Majjie's Blog

If you do have a big open plan apartment, then you can choose from  any number of expensive, high profile, cutting edge kitchen designs. If you don't have such a space, though, most of these designs are unlikely to be for you, even if you have the money to buy them.

Philippe Starck has just designed a kitchen range for Warendorf. Never heard of them? Well, that's the new name for the German company that used to be Miele de Kuche. They will continue to sell "Miele Kitchens" alongside the Warendorf brand, until 2010, but the sub-brand "Starck by Warendorf" represents their new look kitchens:

In this "Library" version, the trumpet feet hide all the pipework and drains, and all the appliances are hidden behind handleless doors. The trumpet feet are echoed in matching tables ... and you can see why it gets it's name. In another style "Tower", revolving tower modules can be added, for storage or appliances. Here's the man himself, with one of his tables ... and a tower:

The hob and sink are apparently deliberately close together, to make cleaning easy, and the kitchens are characterised by little ornamental features, open shelves (particularly for books), and even little lamps. This is "Primary", supposedly for small spaces:

I don't dislike these kitchens ... but they're designed for big apartments (even the more compact one) ... and, with their twiddly little decorations, they seem like a bit of a mixture of styles to me; a mixture with which I don't feel entirely comfortable. I promise you, though, that I'll come back and eat my words ... if this proves to be a glimpse into the future of mainstream kitchen design.

Some other kitchens that have created a bit of a stir this year are those of Italian designer, Daniele Lago. The style is bold colourful retro and is much more minimal than the Starck designs:

They do have a sort of similar block-ey, modular appearance, though, and these kitchens too, are designed with big, open plan apartments in mind ... and, once again, the sink is often positioned very close to the hob:

I actually love the look of these Lago designs ... whilst not being entirely convinced about the practicality of many of these designer kitchens.

The focus on big living spaces is deliberate; the idea is to blur the distinction between the living room and the kitchen ... and Starck, in particular, is purposefully avoiding the usual imperative for kitchens ... how to fit in as much storage as possible. Many continental European kitchen suppliers have embraced these ideas. It has the effect, though, of making these slick, well designed kitchens entirely inappropriate for the vast majority of UK houses. We are tending to go for larger kitchens, with seating areas ... but not on the scale needed for these larger than life styles.

Perhaps, as a UK kitchen designer (albeit at a much lower design level), I can gain some inspiration from these iconic designs, whilst still coming up with practical working layouts for our relatively cramped and cluttered spaces. I think I'll probably continue to try to maximise the worktop space between sink and hob, for now, though. Most people tell me it's the most used stretch of worktop in the kitchen ... and they'd like more of it. And storage space is pretty important in most of the kitchens I design too.

Couldn't one of these genius designers turn their skills, for a change, to the problem of cramming a lot of kitchen into a small space, for people who do actually cook, and for families that need to store a lot of stuff? After all, smaller, family kitchens need to look good too.