Maytag Appliances New Ovens, Ranges and Cooktops
“I’m Easy”
The new release of Maytag kitchen appliances brings a lot of cooking power to any kitchen, and does it over a wide range of innovative and stylish products. One of the things I have often pointed out about design on these pages is that one size does not fit all, an item I bring up because Maytag definitely gets that. Their newest line of products come in all sizes and shapes, to such a point that I really have to say that if you cannot find something that exactly suits your needs in their new lineup of products, then you’re just not trying very hard. I mean to tell you, my man, they have a little something for everyone.
One of the things I particularly like is their freestanding stove with a double oven design. For those with the space for such a concept, I firmly believe that a kitchen stovetop-perhaps one of those that is a smoothtop, thereby eliminating a lot of the cleanup hassle, is just the ticket. Then you can have a double oven elsewhere in the kitchen and you’re good to go. But people like myself are pretty much stuck with a freestanding stove. It is also, in the main a much less expensive alternative for those who have a restricted kitchen remodeling budget. But less bucks
means fewer whistles and bells, even when the whistle-or bell, your choice!-is something that adds as much to a kitchen as a double oven does. More and more companies, though, are designing a freestanding stove with a double oven, and Maytag is no exception to this.
I am always reluctant to quote prices, because those rascals have a way of changing, but the Maytag Gemini, which will be available in fall, 2010 is said to start at an MSRP of $1249, which is certainly in the ballpark for even a modest kitchen appliance budget. Consumers will have their choice of gas or electric models that will be available in white, black, and stainless steel.
Most of the time, in all honesty, I can get by just fine with a single oven, but for something like Thanksgiving-or any other “show off” meal, for that matter-I don’t think the convenience of a double oven can be overstated. The main oven can be used for whatever the entree is, but having a second oven for things like dressing or, better still, the crowning touch of homemade biscuits or hot rolls is a wonderful luxury.
Of course, for those with the room for such things Maytag also offers conventional double ovens and separate stovetops. The other thing I like about their lineup is the attention they have given to helping cooks reduce clean-up time. Maytag has integrated dishwasher-safe grates and knobs on cooktops, adjustable self-cleaning oven levels and hidden bake elements for easy oven spill cleanup into many of its models. In one way or another I have been in kitchens all of my life and the thought of appliances that are easy to use and easy to clean is as comforting as a warm summer weekend with a cup of coffee and the wife. And that really is the ultimate, because few things in life are easy like Sunday morning!
Joseph
SplinterWorks Sculptural Kitchen Designs
“Never, Never”
One of the things I am forever looking for in my search through Cyberspace is kitchen designs that are different from those used by anyone else. In the end, I suspect, my own kitchen is not going to be all that innovative-because I have neither the money nor the skills to pursue some of the things I have written about, but the idea of something new, something different, something never seen before is a something of a Holy Grail for me, and I’ve spent quite a bit of my life these last two years in search of it.
I bring that up because I think I may well have found the ultimate company kitchen design company. SplinterWorks Sculptural Kitchens creates kitchens that really are sculpture in a lot of regards, but they’re the sort of kitchen that, once installed, becomes the focal point of any home in which they reside.
These are some of the damnedest kitchens that ever was, and the other fascinating thing is that they are all new and all never to be again. In a sense they’re like a novelist showing off his works. At any point in time he will show you what he has written to that point. But, since it’s not yet been written, may not, in fact, have been imagined yet, he cannot show you what he will write tomorrow.
The same is true here-all of the kitchen designs from SplinterWorks are unique, the ultimate originals. They are careful to point out that, although they do have some pieces that are available in limited editions, the bulk of their work is one-off, commissioned projects. What they are showing on their website is not where they are going, but where they have been. With every kitchen they are commissioned to create, they go to the client’s home, conduct in-depth interviews, spend some time in the existing kitchen if there is one (they also work with architects or new houses in blueprint phase) and design something new. The result is both awesome, in the truest sense of the word, and unique, a conversation piece that may well work against itself, simply because I believe the initial response is to render people speechless!
