White Kitchens & Stainless Steel

Trophys of culinary design, stainless steel appliances still reign supreme, but the trend in kitchens seems to walk a fine line between hiding appliances behind cabinetry and celebrating them.  These days I lean toward minimizing them without hiding them.  I  do like a refrigerator behind paneled doors but choose to leave my range, dishwasher and hoods exposed… a dishwasher can sometimes be hard to find when hidden too well and when did we all get so busy hiding everything that is so essential in a kitchen anyway?  It’s a kitchen!  I do think about sight-lines from doorways, banquette and other rooms and try to place attractive cabinets in highly visible areas vs. a trash compactor or dishwasher.  But, come on… we all have kitchens, we all need appliances… do kitchens really have to look like dens?

 

What I do covet and hope to use on a small project coming up shortly are stainless countertops.  I am over marble and granite.  I want to do something that feels less fancy, less expected and frankly more industrial and user-friendly.  I will combine butcher block and stainless in my next kitchen renovation.  White cabinets and walls and maybe even floors, but no granite for this guy.  I would rather have an integrated sink and back-splash all made from stainless steel.

   

I am still a fan of  restaurant style tables and fixtures… for me a kitchen is a kitchen.  It doesn’t need faux painting, it doesn’t need carved grape leaf corbels and mahogany hood covers.  Gosford Park, Downton Abbey, The Breakers… these great old houses and many, many others got it right.  Their kitchens are utility driven, simple, clean and efficient.  It’s not as thought there isn’t still a “look”.  The images I’ve posted show a kitchen can still chic without trying to fool people into thinking they aren’t in a kitchen.

White and stainless is nothing new, it has become a classic that can be used in unlimited ways to suit space, style, budget and project.  it feels effortless, easy and unfussed.  I love a clean simple space – with some exuberance injected, I’m still a designer after all – that allows the function of the space drive the aesthetic.   what do you think?