Kitchen Designs by Mal Corboy
16 March 2010
“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
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3 Responses to “Kitchen Designs by Mal Corboy”
March 17th, 2010 at 4:48 AM
Cool post – thanks.
March 17th, 2010 at 5:14 PM
Joseph,
Thank you for deconstructing so beautifully what Mal is doing in his designs. I liked the kitchen images enough before I read the post. But your explanation makes it all click. Good job!
March 27th, 2010 at 12:10 AM
Thank you for the lovely take ony design regards Mal