Living in the Kitchen

It seems ironic that families have less and less time to sit down together for a meal, yet kitchens are rapidly becoming the heart of the home. Their reason for being is expanding from a room set aside solely for food preparation into one that incorporates the needs of everyday life.

Kitchens are becoming a social hub, fully integrated with a larger living space. In the United States (where houses are comparatively larger) that typically means kitchens are combined with family rooms.

The kitchen designs I saw at this year’s Salone del Mobile, in Milan, reflect this change. The trend is strong and is clearly moving toward designs that allow kitchen components to flow seamlessly from the food preparation area directly into the living space.

I spent my kitchen time in Milan checking out the contemporary designers. With 160 different vendors and more than 39,000 square meters devoted solely to kitchens, I just couldn‚Äôt get to every building. But the trend applies across the design board. Here’s just one example of how the new trend is being applied.

The exhibiter, in my opinion, that did the best job of visualizing the kitchen/living trend was Valcucine. Their unique glass-covered cabinets (2mm thick) can be printed with customized graphics, photographs, or simply a solid hue. The sink and hob were creatively integrated into the lower cabinets and fit beautifully into the open shelving.

Directly across from the workspace, a cabinet with LED-lit, glass shelving hangs on the wall. The cabinet not only looks like a work of art, the extra-large, sliding doors allow for greater visibility and access to tableware or pantry items.

Another wall holds the oven and refrigerator (behind the right-hand door). Again, the doors are wide and slide to open. When closed, the wall becomes a solid block of color – pink in this case.

Around the corner from the pink wall, Valcucine installed a family room. A red built-in cabinet sits below a wall cabinet. The same playful graphic is incorporated in the upper cabinet thereby unifying the overall space. A table for dining blended perfectly with the lounge seating.

Aside from the exposed sink and hob, one could barely tell this all about a kitchen. Whether or not you like the childlike graphic (personally, not for me), I think Valcucine did a nice job of demonstrating how kitchen and family space can live as one.

Trend: Mix-and-Match-Fabrics on Furniture

Mix-and-match fabrics – could this be an emerging trend? I saw several examples throughout the Salone. I thought Moooi and Moroso were spot-on. Others, like Bl?• Station, didn‚Äôt do so well.

Moooi’s Boutique sofa & some fabric detail

Moroso’s new “mix-and-match designs (above and below) are awesome.

I’m going to enjoy watching this trend so see how it unfurls. As with the fashion world, there’s a trickle down effect in the furniture design world. Just as mass-market clothing manufacturers follow trends set by high-end fashion houses, furniture manufacturers, such as Crate and Barrel and West Elm, are influenced by what they see in Milan.

Bl?• Station didn’t get it right (the unfortunate chair didn’t help).

You don’t have to wait for it to come to our local furniture store. You can recreate this look yourself. All you need is some creative flair, interesting fabrics and a good upholsterer. I’ll write how-to tips next week. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, what do you think of the mix-and-match fabric look?

Marvelous Moroso

This year Moroso was spectacular. Not everything was a hit, in my humble opinion. I didn’t particularly like Ron Arad’s work. Patricia Urquiola’s Bohemian Collection was not to my liking.But her additions to the Shanghai Tip collection were beautiful.

Bohemian collection – not for me

The new sofas, chairs and settees from the Shanghai Tip Collection are more soft and relaxed. And she sets the gold standard when it comes to intertwining different textiles and pattern.

New, softer sofa

I love this settee, pouf and chair – with their Asian flair and wonderful use of pattern and texture.

Nipa Doshi and Jonothan Levian’s Charpoy Collection was wonderful for these up-and-comers. Definitely not for everyone, but I found them to be lovely, and totally new.

You can see Urquiola’s influence. Their customizable My Beautiful Backside (what a name!) settees are young and cheerful. They used wool and felt because the combination reminded them of old-fashioned clothes with stiff starched collars.

Nipa Doshi sitting on her Beautiful Backside Settee. She’s definitely someone to watch.

I saw copies of Tokujin Yoshioka‚Äôs Bouquet Chair throughout the Salone. He says, ‚ÄúI got the idea for Bouquet from the installation I created last October for Moroso’s New York showroom. I used about 30,000 paper tissues to recreate a cloud-like atmosphere.

The Bouquet makes people who sit on it happy, just as a bouquet makes the person who receives it happy. The vibrant, delicate colors trigger different sensations in each of us.”

The chair is a pleasure to sit in. I felt very feminine and wished I were wearing high heels.

Philippe Bestenheider’s collection of Nanook tables (part of a larger furniture collection) were a hit with me. They also remind me of Urquiola’s feminine instincts.

However, Bestenheider says he drew his inspiration from the cold north, and Inuit cultures.

The Moroso exhibit was jammed. Obviously a hit with everyone.

Trends from Milan: Square Tables

I hadn’t expected to see this the first day here at Salone, but square tables were everywhere. Large, square dining tables. Or for meetings, some were placed side by side to form a large rectangle – more suitable for conferences. I love the trend. The materials varied widely – from wood, to marble, to laminate. I particularly liked one from Porro, which was white with a lovely base. Another from Porro was marble, but also comes with a wood top. Not my favorite. But the trend is definitely there. Here’s a look at what we saw.

Rimadesio‘s marble-topped table.

White Synopsis table with lovely criss-cross of legs from Porro.

Ferro-Lissoni from Porro

I loved everything from Heron Parigi - here a powder-coated steel table

Toea table, from Bellato, in wood and also laminate materials.

Another beauty from Rimadesio. Perfect in its simplicity.

It may create some problems in a traditional dining room. But it’s a break from the round dining tables. The crispness of the square is something new, and makes for an easier conversation at a dinner party. What do you think of this trend?

Salone Di Mobile. My first impression: Color

I was surprised at the riotous colors I ran into at the show. Maybe because of economic conditions back in the States I was expecting things to be more somber. They weren’t. The last show I attended here showed a fair amount of orange stuff – as is true of one of these casual Giovanni Pouffs.

But this year, Orange was just the start. There were fuschia chairs and foot stools.

I saw purple shelving…

Even a hideous aqua “day bed” or “neck destroying device” – I’m not sure exactly how to use this piece.

Finally a note about green – the movement, not the color. If I find the time, I’m going to post about the extensive use of plain wood I’ve seen at the show. But even the companies that were making an eco-statement had a magnetic attraction to color. Here, for your sitting around pleasure, some nicely painted logs-er-footstools.

Tomorrow, (once I’ve recovered from jet lag), I promise a more thorough coverage of things I liked and things I think you’ll like, too. In the meantime, Jennifer has a much more interesting point of view on our first day at the show.