Blog

About

Shop


Tag: white

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

I recently got tipped off to Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, a Portland-based design firm that produces elegant, livable and environmentally-conscious spaces. House Beautiful Magazine recently called Helgerson “one of the top 25 young designers in America”, and looking through her portfolio, you can see why. Though Helgerson and her team can work their magic on any room, I’m particularly taken with some of their kitchens. Let’s take a look at “Jessica Helgerson style”, shall we?

This first kitchen is one of my favourites; classic and hip at the same time. The white units and wood floors are beyond pristine, and the marble subway tiled walls are a great finishing touch:

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

This next space is similar, using many of the same elements. I’m already seeing that white units with black pulls, glass-fronted cabinets and pops of colour are key in a Helgerson kitchen. This one has a more relaxed vibe, with the addition of those awesome vintage chairs:

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

This kitchen is much more modern, but the general idea (lots of white, streamlined design, a sense of elegance) remains the same:

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

Helgerson design, on a more modest scale. This sweet and compact kitchen allows the view to take centre stage:

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

This ranch house kitchen is a great example of adapting an aesthetic to fit your surroundings. The glass-fronted cabinets, subway tile backsplash and wood are all there, looking perfectly at home in their rural surroundings:

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

The inspiration for this last space was “a Swedish cottage by the sea”, and I can see it in the result. The red and retro accessories (love the 50′s stove- my parents used to have a similar one) add fun and colour to the otherwise white space:

Jessica Helgerson Kitchens

Cool Kitchen: Bright & Modest in Göteborg

I just discovered Swedish realtor Alvhem Mäkleri & Interiör via Decor8. The Göteborg-based realtor (who also run a small interior design shop) doesn’t just sell flats; they sell lifestyles. Every home on their website is styled to perfection, and with the big, beautiful photos, it’s almost like flipping through a design mag. Except that you can buy it.

Bright & Modest in Göteborg

I have a feeling I’ll be featuring a lot of Alvhem properties in the coming weeks, but I wanted to start with this modest, modern flat. The kitchen is small, but perfectly formed. Tiled walls are a recent obsession of mine, and this yellow-and-blue curved one really takes the cake.

Bright & Modest in Göteborg

The tiles continue to the wall from the backsplash, giving the impression of space and movement. I love how the kitchen accessories pick up on the shades in the tiles, and how the whole thing is reflected in the modern light fixture. Overall, this is a small, modest kitchen that really packs and modern punch.

Bright & Modest in Göteborg

Cool Kitchen: Kingswood House

I love browsing location-rental sites like 1st Option and Inspace, both for practical decorating inspiration and for if-I-win-the-lottery-this-week type daydreaming. Too often though the kitchens are dull. Never ugly, but too showroom bland to really get my blood racing.

Kingswood House

Not this space, though. Kingswood House from 1st Option has a great kitchen: modern and retro and strong and feminine, all at the same time. The first things I noticed were those fab industrial stools, and how well they go with the retro pistachio-coloured fridge.

Kingswood House

I love the two striped rugs in this space, too. Bold and unexpected, they keep all the pastel touches from looking too sweet. The floating units also work well. The whole feeling of this space would be somehow different if they were built-in, don’t you think?

Kingswood House

Kingswood House

Of course, these photos are styled to perfection- right down to the gumball machine and retro tea towel. Still, I’d have to consider this space if I do in fact win the lottery this week.

What do you think of Kingswood House?

Cool Kitchen: Sophie Dahl’s Rustic & Feminine

Hello, everyone! I haven’t been around here in a whole week, as I’m sure some of you have noticed ;) I spent the weekend relaxing in the country, and took off a few days on either side to make it more of a “real” vacation. Easing back into the swing of things, I’ve spent the past half hour relaxing in front of my new favourite TV show- Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights. Ex-model, novelist and now celebrity chef Sophie Dahl is a sort of young Nigella in the kitchen: gorgeous, cheeky, and talented.

It’s not just the recipes that have me captivated, though. Sophie’s kitchen is a vision of rustic femininity: all white tile, weathered wooden countertops, exotic green wallpaper and retro accessories. After a bit of research, I found out that it’s actually the home of UK photographer Paul Massey, and has been featured in Living etc magazine! And what do you know, I’ve featured it here before:

dahlonetitle

This room is one of my favourites that I’ve ever featured on this site. The bare, minimalist bones are good enough, but check it out all Sophied up:

dahl2title

And in all it’s live-action glory, including wallpaper and art:

Are you swooning yet?

Tableware: White or coloured?

Let’s turn our attention away from pretty kitchens for a minute (hard, I know), and look to something that you inevitably find in those rooms: tableware. Available in a mind-boggling array of materials, styles, sizes and colours, choosing it can be almost as taxing as choosing a backsplash or cabinets. One question will always pop up, though.

