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The Perfect Kitchens & Baths For 2005

A look at some of Dallas’ best kitchens and bath, plus new products form the Kitchen-Bath show in Las Vegas.
By Loyd Zisk |

Kitchens + Baths 2005

KITCHENS >>

Steve Jenkin and Paul Draper with the kitchen table and book shelf and pot rack combo, which Draper designed and Jenkin built.

EAST Meets WEST >>
Clean, Asian dcor enhances Paul and Melinda Draper’s orderly, functional kitchen.

Inspiration: Every great restaurant that Paul Draper has designed, including Anzu, a paragon of minimalist Eastern serenity, as well as his many travels to Japan. His wife, Melinda, a cook and an interior designer, helped create a kitchen that not only works, but looks beautiful.

Why We Love It: The kitchen, with its warm wood cabinetry, evokes the sensible American values of the early 1900s. Chic Asian elements make it contemporary. The Drapers could have gutted the kitchen and started over, but we like that they kept the original bones. The maple cabinets had dried out, so the Drapers had them hand-finished with French shellac and lacquered, which make a nice contrast to the stark, industrial restaurant countertops.

Ideas To Steal: Treated cork floors, which are cushiony, quiet, and long-lasting (40 to 50 years). Draper designed the Japanese knife display, which was built by Steve Jenkin of Furniture Crafters. A powerful magnet under the wood surface holds knives in place, and it cleverly hides the fuse box. Jenkin also built the custom shelving unit that stores extra pots and cookbooks. Draper’s design for a combination breakfast table/workstation on wheels is American ingenuity at its best: Strong magnets underneath secure the stools when not in use.

The homeowners chose Diamond White granite counter tops to complement the warm contemporary colors of brown, gray, and silver. For a clean industrial effect, they chose all Kitchen Aid architects series appliances. The Grohe stainless steel faucet blends with the contemporary appliances. The bar-height table is used as a breakfast bar, workstation, or gathering place for friends.

OPEN UP >>
Redefining the original CityHomes loft kitchen

Inspiration: Boutique hotel restaurant kitchens, like the Mercer in New York’s SoHo district, where dining in the middle of the action makes for great entertaining.

Why We Love It: The Miro Place condominium was part of CityHome’s first development in 1999, which set off a storm of condo development throughout Uptown. Owners Cole Edmundson and Allen Roeseler took CityHome’s original open kitchen design, which looks small and outdated by today’s standards, and made it a showstopper.

Ideas To Steal: Hire contractor Mitch Lee of Classic Renovations, who specializes in renovating Uptown condos. Edmundson and Roeseler gave Lee a two-month time limit, and he finished the project 10 days early, perfectly. Lee provided four-foot-wide walkways between the kitchen islands for good flow and designed a built-in granite breakfast table that doubles as a workspace. High counters hide dirty dishes when the owners entertain. A bar area was also included, with a wine cooler and an extra ice maker for parties.


This kitchen is a beautiful example of blending the old with the new. Stained and leaded glass doors add warmth in an updated way. The yellow paint used is Kwal-historica palette, 1/2 formula for Jonquil.

SUN Drenched >>
Sunlight, high ceilings, and pretty, leaded glass doors freshen this 1926-era Highland Park kitchen.

Inspiration: Good, old-fashioned turn-of-the-century, Gosford Park kitchens.

Why We Love It: It’s unapologetically feminine and old-fashioned, with original Art Nouveau and Art Deco leaded glass windows, cabinets, and French doors that lead into the dining room. Owner Betsy Whitson’s passion for MacKenzie-Childs pottery is reflected not only in her collection, but in a mural over the sink: It displays a view of the MacKenzie-Childs factory overlooking a lake in Aurora, New York, where Whitson often goes to personally select pieces.

Ideas To Steal: Even if your kitchen was built circa 2005, it can still have Old World charm. Paint cabinets white and create the illusion of multipaned glass cabinet doors by stripping on wood or synthetic molding, which you can buy pre-made at home repair stores. Hardwood floors in the kitchen look warm and antique. Make wall niches stand out with murals or contrasting paint colors.

 ———————–

BATHS >>

The design team selected Industrix glass doors for storage. White statuary marble was used for a cool crisp look. Each lot of marble was hand-selected, and the more variegated pieces were reserved for the floor.

NEW Classic >>
A bath redesigned by Robyn Menter is an updated version of a classic, Old World look.

