a path between the dishwasher and the dish cupboard – those are some pretty useful observations for your new kitchen, don’t you think?

A few changes

As you might have noticed, there’s been a few changes here at the ol' Sync. Part of the reason is due to my upcoming book (coming in spring 2011. I’ll stop now. Seems like I’ve mentioned it 4 billion times already. Please bear with me. Me + book = thrilled. As soon as the cover is ready, you’ll be the first to see it.)

I’ll be transferring the blog over to my own domain name (Not my real name – too hard for most people to spell, and besides, people start falling asleep at the keyboard by the time they type Morisseau – which is such an easy name to spell too. (Yes, assume tongue-in-cheek there.)) In any case, I’ll give you a head’s-up and hopefully it’ll be a smooth transition.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll start with some upcoming trend tips that I’m seeing, and more help on pulling together projects. I’d love to blog more, but as one of my more famous designer friends said to me, “I feel like you’re in stealth mode lately, pulling together a bunch of projects.”

Why, yes – yes, I am. 2011 is going to be some ride, and I'm hoping you'll stick around to share it with me.

In the meantime, what do you think of the new look?

Steampunk Sunday: A steampunk dining room

  Click on the photo to head over to Epbot blog for more photos and info.

 So I’m a little late to the party here because this was posted last summer; however, I thought you might like to see a steampunk dining room in a regular home.

Jen of Epbot (you might better know her as Jen of Cake Wrecks) decorated her dining room with many of the touches that seem to define steampunk decor – a curio cabinet with apothecary details, glass jars, touches of glass, neat art objects. I love the interesting curtain treatment and the uplighting on the curio cabinet, amongst other things.

  A pair of unique metal pieces decorate the upper cabinets (via Epcot) 

I’m particularly enamored of the cabinet doors – her husband hammered those pieces flat (they were wall art) – very clever. Here’s the link to the post.

Now, if you wanted to bump up the steampunk aspect a bit more (and this is nothing to do with making changes with the existing – it’s great. I’m merely going heavier scale because, hey, it’s easy to do when one is merely dreaming and money is no object), I might suggest:

• Adding a side pedestal to the left of the dining room door for something more substantial – perhaps a Renaissance Revival (1840-1890) table stand (Yes, these are the true antiques so the pricing is more, but for this, I’m looking for the style.)

       (via Manhattan Restoration)

      (via Rare Victoriana)

  (via Victorian Antiquities and Design blog)

 

• For the chandelier, I always have a tough time because the old period styles really cast poor light. The light should really illuminate the table instead of providing up-lighting. With that in mind, I might suggest something like this – and then noted it only had 60 watts of total power, so I can’t win. For that pulley though, I’d see if it was possible to rewire for more wattage:

(via Restoration Hardware)

But as you see, there is a way to add touches of steampunk without it overtaking the home. Nice job, Jen! (Hey, we all know each other in blog land, right? Heh.) 

What do you readers think? Does it spur you onto some steampunk home design?

iPads on the counter scare me

I live in an area where the standard recipe book is an iPad. When I visit homes, I expect to see it somewhere in the kitchen. Unfortunately, what I do see is all the precarious positions iPads rest while people are cooking. The devices are left on the counter (too close to the edge) or propped up against a wall (slips really easily). Or, as in one case, propped up against a couple of bananas and an apple.

So I started thinking - what if someone like Hafele with their Linero rail storage system for the kitchen backsplash came up with a iPad holder? It’s a shame we don’t use more of these open rail systems – at least here (they’re very useful for point-of-use storage) -- and with the new linear tiles and sleeker styling in our kitchens these days, they’d look pretty slick. Currently, the systems more popular in Australia, NZ, and the UK than they are here, but this would be a good reason for a re-introduction here.

For now, we could use the linero spice shelf holder. It has a small lip dam at the front that would hold the iPad in place (or even an MP3 or phone, I suppose.) Then it could lean against the wall and stay off the messy counter with all the spills and flour and heavy pans.

It could be placed either on a back wall or the side of a tall cabinet and voila -- the bottom section for the phone and the top section for the iPad:

Haefele UK has the book rest that we don’t, which might be a better fit:

 

Sure, I know that Ikea has a system; so does Rosle – I just grew up with fine detailing that is Hafele. Technically, any railing system has a recipe book holder might work. What I like about the rail systems is that they’re set at an angle, which makes anything easier to read, plus the device is now set higher up, which means less leaning.

If your kitchen is already done, and/or you don’t like having things on your backsplash, of course there are stands available – check out Mashable’s article on the 10 Best iPad stands. I’m up for almost anything that keeps it off the counter and stops us from flooding our devices with orange juice. I simply like the design applications of the rail system. You?

A Reader Asks: Existing counter/cabinet depth problem?

