Kitchen Designs from Ernestomeda
29 March 2010
“Simple Values”
I absolutely do not want to get into political discussions of any stripe, but there is talk these days of a politician running for a certain post in our state, which the media finds rather interesting because of statements he made some thirty years ago, several of which were variations of “less is more.” But I bring that up because it’s an idea that intrigues one with its deliberate contradiction in terms, and, if one cares to explore the statement more deeply, the basic truths it has to convey.
Kitchen design is something that runs in all sizes and shapes, because that is the nature of our houses these days. But with our recent economic woes, new home designers are beginning to think small, simply because people can no longer afford the four or five thousand foot homes that were rapidly becoming the norm. One of the concepts that is increasingly coming into vogue is the idea of a room that includes kitchen, dining area, living quarters, and a media room of some sort-a room where the entire family gathers, in part because of the economies that can be had, in larger part, I think, because of the unexpected benefits of this new Great Room.
It’s ironic, given the one-room-does-all that was the lot of working class people for centuries, to find families again gathering together in a single room, as in days of yore, but with the right designs, it’s a move that makes every kind of sense. And with that I can turn to the subject of today’s blog. The picture at the top of this blog is of the latest offering from Ernestomeda, the Carre kitchen design by Marc Sadler, but it is certainly not their only kitchen design. But that’s not surprising, because this is another of those cutting-edge Italian designers, and they have this way of just rolling out design after design after variation on a design.
One of the things that has to be addressed, if the small-space-for-a-kitchen concept is to really work, is food preparation areas. Ernestomeda, like several other companies I have written about recently, has found the ideal food preparation area in the sink. This one is fairly simple, as these design concepts go, but really, I think it is mostly just proof that this is an idea that definitely has legs. It is something I think we will be seeing more and more of because it is a concept that makes so much sense.
A family just has to be together, I think, which is what I find myself liking all the more about what Ernestomeda has done here with their kitchen designs. There is such a wonderful grace to them, especially designs that have done so much to get so much into so little space, thereby leaving more for the concept of a kitchen that is, instead, a room in which one prepares for life, which is what happens when a family spends time together. Don’t let the computer age buffalo you into thinking the younger generation is somehow blessed with native insights and skills that have somehow been denied the older generation. Old still has much to teach Young, and it is the sort of thing that happens best at dinner time. Spend time in the kitchen/living room/heart of the home, and suddenly there is a center to the home where that sort of thing is possible.
Ernestomeda states that theirs are kitchens that cut to the quick and goes on to say, “share with us the highest and most simple values of a life waiting just around the corner ready to surprise you.” With kitchen designs like these, and the togetherness they would necessary induce in almost any home in which they reside, Ernestomeda may have spoken more truly than they know.
Joseph
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One Response to “Kitchen Designs from Ernestomeda”
March 29th, 2010 at 6:47 PM
Joe,
I have a somewhat different take on the trend to the one big room for everything: it is not because of the economic downturn, it is because we can!.
I agree that the likely result of our current economy is smaller homes that will also, hopefully, be better designed. But I think the real reason for the large great room as every room is central heat and air.
It has taken 60 years for design to catch up with technology. It used to be, due to expense and technology, that only the rooms that were being used were heated or cooled, so those room where kept small for efficiency. Today, we can heat and cool the whole house efficiently.
Today, one design challenge is noise management. It’s tough to read a book in one corner of the room while junior is watching “2012″ with the surround sound blaring in the other corner.
Since we have a large and extended family that visits too often, I like the large center multi-purpose room. They make for great entertaining.