5 Kitchen Design Ideas to Salivate Over
There is a widespread phenomenon known to foodies as “kitchen porn”: The fanciful, whimsical imagery of pristine kitchen design ideas such as islands, appliances and storage systems, found largely on Pinterest boards or in he pages of magazines. It’s symptomatic of the “some day” notion to which many turn for inspiration and motivation with the hope that, eventually, marble countertops will be within reach.
Kitchen design is often at its best in commercial settings, where demands require clever layouts and efficient storage. Some are adapted into home kitchen designs, creating so-called “cook’s envy” among the masses. These five kitchen design ideas have mastered such provisions, while also pulling off design concepts that are just plain sexy. Go ahead: Read on and dream. Your browser history is safe with us.
1. Bouley Test Kitchen – New York, NY
Image: davidbouley.com
A common fantasy among home cooks are recipe pages and tablet screens free of smudge marks and splatters left behind by the ghosts of recipes past. The solution implemented by the designers of Bouley Test Kitchen is an entire wall dedicated to a full-length chalkboard, keeping notes in a central location and sticky fingers away from paper. The layout also contains a dedicated library area, replete with built-in bookshelves and relaxed furniture. The concept is an open one, with additional space available for diverse seating arrangements, ranging from banquet tables to smaller round ones. A particularly delectable touch: The suspended rectangular light fixture at the kitchen’s center, used for hanging copper cookware.
2. Joubert Design Build’s “Urban Farm House” – Austin, TX
Image: Joubert Design Build on Houzz
A highly arched, paneled ceiling and hardwood floors add to the pastoral feel of this kitchen design, complemented by sleek granite countertops of not one, but two islands. Light wood cabinetry is placed to one side of the counter space, across from built-in shelving and appliances. Filament Pendants hang above the kitchen’s work space, giving the room a lighting scheme that is at once classic and contemporary.
3. BMRS Test Kitchen – Los Angeles, CA
Image: BRAD METZGER RESTAURANT SOLUTIONS
Commonly used as an audition space for restauranteurs looking to hire chefs, the BMRS Test Kitchen offers a multi-use space for education, observation and eating. Both bar and banquet seating are utilized, with a high-definition television facing the dining area for a detailed look at the chef’s work. Enticing imagery in the form of enlarged photographs are found bordering the walls of the kitchen’s perimeter, adding splashes of color from pictures of green olives and rare cuts of meat. In the midst of drooling at eye level, don’t forget to look up: the wood-paneled ceiling adds an ever-so-modest bucolic feel to this design.
4. LDa Architecture & Interiors’ “Broad Cove Residence” – Hingham, MA
Image: LDa ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS
Fewer themes are as timeless as “Coastal New England,” made evident by this design. Incorporating elements of both a test and home kitchen, it fulfills requirements set forth by the owner’s house-operated culinary education business. The layout achieves a happy-medium of sufficient teaching and preparation areas, with an open plan that avoids appearing too overbearing for a residential space. Behind the counter seating and wood-topped center island, a mixed-tone tile backsplash pays tribute to the nearby Hingham Bay, with grey-blue cabinetry enhancing the kitchen’s seaside aura. Two narrow, built-in bookshelves make an appearance, reinforcing the multipurpose nature of the space, with stainless steel shelving above the sink for white flatware display, lending a lovely contrast to the backdrop’s cerulean hues.
5. Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen – Los Angeles, CA
Image: Los Angeles Times
It’s a well-known fact that, despite one’s best efforts, it will always be impossible to easily reach for the one spice needed in a mass of bottles on the rack. The answer? A comprehensive pull-out spice drawer: A non-cluttered, easy-to-find-your-cayenne-pepper system that allows all spice containers to lay flat and face upward. Although a busy space, the LA Times Test Kitchen has less of an industrial feel than others, with two contrasting backgrounds: One, a “light exterior,” says Noelle Carter, the test kitchen’s manager, with paler wood cabinetry, next to a darker-hued one, permitting the best-matched color scheme for photos of each dish prepared.
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Top image: Betta Living
