Blog Hopping Wednesday

I found a new blog to follow: The Little Big House. Anyone who knows the travails and triumphs of home improvement can relate to her farmhouse renovation. Good stuff there with beautiful photos from her idea file. Take a look. I look forward to more updates on the renovation.

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Houzz

A great new resource for design inspiration. Houzz is your online source for finding a design style for your kitchen, patio, living spaces, baths, bedrooms, exterior architecture and more.

Pretty cool source.

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Post Modern Update: The Pasinetti House

Simplicity and elegance in a modern setting.

A kitchen remodel even a dog could love.

(I believe all dogs check out what's on the counters when we are at work. )

These photos are from an LA Times article,
Haralamb Georgescu's midcentury Pasinetti house renovated:

Architectural gem headed for tear-down is respectfully upgraded.

Kitchen Notes on the Pasinetti Renovation.

1. What had been a small galley kitchen was opened to allow a greater social flow to the dining room and living space.
   
2. The Formica counter tops were replaced with a smooth white quartz.
   
3. To reduce the scale of the kitchen appliances, the refrigerator and freezer were placed in separate drawers with cabinet fronts that match Georgescu's cabinet design and proportions, and a new mahogany finish connects them to the bookcases in the main living area.
4. My one reservation: The paneling behind the range is mahogany. As beautiful as it is, grease splatters on a wood back splash will discolor the wood. I would have liked to see milk white back painted glass just behind the range. It would have been appropriate for the style and also it would make the quartz pop.
   

The photo was taken on day 206 of the renovation.
Stark Ghost Chairs. Morredi of Denmark Dining Table.

Photo from demolition.
Note the wall up, jalousie windows, formica tops,
lipped cabinet doors, awkard cooktop location.

Day 225. What a difference!
Appliances by Sub-Zero, Miele and Bertazzoni.
Fixtures by Dornbracht and Blanco.

Notes from LA Times Article:
Architect Haralamb Georgescu (1908-77) is considered one of Romania's most important architects. Today many of his modernist buildings in Bucharest are landmarks. Despite designing dozens of buildings in Southern California, Georgescu never gained the same level of fame as his midcentury contemporaries. The Midcentury Modern Pasinetti home, built in Beverly Hills in 1958, was for sale as a tear -down in 2007. The idea was to replace the home with yet another over done, ridiculous behemoth Beverly Hills Tuscan style McMansion. Krikey! Was I descriptive enough?

Vision
The developer Tim Braseth says "developers do not need to replace a house in order to gain a maximum return." Braseth saw the beauty in the post modern structure and had the Pasinetti home restored with updated conveniences, improved building methods and energy efficient materials and technology that brought the home up to date while still respecting the integrity of the home's important design elements. The Pasinetti house is now being designated a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument.

For more information: click here for the LA Times article.
For a press release: click here.
For more inforation on the developer: click here

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Subtlety: The Master in Design

I love detail. Who doesn't.

Detail, well crafted can exude an enormous amount of interesting features without becoming overwhelming. The beauty of detail is found in the subtlety of design and the ability to interpret regional influences.

A master at quiet detail is Doug Durbin, award winning designer, and co-founder with brother John Durbin, of NuHaus Kitchen and Bath Design. His ability of layering wood species in a space is absolutely striking but never loud. So subtle are the transitions, similar to a painting, there is a nuance you may not observe upon first viewing. Return again, and a new detail will present itself that you hadn't noticed before. To me, that is the inspiration of good design.

SubZero has an excellent video series featuring award winning projects with a commentary from client, designer and design commentary from leaders in the kitchen and bath design world.
Please visit SubZero.com/trade/tradevideos.aspx to visit Doug Durbin's featured video.

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Looking back to look forward in kitchen remodeling.

(photos found at Retro Renovation)

I am a history buff. I love kernels of information so I can go off on a self discovery reading journey. Here is one that got me thinking about times of economic turmoil and how it affects everything we do, everything we buy and even what we eat. Did you know that during the Depression the U.S. Commerce Department proclaimed six standard colors in response to the chaos of various colors that previously existed regarding kitchen equipment? Is this not a wild factoid?

