I was perusing the delightful new issue of Canadian House & Home and nearly dropped dead over this kitchen. Such a wonderful combination of colors, textures and modern and traditional elements! Simply giddy over the brass hardware and faucet and those lower cabinets in darkest navy (or perhaps it’s black) are oh-so redonk. I typically am not a fan of patterned tile, but in this case I am obsessed! This one is going on the inspiration wall!
As I ponder homes I also have been pondering kitchen appliances. To be honest, most of the time when I design kitchens I work with certified kitchen designers or an architect to lay out and pick these pieces (or the homeowner already knows what they want- 99% of the time it’s Subzero/Viking). Even though for me “cooking” usually consists of whipping up an Old El Paso taco kit for my husband and myself, I still dream of a sexy oven/range to stare at. They tend to be the showpiece of the kitchen and there are so many great looking ones at different price points. Granted, the best looking ones are the price of a vacation to Paris or a small Honda, but a smaller budget does not mean an ugly oven!
La Cornue is the creme de la creme in my book- such a thing of beauty, even though I have NO IDEA how you bake in there. Do you open the doors to check on your goods? Doesn’t matter, they are SO gorgeous (better looking than the famous AGA in my humble opinion) That chrome and brass trim just SLAYS me.
Bertazzoni is a close second with it’s bold color choices, compact design and option for that sexy trim style I mentioned above. Swoon.
Fratelli Onofri has such a classic, old school look with it’s knobs and hardware details, but you CAN see inside through cute curved windows! And I love how you can get the hardware in brass (because brass is back, baby)
GAH! This thing is a piece of art!
Viking is the go to for high end ranges, but I prefer their colorful small styles. Although the big momma looks pretty sweet in Windsor Smith’s kitchen!
Smeg, of the cute old refrigerators, has one heck of a sleek looking model for a more modern kitchen.
Going the Sears route, Bosch and Fridgidaire have GREAT design for reasonable price (and we have had a Bosch for a year and have had NO issues!)
And I LOVE the high end look of this KitchenAid range! There is something “Viking” looking about the label too!
Fridgidaire and Electrolux also have some really handsome ranges!
Now if I could just learn to love cooking (baking, I adore, cooking not as much…)
Yesterday I was looking at a condo that was in need of some serious redesigning but was a pretty darn good buy… as I started thinking about how I could renovate on a VERY tight budget I got to thinking about Ikea kitchens. I’ve really heard nothing but great things about them but have not actually used one in a client project. As is the case with most clients, I cannot afford 99% of what I source for them so I have to find a more affordable way to get high end looks and save my splurges for smaller touches. Here are some IKEA kitchens that pretty much blew my mind.
Look at this kitchen from Sunset- who would ever guess a lot of the components are from IKEA?
Designer and blogger Carol Creed did a post about her love for IKEA kitchens- here are a couple of her installations.
Some more kitchens that look a hell of a lot more expensive than they are! It’s all about picking great tile (again, does NOT have to be expensive) and maybe splurging on a stone counter top!
The stone walls kinda make this one. It’s kind of cheating.
Sarah Richardson even uses them!
So have any of you installed one? Your experience and opinion?
Images via Style at Home, Living Etc, Pinterest, HGTV, Ikea.
