If I lived in a studio apartment I could cope with this kitchen just fine, thank you.

Hansen Living won the kitchen and bath award at the ICFF Exhibition 2004 in New York. This experience inspired the design of the Hansen Living Instant Kitchen. It’s a kitchen unit particularly suited for small, studio-type dwellings. Place it anywhere, all you need is to hook it up to a water supply and connect the electricity. The kitchen unit contains everything you need: oven, gas jets, electric power, refrigerator and water. To find a suitable name for it was easy: Instant Kitchen.

(Thanks Adam!)

Price depends on size and configuration.

[posted by katie]

These pictures have me thinking about expanding my horizons when it comes to kitchen and bath surfaces.

"DURAT is a solid polyester based material used for custom made surfaces in public and private interiors. It contains recycled plastics and is itself 100% recyclable. The sophistication of the DURAT material lies in its silky warm feeling and the interesting impression of depth in its finish. DURAT is extremely durable and can be renewed by slight sanding. The material is very resistant to wear, humidity, and various kinds of chemicals."

[posted by katie]

I recently added some glass mosaic tiles to my kitchen back splash, and the slight reflection of the small squares add such a nice touch. Something to keep in mind if you're itching to update your own kitchen or bath...

Shown on right: Diamond Tech Glass Tiles - Stained Glass 2" Glass Tiles in Bright Green Luminous Non-Mesh Mounted Sheets
"These Glass tiles give a luminescent quality to any bathroom or kitchen installation. These tiles are great for walls, backsplashes and pools."

- Sheet backing: Clear Plastic Front mount
- Sheet size: 12" x 12"
- Tile size: 2" x 2"

[photo on left via dominomag.com]

[posted by katei]

Kohler's promoting their new Karbon Faucet, which looks to be pretty impressive.

"With its clean, crisp lines, the Karbon articulating faucet introduces a new geometry of versatile functionality to the kitchen. Intelligently engineered to hold any pose for hands-free operation, Karbon allows you to streamline your work surfaces and workflow. You can extend the faucet fully to fill large pots, lower it into the sink for food preparation and cleanup, fold it compactly out of the way when not in use, or position it anywhere in between. "

[posted by katie]

I really don't know what I would have done if my house didn't already have appliances when I bought it. I probably would have spent at least a few weeks going over all the pros and cons and prices. Or maybe I would have found greenerchoices.org, where they've done all the research for you, including energy efficiency ratings.

Shown above:
Amana® Side-By-Side Refrigerator, (ASD2627KEW), $1649.00
GE - 25.0 Cu. Ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator, (GSH25JSTSS), $1,199.00

[posted by katie]

Despite our occasional visits to Ikea, I have not yet stumbled upon their appliances. But the good folks over at GrassrootsModern posted this oven, and it looks like an excellent choice for anyone on a budget.

"True convection oven. Warmer. Pizza baking. Convection oven function. Convection broil. High and low broil. Fan defrost. Thermal oven function. Continuous cleaning. Tilting grill. If the food is not quite done after the set program time, the cooking time is easy to prolong without resetting the oven. Capacity: 3.1 cu.ft. 1 grid included. 1 fat pan included. 1 enamelled baking sheet included."

Width: 23 3/8 "
Depth: 22 1/4 "
Height: 23 3/8 "

[posted by katie]

Sometimes a rather small change can make a big difference- we just switched out our kitchen faucet for one similar to these (though I'm not going to post it because it got bad product reviews, which isn't a good sign) and it felt like we updated our whole kitchen. I would recommend the version on the right, because it has the regular faucet option. Also, if you're handy with tools, switching out a faucet is no big deal, but if it makes you nervous, hire a plumber and save yourself the stress. Single Handle Pull-Down Pre-Rinse Kitchen Faucet $199.00 (left), Luxury Pre Rinse Kitchen Faucet $250.00 (right). [posted by katie]

The new Herzog & de Meuron designed residences for the new Ian Schrager project 40 Bond in NYC are nothing less than you would expect from the H & de M/Schrager design and real estate powerhouses. The kitchen features high-grade materials and appliances throughout, and to reduce cost, use GE in a hidden microwave and in the garbage disposal. Each kitchen features:

• Wide-plank oak flooring.
  
• Custom italian imported cabinets with a high gloss lacquer doors by Varenna (est. $20,000-$40,000 depending on configuration).
• Integrated sink with Corain countertop and backsplash. ($445 for sink, ~$2500 for counters depending on linear feet)
  
• Vola faucet and pullout spray in polished chrome. ($1096.00)
• Custom hand-blown glass pendant light fixture. For a similar effect, you could choose the supernova pendant light. ($1,774.00)
• Up lights and under-cabinet recessed lights.
• Miele 24” four-burner stainless steel gas cook top. ($1,249.00)
• Miele 24” stainless steel fully-vented exhaust hood. ($2,749.00)
• Miele 27” stainless steel electric convection oven. ($3249.00)
• Miele dishwasher with integrated panel to match cabinetry. ($1,249.00)
• 27” Sub-Zero refrigerator with integrated panel to match cabinetry. (price withheld by manufacturer, but prepare to spend > $4000)
  
• GE stainless steel microwave, concealed in kitchen cabinetry. ($170)
  
• GE garbage disposal.
• Also features the Miura Stool by Konstantin Grcic. ($296 each)

Of course you can cut some corners by switching the appliances to less expensive brands, or even sticking with Miele, but downgrading to a more affordable model. To reduce overall cost considerably, you could try the SOLÄR cabinets from Ikea with integrated handle, reducing your cost to $2500-$7,000 for cabinets. The construction technique for Ikea cabinetry is pretty similar to the Poliform cabinets, which also features full overlay doors on standard white-box frames. You could also go with the Axor faucet instead of the Vola faucet, saving almost $800.
Lastly, you could choose a different countertop instead of Corian, such as Silestone or another Quartz surface if you don't mind losing the integrated sink option.

This is not a bad price for such a well designed and proportioned faucet, and is a good alternative to the pricier versions that top out at over $1,000.

I like how there are no buttons visible, just a handle. "Fully integrated controls provide a smooth exterior. This dishwasher also features a tall tub interior with 5-level/7-tier UltraClean wash system and Sensor Clean cycle with ClearScan™ sensor that determines the proper cycle based on how dirty the dishes are."