Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Jan 14, 2009 2:08 pm Hi Everyone
Tricky question awaiting you What is your definition of a high quality kitchen Material- Wise? For those of you that have built, have you managed to have the kitchen that you want? or have you compromised? Thanks In advance Rayanne Re: High Quality Kitchens 2Jan 14, 2009 4:40 pm Everything fabricated in stainless steel - no kickboards.
Non slip flooring with a big drain in the middle. Seperate dry larder and a built in/walk in fridge. I would build a kitchen like this in my own house. Cheers, Earl Re: High Quality Kitchens 5Jan 20, 2009 12:28 pm So in a high quality kitchen what finish are the cabinets ?. Two Pac ? Vinyl Wrap ? Laminate ?. Building Upside down house in Wantirna VIC Current Stage: Procrastination... it's just all too hard.... Blog: http://thereluctantbuilder.blogspot.com/ Re: High Quality Kitchens 6Jan 20, 2009 2:35 pm ozkarnak So in a high quality kitchen what finish are the cabinets ?. Two Pac ? Vinyl Wrap ? Laminate ?. I have seen both high and very low end cabinets in both two pack and colourboard/laminate...workmanship and quality of the actual specific board/finish have more to do with how "good" a kitchen is...and of course in my paradigm of an extremely high quality kitchen there would be no cabinet doors... Cheers, Earl Re: High Quality Kitchens 7Jan 20, 2009 8:24 pm Strumer ...and of course in my paradigm of an extremely high quality kitchen there would be no cabinet doors... So what would there be instead ?. Building Upside down house in Wantirna VIC Current Stage: Procrastination... it's just all too hard.... Blog: http://thereluctantbuilder.blogspot.com/ Re: High Quality Kitchens 8Jan 20, 2009 9:50 pm Stainless steel slatted shelves on the walls and under the benchtops.
No gables on any ends - all walls and floors are accessable for cleaning, preferably with a high pressure hose (remember the large drain in the middle of the floor?) Would consider a feature back panel if one side of the galley kitchen layout was open to the rest of the house - this panel could be a decorative composite or maybe a polished aggregate/tinted concrete or stone sheet. Task lighting if required can be incorporated into the SS tube section of the shelves as long as it is water proof. Cheers, Earl Re: High Quality Kitchens 10Jan 20, 2009 10:12 pm Now I've dropped myself in it - I thought this question would come along sooner or later.
Since the topic is defintion of high quality I didn't consider it a requirement to have already built one - but I have been designing this kitchen in my mind for a long time - since I don't have the environment yet, it is a bit pointless (and distressing) modelling up any concepts that won't be getting made. I don't have the opportunity or the budget to build my "high quality" kitchen yet, but I am still hoping for the day a client comes to me with a tasty budget and actually asks me to design them a completely functional high end kitchen; which by definition would be good looking...as we all know that form follows function. I did a kitchen for an architect not long ago and we had a very similar discussion. He asked me to show him some examples of the type of kitchen that reflected my personal taste and which I would build for myself. I had a few of the major kitchen magazines to hand, but my honest answer (which he loved) was that none of them had anything that looked like what I would specify for myself. Cheers, Earl Re: High Quality Kitchens 11Jan 21, 2009 11:19 am Hey Strumer, your dream kitchen sounds absolutely great, I'd have one like that too please!! And also agree with you on the kitchen magazines.
Care to comment on high end Italian kitchens like Varenna, Boffi, etc? Re: High Quality Kitchens 12Jan 21, 2009 4:07 pm Mek - let me know when you are ready for your new kitchen!