White or coloured?

Traditional wisdom says that white is the only way to go. It’s clean, minimalist and shows off food to its best advantage. It certainly can be beautiful, as in the Sophie Conran for Portmeiron collection, used by my own stylish sister:

Sophie Conran Portmeiron

Sophie Conran Portmeiron

But white tableware can also scuff, scratch and stain easily. Luckily there are alternatives if colour (or practicality) is your thing. A beautiful neutral, as in this Vera Wang for Wedgewood Naturals range, can look lovely:

Vera Wang Wedgewood

As can a fun or bold print. I like the graphic-yet-natural feeling of Rachel Barker’s range:

Rachel Barker

So, where do you fall on this debate? What do you look for in a set of tableware?

(All images in this post from John Lewis)

Cool Kitchen: The Swiss Difference

Swedish mag Skona Hem has some pretty cool kitchens on their site right now, and this lovely one particularly stood out to me. Now, I know what you’re all thinking-that I’m getting tiresomely predictable. Ooooh, Ele- it’s white with wood countertops and stainless appliances! Whatever will you throw our way next? But hear me out- this space has a few subtle differences that keep it from being just another white kitchen.

title

The first thing I noticed was those chairs- we get so used to seeing an old, worn wooden table surrounded by modern chairs, so this simple inversion of the formula looks fresh. You’ll notice that the wood is the exact shade used on the countertops, an old decorator’s trick for mixing styles while keeping things consistent.

The Swiss Difference

A standing unit, whether antique or modern, means that open storage isn’t so open, and helps add character to the room. I think the black really makes the white dishes pop, don’t you think?

The Swiss Difference

I think my favourite feature is the tiled wall. Regular square tiles are arranged like subway tiles for a look that’s one part modern and one part classic.

Ok, I told you they were subtle differences.

Cool Kitchen: Office Space

For today’s cool kitchen I’m featuring an old favourite of mine, dug up from the depths of the “Interiors Inspiration” folder on my desktop. This room is actually the office kitchen of Drew Barrymore’s production company, Flower Films. I don’t even remember where I found this photo, but I do know that it originated in the pages of Domino magazine, which featured the offices sometime in 2008.

Office Space

First of all, I love the shade of green on the wall, and how well it sets off the white fridge, chandelier and shelves of crockery. The wooden table, wicker chairs and butcher-block counters are a natural fit with this look. Throwing in the slightly-unusual black cabinets and the retro checkerboard floor keeps the whole thing fresh and fun. Perfect for a creative office, yes- but I’d love it in my own home.

Cool Kitchen: Ina Garten’s Barn

Ina Garten's Barn

Yup, it’s another oldie-but-goodie today. I was reminded of Ina Garten‘s lovely barn kitchen by my good friend Larissa, when she commented on my post about the Something’s Gotta Give kitchen a few weeks ago.

The celebrated chef and food writer Ina Garten (otherwise known as the Barefoot Contessa) built this “barn” on the grounds of her East Hampton property as an office/guest house/workspace for herself. It’s somewhere to entertain, film her television programs and generally escape to. In design, it’s similar to the Something’s Gotta Give kitchen (white cabinets, dark countertops, stainless steel), but if I’m honest, I prefer Ina’s take on the look. It’s crisper, cleaner, and the whole “modern rustic” vibe is so my style.

Ina Garten's Barn

Ina Garten's Barn

Ina Garten's Barn

All photos from House Beautiful.

Etsy finds: wapa

It’s another pottery day around here, and I’m especially loving the porcelain pieces of Etsy shop wapa. Designed in Israel, this collection of jewelry and homewares has a certain ethereal quality. Here are my favourite kitchen-friendly pieces.

This set of two Walk the Line grooved bowls caught my eye immediately. The shape is beautiful and the uses many:

wapa

The P-Cup has the most lovely lace-like surface design. Suitable for hot and cold beverages, I think it would be particularly perfect for some hot chocolate:

wapa

With the same delicate floral pattern, this Square Bowl would be ideal for fruit or bread:

wapa

This Textured Bag could be used just about anywhere, but I’d love to see it on a kitchen windowsill, holding some potted herbs:

wapa

Another go-anywhere item, the Tea Light Holders are especially beautiful:

wapa

Cool Kitchen: black & shiny

I was thinking about my post on black kitchens when I found this room on Ideal Home. While the high-gloss units aren’t exactly my style, I love how the fun and bright the entire space feels, unusual for a space dominated by black.

Cool Kitchen: Black & Shiny

The two-tone tiled floor and the floral wallpaper should fight with each other, but they don’t. The addition of wood and lots of white keeps things bright and airy, and makes for a cheerful kitchen that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Recently on Kitchenist

Recently on Kitchlit