Kitchen Designs by Mal Corboy
“Now You See It, Now You Don’t”
Certain ideas are in and out of vogue in kitchen design, in part because of the normal ebb and flow of any creative venture, in larger part, because they’re simply fads. “Hot colors” is a particular bugaboo with me. Those of us who are a certain age remember when avocado was a “hot color,” and who among us can now even abide the sight of an avocado kitchen appliance? It’s because this was in vogue, and then, like any other fad, it faded. For all I know avocado-everything-in-the-blessed-kitchen is the sort of thing that put the fad in fade, because that’s what happens, really.
However, that said, there are design concepts that have simply evolved. In some quarters, for instance, there is still a raging controversy as to whether granite countertops have had their day. Are they obsolete? To which the answer often is, it depends. It may no longer be a countertop material that is considered cutting edge, but it still has all the characteristics that made it popular in the first place: beautiful, durable, versatile, available in many colors and styles, something that a body can put down in a kitchen and know will never need to be replaced. These are the sort of considerations that tend to make granite countertops more a choice among several, as opposed to a “hot item” in danger of cooling.
I bring all this up because the concept of upper cabinets is another idea that is now beginning to go in and out of style. Lots of kitchen designers-and consumers-are beginning to prefer the much cleaner look of kitchens without wall cabinets. The worst of wall cabinets, really, are those that hang over peninsula or island countertops. I had this setup in two different kitchens and never cared for either one, because they tended to get in the way when I was working at the counter (I’m six feet tall) and when I wanted to converse with guests. The first thing I noticed about my current, albeit much-maligned, kitchen was the L-shaped counter built and installed by the previous owner. There are no hanging cabinets over this countertop, and we love it. So even though space is very much a premium in our kitchen, we will not put in hangers when we remodel our kitchen;
Of course, that still leaves the problem of what one does for storage space, and this is especially true when one’s peninsula counter/island takes up a fair amount of room. If you are not going to have hangers in the kitchen, especially in one as small as ours, where will you put all the paraphernalia every wife that ever was just has to have for her kitchen? Well, as it turns out, I recently came across a website for Mal Corboy, a New Zealand kitchen designer who has come up a solution that is simplicity itself.
Put all the storage units in one area of the kitchen and stack the cabinetry. One then needs no hanging cabinets at all, and the rest of the kitchen c
an have that uncluttered look that comes from simply not using every available space-even that over islands-for wall cabinets. It is an exhilarating clean look that is, when you consider it alongside the overly compartmentalized kitchens that are the lot of so many of us, wonderfully liberating.
The other thing I find myself particularly liking about this kitchen design is the sensible way in which it is laid out. Despite its small size, there is both plenty of storage room and plenty of working room. Personally, as restricted as I have been in this department over the years, I can get along quite nicely with enough space for a single chopping block, but it really is nothing short of luxurious to have a kitchen with no fewer than three viable working spaces, two of which are really quite large.
Mr. Corby is also one of those designers with the skill to build a kitchen around a favorite item or two provided by the client. In this case they wanted Gaggenau appliances, which required shipping said items from England to New Zealand (proof positive, as I have often asserted in these blogs, that you can get anything from anywhere if you just put forth a bit of effort!). But it also meant designing a kitchen that would be a perfect home for these appliances, which Mr. Corby achieved with a truly glorious Stat Vein Marble and Stainless Steel countertops, which were used throughout.
But, really, the best part of this kitchen is the part you don’t see-hanging wall cabinets. And trust me, in a kitchen as well-designed as this one, if you don’t see it, you don’t need it.
Joseph
Ceramic Tile Murals by Okhyo
“WALL-WHEE”
This is the sort of product that will seem to make perfect sense or make no sense at all. The Okhyo Company makes tile, but tile that is different, tile with an attitude, I suppose, tile that is innovatively sharp and clear and that actually reproduces photographs on tile, which can then be used in various ways. In fact, you can actually go to their website and get an idea of how various tiles will look in the same kitchen or bath environment with a simple click of the mouse.
What I find myself liking about the product, apart from my usual fascination with all things tile world, is the sharpness of the images. Unfortunately, space considerations mean I can use only a few of the photographs that are on their site, but they have created all kinds of design possibilities with this concept of digital printing on ceramic tile, although I frankly think that is true of tile in general, especially ceramic tile because of the vividness of the colors and the wide range of textures and glazes.
