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Looking back to look forward in kitchen remodeling.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Hold on to that green frying pan. Yes, the US Commerce Dept formed the National Kitchen Modernization Bureau in 1935. White, delphinium blue, royal blue, kitchen green, ivory and red were designated as standard colors. Was the multitude of various colors in kitchen equipment really a problem? Could it be that the drive was to modernize kitchens? Out with the coal and in with gas ranges and electric refrigerators available in six matching colors for a lovely new modern kitchen.
For more information please take a detour to Retro-style suits older home for a very informative and quick read about the reactionary history of appliance colors based on economic hardships.
I found a reference to the National Kitchen Modernization Bureau, pulled from the archives of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal.
Refer to the article: Newspaper's institute raised bar on homemaking by Nancy Stohs.
Here is a snippet from the article:
For more reading on Vintage Kitchens, reference the article:In 1930, members could get free advice on kitchen remodeling through the institute's Home Modernizing Bureau. A program announced in The Journal instructed women to mail in sketches of their woefully old-fashioned kitchens. Some of the old kitchens, along with suggested new designs, would be published in the Real Estate section. Owners of kitchens whose designs were not published would get a personal reply.
An article announcing the opportunity informed readers: "Pantries are out of date, be they large or small, and we must be rid of them to be modern." Perhaps the pantry could be turned into a breakfast nook, or "a niche for the electric refrigerator."
As for all those objects displaced from the pantry, "Closed cupboards are the modern, sanitary answer." But don't panic: "Building them is no longer a week's long process."
A thorough kitchen modernizing should run from $300 to $500, readers were told. "It is not necessary to have all of it done this spring."
Vintage Kitchens of the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's.
If you are loving all things vintage, then take another detour to Retro Renovations.
Blue is the New black
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Patricia Gray has mentioned Blue is the New Black at her blog . Blue remains timeless. It can be bold or quiet. I noted in an earlier blog that blue remains a popular color even the kitchen. Color communicates who we are. Bold colors for a free spirit. Demure colors for soft spoken types. It can also transmit a vibe. Do you feel best when at the beach, or are you invigorated by world travels and need to be surrounded with more exotic colors and elements?
Back splashes can be an opportunity to create a vibe for your space. Hard surfaces can play off of soft surfaces such as cushions & fabric.
From the most bold...Shown here, variegated handmade glass tiles. Reminiscent of the ocean, by Erin Adams through Ann Sacks. Interior Design by Frank Roop and Dalia Kitchen Design.
An interlocking oval in hand cut glass tiles in Ann Sacks silver and mineral presents itself as a whimsical yet formal pattern.To the invigorating...
Ann Sacks Lake Garda Ceramic Art Tile in multiple hues of blue....and then there is the most subtle forms of blue.

Kitchen floor is bluestone with a sky blue fabric pallette. With 22 ft. ceilings the blue recedes. Designer David Klienberg, House Beautiful, April 2008.From the most vibrant to the most subtle shades, blue is accepted everywhere.

Read more...
Blue Kitchens
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Blue has always been a popular color. Do you have a favorite color and want to incorporate in your kitchen without looking overdone, see how blue accents these wonderful kitchens.
Elegant carved cabinetry in this Connecticut kitchen take us straight into French chateau country. click here. House Beautiful.
Here is the ultimate collector's fantasy, with beautiful blue cabinets to show off pottery, and a hand-carved island from France.As seen in House Beautiful. Click here.
The contemporary Quimper dinnerware is still made in the original factory in France. The cabinets were custom-designed by Joanne Hudson and built by Downsview. A collection of tea cozies is tucked on top. Old Italian apothecary jars are lined up on the marble countertop from Vermont Quarries. Featured in House Beautiful January 2007 issue.
Kitchen from Electrolux.comMore Talk Around the Blogs on What Else? Color in the Kitchen
Tuesday, October 16, 2007