The Italians really are on top of the game when it comes to so many aspects of design; and I enjoy and admire a lot of Italian design. One of the biggest issues with designing is the perceived need to continually come up with something new and/or different - hence some of the biggest cons in the world such as the fashion industry. I am very much a Modernist in my design aesthetic - what some people would call "minimalism" - I am not ashamed to admit that I worship at the alter of Das Bauhaus; however even there I am not completely passionate about every design to ever emerge from the school, but the philosophy and principles laid down by that school and in that era drive my design - not only that, whether people realize it or not, a significant amount of contemporary design has roots in the emergence of Das Bauhaus. As a Modernist I love clean simple design regardless of the current popularity of any particular form - and at the moment modernism is on the up again. A typical example of my taste would be the 1974 Ducati 750SS Greenframe, which is to me one of the most desirable bikes in the world - I think it would be fair to say that there is very little I would not consider doing to own one: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is an incredibly simple and beautiful design and incidentally was quite a superb racer in it's day. I have wanted one of these bikes since I first saw one about 25 years ago. Since then motorcycle design has gone through many phases, and styles have risen and fallen over the decades; yet if you asked me to design a high end bike in any of those past 25 years it would look a lot like the above picture. Now here is a bike produced by the same factory 22 years later: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ducati have always made pretty appealing bikes, but some of their designs have been better than others, and there have been a few pigs in their stable as well...but suddenly here we are loving the minimal concept again (even though for me it never went away). There are better performing bikes than this one, and some of the latest sports models look much more radically styled - and I like them a lot as well; they look fantastic and go like all hell. But my point here is that the fundamental precepts that dictate a really good design will endure even though consumers will purchase themselves into a frenzy over the latest hot styles from the big names. Designers are partially responsible for this because we are really not that essential in the production of manufactured items - a lot of us exist only to make things look snazzier and prettier than the previous version in order for the consumer to aspire to the latest look. Varenna and Boffi create very beautiful kitchens. They are meticulously styled and immaculately finished - but next week/month/year they are going to have to come up with something different because the consumers expect it. Many of their designs contain elements that I admire and would incorporate into my ultimate kitchen concept, but to me, at the end of the day they are producing kitchens that need to look REALLY GOOD while convincing people that they are also totally functional. Pseudo Industrial/Commercial is a very popular look at the moment and especially Boffi are doing a lot in that direction - and it looks very chic...nice and minimal...but are they, for example, as practical as they could be? I believe 100% that a kitchen is a work area. I don't lounge around in my kitchen and I don't entertain there. Therefore every consideration that I would want to make when creating a functional design would be about how the space, fittings and appliances are used, cleaned and stored. Any observers or non participating bodies need to be out of the work area. For example I hate cleaning (I also have a lot of environmental allergies so I try to stay way from chemicals when possible) - so this job has to be as quick and easy as possible - hence a minimum of surfaces that require constant polishing and wiping to retain a pristine finish - of course work surfaces get wiped over to remove standing water or preparation debris, but I don't want to have to get out a dry towel every time a drip lands on a counter. As a work area, a kitchen gets wet, dirty, it accrues used cookware and crockery and it can be noisy - these aspects need to be tolerable in a design rather than trying to hide them away so that only the pretty bits show. I could rant on (yes even more than I have been) but will sum up this diatribe by stating that I believe that there is currently more emphasis placed on the look of kitchens than in their usability. Choices of materials, finishes and layouts seem to be being driven by a greater emphasis on quality than in suitability for the task, and while the two concepts are not mutually exclusive they are not being frequently reconciled. This is an issue with which I am confronted every day, not just as kitchen designer but also as a designer of products, furniture and fitouts. I know that some readers of this forum are going to feel that some of my statements are an attack on their personal choices for their latest kitchens. None of what I have written is intended to be malicious or critical of anyone's particular design choices or preferences - I have never felt it is my place to give people unsolicited criticism (unless they really deserved it *grin*) Everyone has to make and be happy with your own choices and as long as you are there is nothing that I can say about it - but I always look at fabricated items from the position of a professional designer and tend to express my opinions as one. Cheers, Earl Re: High Quality Kitchens 13Jan 22, 2009 7:01 pm I class a high quality Kitchen as a number of things. Good design, Immediate WOW factor, Fitting - Blum Drawers and hinges etc... the newest drawers you push lightly and they automatically open. Cupboards and Drawer materials in either timber or 2 pac. Benchtops in Marble, Stone, Granite or Corian. Appliances - MUST HAVE Oven, steam oven, Coffee Machine, integrated Fridge and dishwasher. Walk in Pantry and AMAZING lighting. Re: High Quality Kitchens 15Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am lol Rachelle, my idea of a high class kitchen is one that works!