Inspiration: Brown’s Hotel in London meets the SoHo Grand in New York.

Why We Love It: The bath is masculine yet suited for a woman with tailored tastes. Menter achieved the look with lots of white marble, dark wood, glass, and brushed stainless steel. Best of all, it serves as an outstanding example of how a designer can work within an existing bath’s footprint and achieve dramatic results. Even the plumbing is in the same location it was when the house was built in the 1930s.

Ideas To Steal: Wall sculpture, because the bath is just as important as any other room in the house, and where you spend much of your time. This clay sculpture by artist Marla Ziegler will weather humidity. Details maximize storage and maintain sleekness, such as a niche built into the shower to hide bath products, and plugs installed inside drawers to house hair dryers. A medicine cabinet behind a mirror is virtually invisible. Large white bath sheets, hung in rows like the ones here, are spa-like and sculptural. Menter took the idea of installing a ledge above the sink and tub from the Palace Hotel in New York.


Glass lamp from Lowes, white painted wood mirror from Room Service by Ann Fox.

POWDER ROOM Blues >>
A 64-year-old bathroom gets a pretty facelift, with little work and little money.

Inspiration: Nineteenth-century English country houses.

Why We Love It: Before Emily Goodwin renovated the bathroom in her M street area cottage, it looked like many bathrooms in old houses – small, uninteresting, and unattractive. It sported its original green and gray tile. The bath got a fresh, new look with only a few easy changes and very little money. You really can update an old bath on a budget, says Goodwin, who spent about $1,000 on the renovation.

Ideas To Steal: Goodwin hired Dallas-based American Reporcelain to turn her ugly floor and wall tiles and the rusted bathtub pristine white. Goodwin says the method is much like spray painting, except in this case the paint is porcelain. The cost was about $500, compared to the thousands it would cost to lay new tile. The blue and white toile wallpaper at Home Depot EXPO pretties up bland white walls, while the matching fabric used to cover an old garage-sale bench gives the bath a custom look. Goodwin changed the old doorknobs and cabinet knobs to brushed stainless steel, and bought new mirrored medicine cabinets from Lowes.

 ———————–

SHOW Offs
This year’s Kitchen-Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas debuted appliances and products that run the gamut from practical and posh to high-tech and hot.
by Loyd Zisk

In the kitchen, touchscreen control panels coordinate everything from temperature to timing. Samsung’s Four Door Convertible refrigerator neatly divides food storage into four interchangeable refrigerator/freezer compartments, allowing for variable temperatures and humidity levels that are monitored by an oversized LCD panel. >>

 

<< Range hoods have also gone high-tech, as demonstrated by the F.A. Porsche-designed hood for Broan, with automatic gas sensor and four-speed LCD panel.

Zephyr Ventilation showed off its custom control Shade Ventilation hood with interchangeable panels of bamboo, copper, ribbed glass, and stainless steel. >>

** Induction cooktops just got hotter. Viking and Kenmore displayed powerful induction cooktops that stay cool to the touch while invisibly transferring heat to cookwear.

<< Integration kitchens are all the rave. Poggenpohl’s+Integration Kitchen features black Parapan acrylic and matte aluminum cabinets with glass countertop and backsplash.

 

An abundance of plumbing products engineered to conserve both water and energy scored big points with ecology-minded consumers. Dual flush toilets sprang to the top of that list, including Villeroy & Boch’s Aveo, a water saving style permitting either a half or full flush. >>

<< Kohler wowed minimalist design fans with its Purist Hatbox toilet, a completely tankless, utilitarian model.

In similar style, its Watertile bodyspray showerheads rest flush to the shower wall or ceiling, for a simple, stark effect. >>

<< Ann Sacks unveiled a tile collection in modern organic geometrics, inspired by couture designer Angela Adams, as well as a natural bamboo-styled surface in shades of ivory.

Jacuzzi tubs are getting a whole new look this year. Morphosis I Gamma  has a new jacuzzi tub with a shape that allows the greatest freedom of movement and relaxation. >>

 

<< For ultimate spoiling, EGP displayed its luxurious towel warmers.

For those who need up-to-the-minute news and entertainment, Seura showed a line of bathroom mirrors with built-in televisions. >>

<< An assortment of bright colors and natural materials is the new direction in baths this year. Decolav added several new sinks with interchangeable bowls in boldly festive patterns.

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