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:

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."

For more reading on Vintage Kitchens, reference the article:
Vintage Kitchens of the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's.

If you are loving all things vintage, then take another detour to Retro Renovations.

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European Old World Kitchens

There is nothing quite as beautiful as European old world hand crafted cabinetry.
A trip through European Kitchen Design blog takes you through some of the most beautiful kitchens.

If you are looking for new ideas and interested in thinking outside the box, consider bending the tradition on American designed kitchens.

Here are a few photos for your enjoyment. Work displayed below as shown at Ateliers-Jean-Daniel.com
Notice the extraordinary design details showing the individual cases built into the walls and masonry, the absence of "wall to wall" cabinetry Americans are so accustomed to. A great departure from what is in fashion in the states: standard overlay doors and exposed hinges. Although what I would not be able to do with out is more drawers. There seems to be so few drawers in these designs.

Favorite details: The arched and plaster openings. Open shelves in place of wall cabinets.


If this was in America, I guarantee there would be a corner base lazy susan and the walls would be filled with cabinets, end to end. This is so much more charming. The exposed beams, the plaster hood. Ahhh!

Exposed hinges and standard overlay doors. Trey chic in this setting.


Textures, color, lack of uniformity. So beautiful.

For more information please visit, http://www.ateliers-jean-daniel.com/
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When shiny and bright will not do

Here is wonderful picture of a very old and original German silver sink. The homeowner was able to preserve the original sink from the butler's pantry.

The homeowners were updating a 100 year plus home in Maine. It is quite an accomplishment when you can remodel by adding modern day conveniences and still maintain the character of the home. For the full article please see House Beautiful online article, Kitchen of the Month.

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Kitchen Sociology and Home Tours

Yesterday I took my Mom out to the Pasadena Highlands Home Tour in Pasadena, CA.
Home Tours are a lot of fun, a chance for homeowners to show off their flair for home keeping and their remodeling savvy and a chance for the general public at large to take a peek at how others keep a home, what taste they have and of course taking note of ideas they can use for their own homes.

We had a great time touring through other people's homes and laughing with a little guilt that that we have a lot of organizing to do before we would dare let anyone tour our own homes. We fell in love with the color schemes, the architecture, the gorgeous tree lined streets. And finally, we gained a new appreciation for our circa 1980's tract homes. Albeit, our newer homes can never compare to the charm of the historic Pasadena homes, we have to content ourselves with the fact that our cookie cutter tract homes have bigger closets and wider hallways. As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side until you get there. So yes, we will have to wait for our trees to grow to full maturity and yes we will have to add the details in to get the good bone structure the builders omitted, we are still house proud for what we do have and love touring others homes for planning what we want to add to our homes.


The homes on tour, in the historic Highlands neighborhood in Pasadena draw from a diverse style of architecture in the neighborhood. What is clearly self evident in the Highlands neighborhood is the dedication each homeowner displays to the craftsmanship of the home. The dedication in restoring the homes to their original beauty and also the care taken to make certain that any addition to the home is in keeping with the original style.

Society has a natural inclination to know about Home Keeping. There have been thousands of books written on the Home, on Kitchen Design, on Entertaining, and on Home Keeping. There are entire television networks devoted to the subject of the Home.

What is it that makes the Home a popular topic? The answer is simple. We are interested in making our houses a home. We naturally want to know how other families keep a home and in particular, the kitchen is always a popular topic. The kitchen, the heart of the home, is where we nourish body, mind and soul. The kitchen is where many pinnacle events take place in our lives. The kitchen is not just about food preparation and meals. We share stories with family at the kitchen table. We celebrate, we mourn, we play cards, we doodle while on the phone, we pay the bills, we help with homework, we wrap gifts, we fold clothes, we make grocery lists and plan major events from our kitchen table. No matter what your lifestyle, we live a majority of our lives in the kitchen.

