I'm loving this custom gradient tile from Hakatai as seen in the Drury Plaza Hotel. Hakatai has a gradient tool on their website so you can create your own Gradient tile. Pretty stunning.

[posted by kris]

This faucet is available in a number of finishes, like Chrome, Matte Chrome, Brushed Chrome, Antique Brass, and Brushed, Polished or Matte Nickel.

[posted by kris]

The people over at OWI were nice enough to let me use these images which are usually reserved for architectural books. If you're looking for remodel ideas, you could literally spend hours at the OWI site looking through fantastic homes.

In this Bruge home in particular, there are some very interesting modifications to an old home with modern ideas. This kitchen which is hidden behind a sliding glass door is pretty cool.

[posted by kris]

This kitchen photo is taken directly off the Ikea Website from the 2009 catalog. It's a nice looking kitchen, but it sort of screams "Ikea"--which you want to avoid if you don't want to look like you live in a cookie cutter home. There are a few things you can do to take advantage of the economy of the Ikea cabinets without making it look like it came from the harbinger of meatballs.

• Take a look over at the NKBA guidelines for kitchen layouts. Not only will this help you stay up to code, but it provides standards for space use, work triangles and safety issues which you may not have considered. I cannot recommend this enough.
• Carefully plan your kitchen based on these guidelines and the space you have available. Use an architectural scale to draw out the floor plan and elevations and review the NKBA standards again to make sure everything is in compliance.
• Order just the wall and base cabinets from Ikea.
• Even though the frosted glass wall cabinets from Ikea look modern, they are a dead giveaway.
• Source drawer pulls elsewhere. These drawer pulls over at Remodelista are a good start.
• Use Silestone, Corian or another solid surface for countertops instead of the Ikea offerings.
• Order your sink and faucets from a local plumbing supply or use this site to locate an economical alternative.
• Use a real floor option, such as tile or real wood. Avoid the laminate floor options available at Ikea.
• Avoid using the Ikea branded appliances.

With that said, Ikea cabinets are the best thing you can buy for the money, and unless you're on a Bulthaup budget, I'd recommend them hands down.

[posted by kris]

Here's something I never thought of: glazing your own tile. The owners of this home purchased inexpensive quarry tile along with some glaze and kiln time at a local pottery shop and made these lovely tiles for their bath. I think that would be a really satisfying DIY project.

[posted by kris]

I would love to use the woods wallpaper in a kitchen. It does seem to be a little ubiquitous right now, but i still think it would look great.

[posted by kris]

What a great use of light and space. The stainless steel counter is stunning and also notable is the clever use of a mirror on a wall to create the illusion of more space. I usually find mirrored walls to be sort of repulsive, but in this case it gives the illusion of a much larger space.

Penny tile is really quite versatile. It can be used on floors and walls in old homes and new construction alike. It can even be used in both residential and commercial without looking out of place.

I love the look in this home. And, at $5.75 a square foot it's fairly economical too.

[posted by kris]

And on the other side of the spectrum of affordability, we have the Bulthaup b2 line, which I find completely stunning. I like the two free-standing, austere looking cabinets which hide almost an entire kitchen. One wall could house your oven/stove and sink and then you could have the two cabinets for everything else, allowing you to lighten the visual weight of a kitchen by getting rid of the typical wall cabinets. Additionally, the free standing cabinets almost create a sort of separation without needing a looming wall.

bulthaup gets its visions from the consistent observation of the living and eating habits of people from all over the world. bulthaup b2 is responsive to modern lifestyles, such as single-person or twoperson households, or even “patchwork families”, and is the perfect kitchen for nomads or pioneers in creating a home, living and thinking. . The design was developed in collaboration with the renowned design firm EOOS in Vienna. With their method of “poetical analysis”, the designers take a very special approach to the development of new products. Formative factors of image, ritual and received wisdom are brought together and synthesized. “The result of this cooperation is unconventional, convincing and independent: bulthaup b2 defines the entire kitchen as a changeable system, and is thereby synonymous with the “versatile kitchen of today and tomorrow,” says Gerd Bulthaup. bulthaup b2 will be on display at selected bulthaup partner shops across the world beginning in fall of 2008.

[posted by kris]

I have to say that the options for Ikea kitchen cabinets really make the idea of an affordable, modern kitchen a reality. Here, the Akurum cabinets are completed with the Sorbo doors and Metrik handles.

[posted by kris]