Interestingly, I think most cupboards beside laminate have too many drawbacks. I wouldn't have anything BUT laminate for the cupboards in my kitchen... no matter how much money I had. Flicking through a lot of the kitchen mags I have, some of the most expensive, or high end, kitchens use laminate. Because we are having Kleenmaid appliances (steam oven, warming draw, etc) and stone and glass..... everyone seems to expect that we'll have a 2pac finish. One of my friends said it was a shame to use laminate. I'm rough in the kitchen.... it's a work area.... I don't want to have to worry about chipping or damaging cupboards.... so laminate it is for me. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: High Quality Kitchens 16Jan 23, 2009 9:31 am @Strumer: I think you can take heart in the obvious level of interest in what you think makes a good kitchen. Perhaps it's a sign that a lot of people do want to get past the "show pony" kitchens that are constantly being pushed.
I found your diatribe fascinating. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: High Quality Kitchens 17Jan 23, 2009 1:16 pm Cabinfever @Strumer: I think you can take heart in the obvious level of interest in what you think makes a good kitchen. Perhaps it's a sign that a lot of people do want to get past the "show pony" kitchens that are constantly being pushed. I found your diatribe fascinating. +1 Found it marvellous to read about someones principles of design rather than the objects that make up a function. Re: High Quality Kitchens 19Jan 23, 2009 3:42 pm Thank you for all the positive feedback - I don't often go off on such rants in public; pity my long suffering wife though...she has heard it all so many times now she can practically write her own version.
Design is my grand passion and I consider to be very lucky to be working in an industry that I really love - and can get so emotionally and intellectually involved in...of course the down side is that it is very hard to turn off as we live in a world surrounded by manufactured items and I am constantly assessing and analysing... That's how you spot a designer at a party by the way - they are always the ones under the table (looking up at how it is put together off course!) But seriously, I was talking to a furniture designer at SPACE just yesterday and she has the same problem; every time we encounter a piece of furniture such as a table or counter, we immediately run our fingers underneath it to feel what it is made of and how it is joined et cetera... At least it is a pleasant obsession and doesn't harm too many people...but as said, if you ask a designer's opinion of something don't expect them to hold back - we tend to be very firm in our opinions and frequently vehemently keen to share them. Cheers, Earl P.S. Speaking of classic minimalism, another of my very fondest designs besides old Ducatis and immortal chairs is the L-1 Luxo lamp designed (well mostly) in 1937 by Jac Jacobson...I collect them when I can, and recently found these two beauties for sale from an overseas Industrial Designer's Estate - they are a fifties vintage matching pair and will have pride of place on the two person work station (his and hers) in our newly renovated studio - I am really excited about getting our office space refitted so I can put these on the bench...but it might still take a bit longer before everything is finished. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: High Quality Kitchens 20Jan 25, 2009 11:23 am Strumer, facscinating stuff.
A question for you re. materials. My favourite kitchen of all is Poggenpohl Plusmodo (http://www.poggenpohl.de/en/index2.php) and it's made of laminate, even the benchtop. Would the laminates that a company like Poggenpohl uses be any different in quality to our Laminex, Formica, etc? Thanks. "is it exempt or do I need to get permission from council" Call your Council and ask them 1 2156 It's MGP 10 which means every length has been machine graded to it's specified engineered strength. It may not look pretty and if you where hand picking your timbers you… 1 1005 It will be neat but you won't have much freeboard. At least they are not weep holes. Are you in a high intensity rainfall region? The regulatory slope is only required… 3 8741 |