Have we gone so neutral that we are starved for color? Kitchens never have to be bland. Ok, so the ranges above are a bit wild and may not sell in Iowa, but the point is we have freedom of choice to add color where ever we want in appliances, paint on the walls, choice of artwork, tile splashes, textures and colors for counters, cabinets and hardware means that you can personalize your kitchen with color in any form you desire. Me? Color me happy with anything other than white walls. I tend to shudder when clients want white walls and white ceilings. Give me white appliances, white cabinets and white sinks, but I would really rather eat paste than paint my walls white. Wild pattern on appliances , I am not so inclined to take the plunge preferring muted color pallets instead, but colored LED lighting my water is groovy!
Here is what is going on in the world of design: Over at Design Undercover, the talk is about Cookers in Britain (that's a "range" to you and me in America), coloring up in new shades. The Cooker as Couture? Inspired from the Catwalks of London, Paris and Milan to Britannia's new line of Couture Ranges. Leave it to the Europeans. Ooh, la, la!
Over at Trendir the news is on Italian new colored Temperautra Colorata Faucet by Guglielmi.Britannia says: "Get your inspiration from anywhere and we’ll match it!You're free to take your colour inspiration from absolutely anywhere and it can be as outrageous or subtle a colour as you like."
Within this modern form, the Guglielmi Kitchen faucet features an integrated LED light which reveals the water's temperature through the use of color. Cool water appears brilliant blue, warm water a vibrant violet, while hot is a fiery red. A wonderful faucet for children, the simple use of color adds both a safety feature and a modern glamour. A clever and dynamic design, the Temperatura Colorata faucet by Guglielmi uses LED technology to create an innovative kitchen fixture.Back in the States: the statement in color for 2007 is more subdued: The newest colors introduced this year: Jenn-Air introduced Oiled Bronze appliances at the 2007 Kitchen and Bath Show.
Jenn-Air combines the traditionalism of bronze sculpture with the polished look of stainless steel accents to create a unique, enduring Oiled Bronze finish for kitchen appliances.
The depth of bronze hues, coupled with the stainless steel handles and hardware, allows the Oiled Bronze kitchen suite to balance with other design features in the kitchen. This versatility allows consumers to outfit a full kitchen of Oiled Bronze appliances or add an Oiled Bronze offering to soften kitchens with stainless steel or black appliances.
The Oiled Bronze finish is available on refrigerators, dishwashers, wall ovens, cook tops and hoods.
Perlick also introduced Amethyst and Copper into their line up of under counter refrigeration systems. Amethyst? Yes, This isn't the first appearance of tints and shades from the purple family of colors. We've seen AGA's Aubergine and Heather and Caesarstone's Mulberry Mist.
Not sure how to integrate color into your kitchen? Take a look at these sources for some additional help.
Christopher Lowell has a magnificent talent for coordinating color. Go to the Room Designer page, to help you visualize what the coordinated colors will look like in a room,
"we’ve developed our Room Designer feature. We’ll show you how the colors of the walls, ceiling and trim look together. It’s easy to use. Just roll over the wall color below and watch the room change. Is this cool or what?"

Dunn Edwards offers a Palette Previewer that lets you upload photos of your room and try out a multitude of color combinations on the walls and trim moldings. Fabulous!
Download Benjamin Moore's Ensemble Winter 2007 catalog for inspiring room combinations.
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Color, Color and More Color
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

If you have the urge to match your appliances to your back splash, BlueStar offers a color program unmatched in the residential appliance industry.
Plus I get to show you a few sneak peaks of their new line of wall ovens to be offered in 190 different colors. These pictures are not even in their web site yet!
So What Colors are the Most Popular with BlueStar Consumers?
I contacted Keith Wolf, BlueStar's Vice President of Marketing. Here are the facts provided by BlueStar:
- BlueStar offers our Residential Nova Burner (RNB) line of ranges in 190 colors. Currently, there is no charge to order a range in any of the 190 standard colors.
- Of the 190 colors, over 140 different colors have been ordered.
- Custom colors: BlueStar can custom match almost any color – 23,000 different colors are possible. There is a fee associated with color matching.
- More than 40% of BlueStar’s range sales are colored ranges.
- Our most popular colors are our Ruby Red, Steel Blue, and Jet Black.
- Consumers appreciate the ability to express themselves through the color of their kitchens/ranges; we’re also hearing that some consumers find the colored ranges easier to keep clean than stainless steel.
- We are about to introduce a line of wall ovens that will also be offered in 190 colors. Previews shown below.
- To find a color, we recommend that consumers visit a BlueStar dealer to view a RAL color swatch book. As you probably know, the colors on screen don’t always match up with the printed versions.
Preview of new Blue Star 24” single oven


