I have No Real Idea

At last month’s Kitchen Design Expo 2008 in Chicago, there was a lot of the same old to be found in the hundreds of vendor booths that aimed at enticing contractors and those looking to remodel into using new products or building methods to create a more attractive looking kitchen.

Concrete flooring and counter top, a perennial favorite, continued as a darling as new vendors offered variations on the classic – variations that are said to resist staining, and other still that are said to be soft enough not to dull a blade yet also, somehow, hard enough to resist the slice of an edge. Sleek appliances, including a new line of induction, infrared, and convection appliances out by Electrolux continued the trend towards sleeker lines and less visible appliances.

But both of these trends underscore a broader trend towards the mimicking of Italian kitchen design principles, that aim to promote clean lines, sports-car coloration, and functionality. The result is a kitchen design that makes the kitchen a pleasure to work in, whether in a huge Brooklyn brownstone or a small NYC apartment. Italian kitchen design is gaining popularity not only because of its aesthetic, but also because of its functionality. Indeed, the area has benefited enormously from increased competition over the years as there were at least 3 dozen NY kitchen design companies at the Expo offering their contributions – from faux Italian marble to trademarked Ferrari-colored cabinet facing and hardware.

This, in my view, is a new trend that has emerged from a certain boredom about the older trend, which has been to maximize functionality. Italian kitchen design continues the emphasis on functionality at the intersection with an emphasis on art.