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| KITCHEN: TUSCAN SUN |
Rooms We Love
From luxurious and spa-like to traditional and cozy to modern and cool, this collection of stylish baths and kitchens is full of practical beauty and – best of all – great ideas to steal.
Perfect Baths
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POWER SHOWER >>
Inspiration: Industrial, high-style Milan
Why We Love It: “This bathroom makes me want to put on a white robe and wash my face,” says one of our editors. It’s simple and makes great use of space.
Ideas to Steal: The look may be high-style, but the materials are definitely budget-friendly. The bath was designed by homeowners Seth Smith and Katelin Burton, with the help of a contractor friend. Great ideas include an industrial sink (like you might find in a janitor’s closet), built-ins made of laminated MDF, and mounted, swivel mirrors.
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ROMAN HOLIDAY >>
Inspiration: Europe’s great destination spas
Why We Love It: Antique leuders monolithic columns give an open space masculinity without compromising femininity. This master bath, designed by Lynn Sears, ASID, of Lynn Sears Interiors, makes a grand tableau for “real” furniture such as a Christian Liagre table and Cameron Collection daybed, courtesy of George Cameron Nash. Towels, robe, and soap dish courtesy of Peacock Alley.
Ideas to Steal: Sears installed a green Antigua polished slab on the tub and counters. The barrel-vaulted ceiling is an unexpected detail in a bath. PE Guerin faucets are never wrong.
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PURE & SIMPLE >>
Inspiration: English-hotel baths
Why We Love It: A great bathroom makes you feel clean, and this one is so simple and pure that it squeaks.
Ideas to Steal: Designer (and homeowner) Eric Prokesh of Eric Prokesh & Associates did it himself, buying glass tiles from Home Depot’s Expo Design Center and fixtures and faucets from Restoration Hardware. He splurged on the restoration of the claw-foot tub he bought from a supplier in Austin.
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<< THE MEN’S ROOM
Inspiration: The bathrooms in the Four Seasons New York
Why We Love It: This bathroom is unabashedly masculine, deeply anchored in owner George Cameron Nash’s favorite brown hues and natural materials.
Ideas to Steal: Designer Neal Stewart of Neal Stewart Design Associates used Emperador marble (available at Expo Design Center) on the floors and walls. Tribal artifacts add drama and make the bath as interesting as any other room in the house.
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ORGANIC & ASIAN >>
Inspiration: Owner Mary Bloom’s travels to Japan
Why We Love It: Natural, organic elements keep it clean without being sterile.
Ideas to Steal: Designer Paul Draper of Paul Draper & Associates installed a glass shoji screen to separate the bedroom and the bath while also preventing the small space from feeling closed in.
PERFECT KITCHENS
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LONG & LEAN >>
Inspiration: German Bauhaus
Why We Love It: Owners Ben Diem and Lee Lee Von Stade made the kitchen the centerpiece of the house, keeping it open and playing up the outstanding views.
Ideas to Steal: Diem and his company Per Diem designed and built this kitchen, from the concrete counters to the round wooden breakfast table. He splurged on the stainless Miele cooktop and oven and Sub-Zero refrigerator. To add natural materials, Diem put corkboard on the outside of the freezer (instead of the typical stainless) for tacking up notes and pictures. Cans of tuna and soup become Warhol-esque works of art if displayed neatly on open shelves, as they are here.
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<< COZY KITCHEN
Inspiration: Ralph Lauren log cabin luxe
Why We Love It: Owners Doyle Terry and Donna Ohland-Terry are gardeners, so it was important to bring the outside in, with a large window that cranks open. It’s rustic without being overbearing.
Ideas to Steal: A large English fired-clay farmhouse sink is the centerpiece of the kitchen and freshens up the pine cabinets. The look is laid-back, but the Doyles put money into custom tiles, Brazilian soapstone countertops, and a Thermador cooktop.
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FRENCH TWIST >>
Inspiration: French country with a state-of-the-art, modern twist
Why We Love It: This is a cook’s kitchen: owner Nancy Lemmon entertains at home frequently, and her kitchen reflects that.
Ideas to Steal: An antique walnut table in lieu of a center island; wood floors topped with a fine old Persian rug and pickled French-blue cabinetry; Viking range, Dacor ovens, and commercial-grade refrigerator/freezer.
