A few of my favorite things (that I can't afford)
Posted by K Tue, 06 Dec 2005 05:13:00 GMT
I wrote this for somewhere else, but Matt wanted to see it, so here it is.
In a perfect world, if I redid the kitchen in the house we are moving into, and space wasn’t really a consideration, nor was cost, (nor was anyone else’s opinion), this is how it would be:
Cabinets by Neil Kelly. All eco-friendly, and I would probably go with the Frame face although in a color closer to the Barn or even darker, depending. Or something similar, with lots of organizer inserts inside (I have a lazy susan and pull out drawer racks right now, and I love them).
Stove and probably fridge although I don’t like the side-by-side thing would be the GE Monogram series. The stove grates reverse to hold curved things like woks. Plus, they look great. Maybe the fridge would be this since it has the freezer on the bottom and no ugly water/ice cube thing.
The dishwasher would be the Fisher and Paykel dish drawers, in stainless. Or a restaurant grade industrial stainless dishwasher that takes glass racks (I saw this recently in a magazine, and it makes washing wineglasses easy). Or a Bosch Integra.
Cork floor planks in faux bamboo pattern.
Tile like this or this behind the counter/under the cabinets. Color depends on the whole color thing which is not certain yet.
Probably a Corian counter, in Earth, or a dark gray depending on how everything looks. I would also consider all the weird eco-friendly countertops, or poured concrete, depending on how much of a pain in the ass to maintain it would be. I hear concrete is brittle and a pain.
The Grohe Ladylux faucet (in stainless or brushed nickel or something) is my holy grail. It’s stupidly expensive and I probably can’t afford it but I may sell plasma for it. I have been stalking it for weeks and saw it on TV last night and wanted it even more.
Sink will be largish, single basin, and stainless (18 gauge) with a garbage disposal (stainless blades and chamber). Also, a water filter of some sort underneath but I haven’t figured that out yet. I don’t know enough about it, yet. A whole-house system would probably be easiest and forget the under-the-sink, but I am not sure there.
I alternate between a blue/green/gray type color scheme and a crazy orangered/brown/blue or green scheme. It would depend on how everything looks when it gets together.
(For dining room stuff, I want all Danish Modern, all the time. Or just maybe some Haywood Wakefield.)
In the kitchen of my dreams there is a hole. And that hole would accommodate a stainless steel metal bin. In that bin would be a dowel, covered in black rubber. And onto that dowel I would slam the espresso portafilter sending the steaming espresso grounds into the knock box. Cleanly, safely.
Save it, espresso machine. You are last on the list of things who get an opinion about the kitchen. After the cat!
If you decide you can’t afford the Neil Kelly cabinets, there’s an article in the December “Domino” about IKEA kitchen cabinets and how people modified/integrated them in. I don’t know if this holds any interest for you, but you are welcome to check out my copy if you’d like.
Also, nice blog, guys! I came here looking to see if Matt had recovered from his marathon yet, but this is pretty interesting, too!
Thanks, Jen. I would be interested to see the article (I am almost 100 percent sure the Kelley cabinets are out of my range… shipping alone to DC would be ridiculous).
Also, for Francis Francis (as Bob and Dave would say, ‘check this shit oooooout’):
http://espressoparts2.zoovy.com/product/3003
Also also, Matt’s running stuff is now over here:
http://running.abarrelofthis.com/