BlueStar Color Options
Visit BlueStar - Color Configurator to preview how one of their ranges looks in various colors, click here.
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| BlueStar ranges are available in 190 different colors - the most color options of any range in the industry. For a preview of how one of our ranges looks in various colors, click here. | |||
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| © 2007 Prizer-Painter Stove Works, Inc. All rights reserved. | |||
The Prizer-Painter company has been building stoves since the 1800's. They have always had specialized niche products and stayed under the national consumer radar, until now.
For many years, Prizer built a complete and successful line of commercial style home ranges for the Garland Company, a well known commercial equipment manufacturer. Garland's corporate entity has since decided to discontinue their home division, so Prizer re-entered the marketplace under their own name and the tag "Blue Star." The exclusive star shaped burner, which they were allowed to keep by Garland, is a key selling feature due to the Chef preferred flame pattern allowing heat to wrap around cookware better.
Their overall workmanship and construction quality is unsurpassed. Probably the "Best in class" so far as we are concerned. The cooking performance is simply terrific. You wont find dual fuel electric ovens or sealed burners here...yet. Their high BTU burners are the top of the class at 22,000BTU's. The large ovens will hold a full size sheet pan, have convection circulation and an infrared broiling system. You may need to buy some new, heavy duty cookware to make this power worth while, but if you love to cook and want the tools to help you perfect all the many cooking techniques, the Blue Star is a great choice.
Read more...A Blast From the Past
Monday, October 8, 2007
Color Me Retro!
Studying kitchens from previous eras is fascinating to me. You are going to love this! To know where we are going, we need to look back from where we came.
Thank you KBB for bringing out photos from your archives documenting trends from past eras. I have been saving my comments on the latest trends I spotted at the Kitchen and Bath Show 2007. And what a better way to comment on trends for 2007, juxtaposed with trends of the 1950's. Have we come that far? When does a trend stop being trendy and become a classic? How can we embrace trends without dating a kitchen?
What is trendy today really has it's roots linked to our past. Take a look.
Enjoy!
Pink and Blue, Oh Boy!
After WWII, many bright colors were popular, as shown by this all-pink kitchen on the June 1956 cover.
Circa 2007: Pink has a new connotation. Pink is no longer a feminine color. It's in men's ties and shirts. Pink has graduated to a color for a cause. A sign of solidarity. A color that shows you are "in the pink" to support a cause. "Cook for a Cure". Caring cooks can show their support for the breast cancer movement in style. This pink mixer is called "Komen Pink".
When you purchase this pink Artisan mixer, KitchenAid will donate $50 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation as part of their Cook for the Cure® initiative.
For the color committed: A Pink Modern Day Kitchen featured in Martha Stewart Magazine. Trendy? Most decidedly so.
For those who are a little color shy: keep the color in a drawer: pink spatulas. Trends that are allowed to wear out, allowing us not to feel bad at replacing them.
Consumers have a need for color in their kitchen. We respond to colors. Why else would Kitchen Aid produce 6 different shades of Mixers?
Target (Or as it has been nicknamed "Tar-jay") allows internet shoppers to shop by color.
We are color obsessed.
But can we take our love of color to large ticket appliances and cabinets?
Target internet ad: "Shop By Color".
Are you ready for blue?
Dacor introduces Blue in its line up for 2007.
Also available from Dacor: 



