Sometimes the dreamiest kitchens come from catalogs. Or it least it seems like it looking at these pictures. I've been plotting and planning a new kitchen in my house since I moved in a few years back. The previous owners had an odd sense of design and mysteriously removed a lovely custom open floor plan kitchen. Out went the solid cherry cabinets and in came some oddly installed faux maple cabinets off the shelf at Home Depot. By oddly I mean 13 inches above the countertops, rendering the space below them useless. Then a wall went up between the cooking area and the family room - ummm - here's the best part, built right over carpeting, so that the threads of what was pulled away stick out despite constant attempts to remove them. I'll put pictures up when I have the courage, but for now let the image of the world's most hideous tiles plopped over hardwood floors and then cracked stay with you.
So while I'm not ready for the big three month multi-thousand, mind jarring redo, I can pull my picks from what's already floating around in the design world. Here are some kitchens from the very cool Swedish Kitchen Design Company Kvanum Kok, whose website I can easily get lost in for hours. They are a family run company started by Gustav Johansson in 1923. His grandkids now run the company and it does really show. Their only showroom in the US is in San Francisco, but let's hope they open more soon!
These are actually two versions of a similar cabinet design called Broby (one is Pearl Green, the other Misty Grey white) that features vintage style recessed door design. The doors and drawer panels recessed into the cabinet bodies give Broby a “fitted kitchen” look – an impression further reinforced by the fact that the kitchen is painted after the cabinet bodies and profiles have been fitted. Fluting on the inner profile of the frames is an exquisite detail of craftsmanship. These are topped with a rough edged limestone and polished with Pewter Shell handle pulls.
I love the marriage of rustic and polished in these rooms. The cabinets in the top picture are actually a misty green, while the bottom room is more of a purist's white. The woodwork and lighting really give this kitchen the right feel for my house which is on a horse farm and is set in a community among a number of antique homes that date back to before the Revolution.
Gorgeous with the wood burning stove, wood storage, and industrial grade appliances. Oh and the doggy too!
