Scavolini Traditional Italian Kitchen Designs
29 October 2010
“Coming Home”
In a sense, I suppose there is something a bit masochistic about writing so many blogs on kitchens. A great many of them revolve around minimalist kitchen designs, because I find them so innovative, but the truth of it is that I am never in this world going to have one for our home, because they simply do not complement the architecture of our home, and She Who Must Be Obeyed plainly does not care for them. But, even so, there is any number of traditional kitchens a body could install, right? And with that, I can get into the subject of today’s blog, which is a return to Scavolini. Actually, Scavolini is one of those companies that has a terrific lineup of minimalist kitchens-none of which I am going to get (see above)-but they also have an equally impressive lineup of traditional kitchen designs. And I’m not going to get them either! This time round, though, it is mostly just an issue of a kitchen area much too small to accommodate these designs, especially the one at the top of this blog.
That top kitchen, by the bye, is their Amelie, and it comes, as do all of Scavolini’s kitchens, in a large array of designs, sizes, and shapes. This particular version features a masonry effect, which they used to reproduce the spontaneous layouts of elements found in old country houses. They used a rustic-looking ceramic tile finish in a chardonnay color, but I won’t cite the name of it here because it drives my spell checker nuts. They chose it, though, because it works well alongside the corn yellow plaster finish. The structure itself can be diversified to include cupboards with doors, shelves, niches, and appliance compartments. They also have elegant larder units, fully fitted base units and highly modular wall units with wood and glass doors, all to allow you to pretty much design your own kitchen. Which is what it’s all about, right?
Another idea I found myself liking was the way Scavolini placed the stove in the blind corner of many of these kitchen layouts. Lazy Susans and the like only seem to solve the dilemma of an extended cabinet that typically serves as a “So long, been good to know you” catchall for items you will never again use, because once they’re in there, and you squat a time or two on arthritic knees to get them, you suddenly hit upon the idea of using that space only for keepsakes, once-in-a-whiles, and the-wife-will-kill-me-if-I-throw-this-out type items. Placing a stove in that corner is stylish, innovative (in the USA, at least!), and a much better use of the space.
Finally, there is the painted kitchen, which Scavolini calls their Long Island. It’s something they made as something of a throwback to an earlier age. It’s an antique Light Blue oak wood kitchen in their Absolute classic collection, one they designed to capture the mood of serene security that hand-built kitchens used to provide. What I especially like about it, though, is the absolute logic with which it has been laid out. The orientation of it is not correct for my own kitchen, but it would occupy essentially the same amount of space, and do so much more efficiently. Going from one part of the kitchen to the other while cooking would be a breeze-and a pleasure, because you get tired of forever having to work around the limitations of an ill-designed kitchen layout. And with the space thus saved, one could install a kitchen table and chairs as they show here or an island. But either way, it’s kitchen with a homey look that’s fun to come home to.
Joseph
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