I wonder why Blue is the color appliance manufacturers are moving towards? Blue is a calming color and generally not a color to get your appetite charged. But it's everywhere in appliances. It's in the Blue Knob of Thermador ovens, inside ovens, appliances in all shades of blue. Blue is our country's favorite color. Blue is timeless.
Modern Day equivalent: Mix and match gives a nod to the 50's. This is a happy lunch room, isn't it? Makes me wanna be-bop around the kitchen, dancin' in my socks while blending a banana shake. Cool surfboard shape table. Popsicle shades of lime and cherry on the barstools. Surf Green Walls. Horizon Blue Appliances. The mix and match colors are the epitome of Pop Art. Appliances from Big Chill.
Check out Fresh Produce Sportswear's headquarters! www.fpcolor.com Bigchillfridge
1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air in Horizon Blue. Did the appliance industry get their cue form the auto industry? Hmm.
This RCA Whirlpool ad demonstrates mixing and matching cabinetry has long been a design element in kitchens.
Modern Day Equivalent: Mix and Match: ah-hem. Not for the faint of heart! Thank God the counters are white. I would need to hold on them to get my equilibrium back after staring at that psychedelic wall.
This Designer Showhouse Kitchen, 2005, designed by Alison Spear is a mix and match of vivid lemon and lime colors shown for cabinets matching tile. Where else but in Miami. Mix and Match still a trend.
Hats off to Valcucine for mix and match with an eco-friendly twist.
Valcucine exhibits red, white and blue in fashion and forward thinking design with respect to using environmentally friendly design. The 100% aluminum frame can be completely recycled.
Hey! Where did the appliances go? Who wants to see them if you can hide them!
On the other hand, emphasizing just one color was also very common.
Modern Day Equivalent: Blue Kitchen by Snaidero.
Even if you are not ready for a blue kitchen, blue is ready for you, or aubergine, or heather...
BOLD BLUE
Lapis Blue Range by Bertazzoni
For every Action there is a Reaction.
Some people think color only means BRIGHT color. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be bright. One of my eight palettes for 2007 is going to have very soft colors, which are coming back into play. Consumers say, ’All right, I have my red toaster, now I have to do something quieter.’ Lee Eiseman, internationally renowned color and design expert, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training. Full article at 2007 Color Trends for the HomeSUBTLE BLUE
La Cornue CornuFĂ© range in Lavender Blue.
An AGA Cooker in Wedgewood Blue.If you would rather color your cooker Aubergine
or Pistachio
or Jade
or Heather
and so on. AGA provides a rainbow of color options.Also not to be outdone with new softer colors: Caesarstone has introduced new rich colors that have been muted down a bit. I love the new color: Mulberry Mist.
And Espresso
and Pebble. 
Only four percent of households had a dishwasher, at the time the ultimate luxury item, in 1956.
Modern day equivalent: It is not uncommon for kitchens to have two dishwashers.
Also not such a new idea: the higher dishwasher placement reduces bending and lifting and is a key feature in a universal design kitchen.
Also the retro style ovens of the 50's are making their way back to our kitchens today, but they are supercharged with 21st century technology. Turbo Chef has a retro style oven with all the technology a modern oven can offer.
Is the influx of color in appliances a reaction of the public tiring of stainless steel? Maybe so. But even so, stainless steel is still the de rigueur in kitchens and will not be making a departure any time soon. Even if Stainless Steel doesn't appeal to everybody, I am glad to see so many options in color. Rich Blue, Antique Red, and more daring colors can be quite exciting in kitchen design.
The Big Chill refrigerator in Classic White. The absence of color in appliances and cabinets, lets the room become a neutral backdrop for colorful collections and artwork to become the prime focus. Color comes to life in bowls, plates, kitchen accessories, small appliances, flooring, counters. A good argument for white is that it is neutral and looks absolutely fabulous with any color scheme.
While a bright cherry red refrigerator becomes the rock star of this blend of wood and stainless. Eclectic Pop!The kitchen is the destination place. After work, after school, after a night on the town. What ever your take on color for your kitchen, make color in your kitchen work for you. Read more...