What I like about tile, apart from everything, I suppose, is the many things that can be done with it. In the beginning tile was pretty much relegated to simple backsplashes in kitchens and bathrooms. Now we see it expanding out, and that’s exciting. I think it works particularly well as an accent on a wall where one would not normally expect to see it. But the more of this type of thing a body sees, the more the possibilities of tile in other and different uses suggests itself.
One of the things that might be fun to do, for those with the courage to consider such an idea, is to use these photo tiles for a countertop. Suddenly, one would have one heck of a conversation piece-or a disaster, I suppose, but it’s an idea that might be worth considering if one could get the exactly right image to reproduce not behind a countertop, but on the face of it. That kind of concept would probably be too much for a kitchen, but as a countertop in a game room or Man’s Cave, especially one that picked up a team logo, it might be just the ticket.
That said, though, I do have to say that I very much like the use to which these tiles have been put here, namely, the kitchen backsplash that goes higher than the traditional single row of tile. I also particularly like what they did with it in a bedroom setting, especially the Zen-like photograph we show here. I think this concept would bring a lot of peace and serenity to any room in which it resides, but especially so in a bedroom.
But the other cool thing is something that occurred to me the moment I saw the sharpness of these images and realized that Okhyo had surely mastered the art of transforming photographic images to tile. Suppose I had a favorite picture: first home, first wife (just kidding-still have her!), favorite pet, favorite picture of whatever it may be, so long as it is of good enough quality to be blown up to wall sizes as these have been. Wouldn’t it be slicker than slick to be able to reproduce that photograph in tile and put it on the wall? Well, as it turns out, that is exactly what is possible with Okhyo, so now what was a simple wall covering has become something totally unique and something all your own. This may not be exactly what Virginia Wolfe had in mind, but a wall with some whee could very well make it a room of one’s own.
Joseph
W.S. Bath Collections Innovative Bathroom Designs
“Born Again”
One of my favorite bloggers/designers, Cheryl Kees Clendenon, recently did a powder room bath which had a lot of unique problems, mostly revolving around its small footprint and cathedral ceilings. The finished result was stunning (here’s a link to it), but I bring that up because what Cheryl did was seek out products that were not the same as what one normally associates with a bathroom. I say normally associates, assuming that the readers of this blog site are people looking to remodel their bathrooms, a course they have decided upon because they are tired of what they now have. But once you decide that what you have no longer suits you, the problem then becomes, what are you going to do with this space?
One of the outlets I find myself particularly liking is W.S. Bath Collections in Pennsylvania for a number of reasons. The first, for those of my readers who have import anxieties, is that they are located here in the USA, which means that that particular bugaboo can be safely laid to rest. But I do have to point out that, more and more, I see that problem just kind of fading to black. I can “visit” Europe anytime I like with a coupl
e clicks of the mouse, and once one sees the many product design ideas they have, it just seems inevitable that those products will make their way to the USA. But I really started to talk about a company with cutting-edge products that already is in this country, so let’s do that.
What W.S. Bath Collections has done is set themselves up as an import company, which means that many of the cutting-edge Italian designs that make my heart go pitter-patter are easily available in this country. And this means, in turn, that when I talk about the designs in this blog, I am talking about products that are actually available world-wide, because those in Europe can simply go to the Italian sources, right? A little something for everybody-I like it when it works out that way!
But what I like about W.S. Bath Collections is their eye for the innovative and unusual and unique and different-how many ways can we say that? But a bathroom, especially one as small as mine or the one Cheryl remodeled, really needs something consciously apart if it is to get 
anywhere near the word “wow.” And that brings us to the W.S. Bath items I chose for today’s blog.
Given the room for it, wouldn’t you just kill for something as innovative as the Riva Art Basin Faucet that tops this blog? About the only downside I can see for it is the water bill you’d have if you entertain a lot, especially if you have friends like me, because I’m the kind of guy who would be in the bathroom half an hour playing with that faucet, trying to figure out (1) how it works and (2) how in the world anyone was ever able to come up with a design like this one.
The other thing I like about W.S. Bath Collections is the fact that they are so sell-named. They really do have collections of products for the bath, many of which are imported from Europe, all of which are definite mind blowers. And that’s the best part about remodeling a bathroom, I think, blowing people’s minds when they see the finished results. With just a little imagination, you can make it so much more than a simple remodeling; you can make it a renaissance.
Joseph
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