Show Offs
This year’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago debuted appliances and products that run the gamut from practical and posh to conceptual and (and kind of crazy) cool.
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| Jenn-Air’s Limited Edition Attrezzi Mixer and Blender |
Art Works
As never before, artists and architects are teaming up with kitchen and bath manufacturers to design products that are as beautiful as they are functional. Michael Graves has debuted his first-ever faucet and accessory designs for Delta Faucet Company, while artist and Baker furniture design superstar Robert Kuo has launched an entire collection of copper bath products (including a smashing copper repoussé tub based on a Han dynasty cup) for Ann Sacks, putting ancient Chinese craft in a decidedly modern mood. Jenn-Air’s Attrezzi mixers and blenders are too pretty to hide away, with limited-edition glass bowls and pitchers created by Baltimore glass artist Michael Weems. Each is mounted on an antiqued-copper mixer stand and blender base. Dale Chihuly, watch your back. Washing up is taken to a novel level with Decolav’s tempered Translucence art-glass sinks; Ann Sacks’ one-of-a-kind, George C. Scott (the artist, not the actor) glass basins are all handmade in Seattle, the art-glass capital of the United States; and Vitraform’s artisan-blown glass Coppa Pedestal ($9,000) resembles a wineglass on steroids, with its fetching Venetian goblet silhouette. Rich ex-hippies, take note; Berkley artist and kitchen designer Fu-Tung Cheng has unveiled a line of sculptural ventilated hoods for Zephyr Ventilation, deemed artistic enough to be signed by Cheng himself. (Owning sculpture that also sucks smoke from a blistering hamburger gives new meaning to the term applied arts.)
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| Decolav Art-Glass Sink |
The Not-So Bashful Bath
The buzzword was “contemporary” at this year’s K/BIS show, with manufacturers showing more sleek products than ever. Natural elements such as stone, copper, bronze, and marble are the big news in sinks. The simple elegance of Stone Forest’s newly introduced black granite, travertine, and bronze wedge-shaped sinks makes up for their somewhat impractical shallow basins (unless you’re bathing small mammals). Squared-off and angular faucets and handles are hot, and some of the most beautiful are Dornbracht’s new MEM in platinum (a customized shower set can cost upwards of $100,000) and Hansgrohe’s The Steel. Stainless steel basins and pedestals from Neo Metro made a lasting impression. Big, deep farmhouse sinks in white porcelain and copper have left the kitchen and invaded the bath; witness the Kallista For Loft Kitchen Sink. Kohler’s enameled cast-iron sinks in new Vapour colors are both translucent and eerily appealing in light blue, green, pink, orange, and indigo. Jacuzzi’s new Illumatherapy fiber-optic lighting system uses more than 250 colors to enhance your mood while you bathe, creating a veritable disco bath experience. Toto’s new high-tech, digital Neorest toilet has more gadgets than a German car, including a self-cleaning bowl and a seat that is heated, ergonomically correct, and – wait for it – operated by remote control. The toilet debuted at last year’s K/BIS show but had trouble making it into the market; it was reintroduced this year as it is now available to consumers.
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| Wolf Integrated Steamer |
Kitchen Duty
Wolf and Bosch both have new, integrated cooktop steamers and fryers that make cooking versatile enough for both carbophobes and fried-food freaks. Sub-Zero’s new 36-inch refrigerator is the widest yet on the residential market. Thermador and Bosch’s newest dishwashers are so quiet that they’re now made to project a beam of red light when in use, preventing that unnecessary blast of boiling water in the face. Dacor’s new wall ovens take a speed-dial approach to cooking, with high-tech Discovery controllers that are preset with cook times, modes, and temperatures for many popular foods, including your own recipes. Of course, you could also just turn the knob manually to the desired setting, but where’s the fun in that?
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| Maytag’s Drying Center |
Fresh Laundry
Whirlpool’s Family Studio, introduced at last year’s K/BIS show, has been cleverly redesigned to fit both tight spaces and tight budgets with stackable washers and dryers, scaled-down work and ironing surfaces, and an increased ability to be customized to your needs. Now your home can have its very own dry cleaner-cum-washeteria. Maytag’s Drying Center envelopes its shelves (for folded items) and racks (for those that hang) in warm air, preventing shrinkage and damage to your delicates.