Hi Kelly,
     

Just came across your wonderful blog. I know you get lots of email, so straight to the point:

 Just had a new dishwasher installed in my 1990-vintage kitchen (stock, "contractor's special" cabinets and laminate countertop). It's a KitchenAid with flat front, controls on top edge of door, and large rounded handle. Issue: the front door protrudes about 1-1/2" from the front of my cabinet boxes, and about 3/8" from the front edge of the countertop. The installers said they couldn't fit the DW in any farther into the opening.

My question - is this common? If so, then how are similar DW's flush with cabinet boxes in my friends' recently remodeled kitchens? Are better/semi-custom cabinets typically deeper than the 24" standard of budget base cabinets?

 I did some looking and it appears a 3/4" thick wall support for the countertop might be preventing the DW from sitting all the way back at the wall - but even that wouldn't fully explain it.This probably seems like a dumb question, but I just can't figure it out - standard cabinet depth is 24", the dishwasher is about 24-5/8" (not including the big handle of course) - so how do people do those nice, flush installations?

Thanks for your time and any insight you can provide! Matt

 

(Note: I had originally sent an email to Matt asking him to confirm one detail, but he didn’t, so after some time passed, I thought I’d post this anyway. It’s a fairly common question.) 

Blogger Andie Reid of Cafe 305 blogs about her love/hate kitchen relationship.

Hi Matt,

I see it all the time with older cabinet styles. Right up until the 1990s, there were cabinets that were made so that the cabinet front was only 23-1/4" - 24" with the countertop only at 24" deep. It’s a pain because back in the earlier days, no one realized that the crumbs fell both onto the top of the drawers and doors as well as the dishwasher.

Here's a way to check: Measure the countertop from front to back. If the counter itself is 24" (or even 24-1/2”) and not today’s standard of 25”-26” (standard: 25-1/2”), then you have an older style cabinet.

Also, when the counter is 24", then the cabinets are also 24", which is why your 24-5/8" dishwasher door doesn't quite fit. Today's cabinets typically have a case depth of 24" plus the door (usually 5/8"- 3/4" with a 1/8" gap) which would have solved your 24-5/8" dishwasher door depth and given you that integral look you wanted.

Until you replace the countertops and cabinets, this is what most people are faced with. (Edited to add: My designer friend, Sarah over at Kitchen Clarity, helpfully suggested in the comments for one to purchase a European dishwasher, since they are 22-3/4" deep and might provide that flush fit some of you are looking for.)

Now you all know.

 

Steampunk Sunday: Vintage Baths

With enough space for a waltz in the middle (via 1912 Bungalow)

For those of you looking for inspiration for a steampunk bathroom, I discovered the 1912  Bungalow a few weeks ago for your viewing pleasure. 

Heather Ferguson and David Chiu have an old bungalow located in one of Los Angeles’ oldest neighborhoods that they’ve been restoring over the last 8 years. While they may not even be aware of steampunk, their blog is a mini-treasure of early historical photos that will help set your base of period bathroom design.  Enjoy!

***

Bathrooms were considered an option in most house plans up until 1910, and only in areas where plumbing was available (which meant rural areas didn’t have bathrooms until years later.)

What we’d look for in this type of steampunk bath would be:

• For walls, glossy wall tile, usually white, as it was perceived as sanitary.It was a concern at the time with the water sources.The tile always ended as a wainscot with a decorative cap or bullnose edge.
• I know that marble floor tiles and gloss tiles are period, but they can both be extremely slippery and dangerous if there’s baby powder or soapy/wet feet. Best way if you really must have it is smaller tiles so there’s more grout for anti-slip.
• Porcelain tub/porcelain sinks and toilets. The mini-baths above are foot baths and I believe for a bit of laundry hand-washing.
• Polished chrome. Which is amusing, when everything else was iron and brass. With a steam punk bath, we could also consider brass as an element. (Not true brass if you have hard water – it could turn green.)
• Exposed pipes – plumbing in the early days wasn’t in the walls, especially brick walls.
• Paint colors – light and bright. See the sanitary remark above. Cholera and typhoid fever as a result of lack of sanitation were common. There were plenty of articles on “sanitary chemistry” and the problems of safe water. Sewers weren’t even developed until the mid- to late-1800s.

There are a few high-end bath period reproduction manufacturers– they’re not inexpensive (read: win the lottery), but they  re-create those early periods very well.

The Rose for those who want a Victorian style cage (via Waterworks )

This is the “exposed Thermostatic Shower Cage” by Waterworks (which matches the early photo at the top.) Waterworks has been in the plumbing business since 1978, but the founder’s father was in the plumbing business from 1925 so I wouldn’t doubt they might have access to many of the early plans.

 

  Edwardian period more your flavor? Then Easton might be a good choice (via Waterworks )

 

Here’s Olympia, a tub filler with a shower head that feels like the perfect Steampunk fit (via Waterworks )

 

The Etoile unlacquered brass. Unlacquered means the brass will develop a dark mottled patina like that *snap fingers* without your trusty brass polisher and some elbow grease.  (via Waterworks)

What do you think?