Many people are looking for solutions on how to keep a better kitchen in the same space where major renovations are not an option. Not everyone has the opportunity to have large scale exhibition style kitchens.

So here it is, a compilation of new sources on real living kitchens from real people just like yourself. Have fun and have a peek into other's living kitchens. Enjoy! This is Kitchen Sociology at it's best.

By the way, Electrolux is looking for 90 homeowners throughout Europe to be included in the Electrolux Kitchen Stars photo exhibition, an online gallery and a book. What a fun idea! A chance to have you and your kitchen immortalized forever. Why you may ask? Electrolux is gearing up for celebrating it's 90th anniversary in 2009.

This is Cristian, at the Electrolux Blog.

Electrolux is spreading the word to our American audience. No doubt we have all caught the cute Kelly Rippa commercials showing off the glamorous side of Electrolux appliances. But that is not all. I love Electrolux's idea of making you the superstar! “Consumer Insight forms the basis of all product creation and development at Electrolux. We go into peoples home and study how they live and interact with their appliances. In this way we understand how lifestyles, eating habits and design preferences reflect how consumers select and uses our products” says Ulrich Gartner, Vice-President Communications at Electrolux.
Gartner continues, “For many consumers the kitchen is a dynamic area: efficient and functional during the week; welcoming and entertaining at the weekend. The kitchen has also become the hub of the home, a place where we eat, sleep, work, and even make love. To celebrate our history, we want to celebrate our consumers and their kitchens – what better way than to have
them tells us about their kitchen star moments?”

How to become a Kitchen Star? Send a photograph of yourself in your kitchen with a short description of a “kitchen star moment” – perhaps a perfectly cooked meal on a date, or when
you redecorated your kitchen, gave birth on the kitchen floor, proposed to your wife at the breakfast table, or just cooked that very special meal for a very special person. The selected 90 Kitchen Stars will all receive the iconic Electrolux ErgoRapido in addition to being featured in the online gallery, the photo exhibition as well as the book and any other material developed
around the Electrolux anniversary celebrations. To become an Electrolux Kitchen Star or to find out more information about the competition, please go to www.kitchenstars.net


Below are more kitchens homeowners have submitted on line at different web sites. I prefer the pictures where people and pets appear in them. They don't appear so cold. Don't be afraid to appear in your pictures.

The following pictures and additional information can be found at
Apartment Therapy Home Tours.

The New Kitchen Paradigm: The Open Kitchen: Inspirational open space kitchen in California. For full article go to Apartment Therapy

For more information: visit The Eichler Network

For more information visit Home Galleries at the Garden Web.

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John Adams

I have started to read a new Blog by Fay, called Red River Interiors.
A really smart blog on interior design. I appreciate the historical perspectives, and her personal point of view.

I found someone else who admits to watching the HBO special about John Adams, not just for the historical significance of the formation of our country and the life of our second president of the United States, John Adams, but I found myself hitting rewind and pause to absorb the period elements of architecture and design through the following:

• Architectural embellishments, fireplaces, moldings, floors,
  
• Room colors, paint and wallpapered halls for the Federal period
  
• The furnishings
  
• The hair styles (wigs)
  
• The window treatments
  
• The gardens at Peacefield in comparison to Monticello and the French gardens
• The unfinished interiors of the White House in 1800.

It appears the construction of the white house indeed suffered from contractor delays. Remember this when you are agonizing over your own remodel. Interesting factoid, Irish American architect James Hoban, won the design competition to build the presidents house. He was awarded $500 for the winning proposal. Hobans inspiration for the house was drawn from an Anglo-Irish villa called the Leinster House in Dublin.

I did not see any kitchens in the movie, John Adams, but I did get a chuckle when Benjamin Franklin was in the large copper tub with Madame Helvetius, in her french salon. A copper tub for two. This is a beautiful pictorial movie to be enjoyed time and time again. For behind the scenes information on this movie visit John Adams. References: http://usparks.about.com/cs/parkhistory/a/whitehouse.htm

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