In recent years kitchens have become the center of the home, a change that is taking place for a number of reasons. One is the nesting that is becoming more of a factor as people find their families being increasing fragmented by the many electronic devices, one of which is a computer that, used by unsupervised children, is sure to create its share of problems. So, people tend to have their children use their computers in the kitchen only, and in consequence, people are now gathering in the kitchen.
There is also a tendency towards large, expensive kitchens, and once these are installed in a home, those who commissioned the work tend to want to show of them off to their friends. In consequence people often entertain their guests in the kitchen. In fact, there is even a trend towards second kitchens where the cooking is done so people with the means for such things can entertain their guests in the large only-for-show kitchen. But the other factor in all of this is the design statement that one makes at the heart of one’s home, in the kitchen, and that leads us back to SplinterWorks.
SplinterWorks describes themselves as “pioneers of kitchen design: progressive thinkers who transform the kitchen into a piece of usable art,” and looking at their output, it’s impossible to argue with that assessment. Each of the kitchens we’ve shown here was photographed in a room before being transported for installation onsite. All of them are amazing, but perhaps none more so than the one that tops this blog. I do not want to pass myself off as something I’m not, but I’ve spent a fair amount of my life both building and studying the building designs of others, and looking at what they did here, I have no idea in the world as to how they are able to keep this kitchen upright.
These people are in England. But if one had the money for such things, I have every confidence they could be persuaded to go wherever one might wish for them to be. I suppose the very rich have “people” to surf the Internet for them, but for those with the money for such things, what could be more novel than a kitchen that never was before and never will be again.
Joseph
Crossville Urban Renewal Tile
“Green, Green”
This is clearly not the time to be opening a new business, especially for someone like myself who would have to borrow heavily to do so, but if I were inclined to take such a leap, I think the thing I would most want to do is to put together some kind of a company that sells tile. And especially, I think I would like to do it on the Internet, so that my readers could avail themselves of the tile designs I am forever writing about. Every time I do it I am certain that this is to be the last blog on tile, and then along comes another.
In my own California, the Central Valley is known as one of the most fertile places on earth, because of the many crops that can be grown there, up to and including things like cotton, which is a product outsiders would never connect with the Golden State. But I bring up the Central Valley because tile design is a lush world all unto itself. It just seems to me that any kind of desi
gn seed that is dropped into the bountiful basin of ceramic tile is bound to bring forth a shoot that will quickly grow into a new plant that astounds and amazes. Our case in point is Crossville, one of the more innovative-and environmentally conscious-tile manufacturers I have yet come across.
I think that anyone who tears out old tile and replaces it with new must, at some point, find himself thinking about the waste of such a venture. Oh, believe me when I say the tile in my bathrooms and kitchen has absolutely had it, but when you rip that stuff out, you’re left with a pile of tile that goes straight to the land fill. And, more likely than not, you will replace it with more tile, to be replaced years hence, no doubt, with still more tile. Nowadays we talk a lot about “going green,” but I always find myself asking how much a savings that sort of thing is going to be if it involves tearing out the old first. Well, as it turns out, the folks at Crossville are doing something about that.
In the past lots of tile manufacturers have successfully reused scrap powders and unfired tile, but once tile is fired, it could no longer be reused. Until now. Crossville has developed a system for processing ceramic and porcelain tile back into powder used in manufacturing new tile, so now some four million pounds of tile that they previously sent to local landfills can be recycled. And they’ve gone further than that, because they have set up a tile take-back program.
Some of the tile we’re featuring here are from the Urban Renewal line by Crossville, which has a 50% post-consumer recycled content. This line features intricate patterns with rich metal finishes, from elegant satin bronzes to aged irons. It also uses real metal accent and trim pieces, which makes it look like metal which would be much heavier than the tile itself, which is lightweight and easy to install.
Crossville, Inc. is located in the city of Crossville, Tennessee, and is the largest domestic manufacturer of porcelain stone. It also operates the first U.S. tile plant designed to manufacture large-unit porcelain tiles, which I wanted to point out, as these tiles can be used for both walls and floors, including outdoor floors, which explains the idyllic picture at the top of this blog. I don’t know how green it is on the far side of the hill, but with manufacturing techniques like their tile take-back program, Crossville appears mighty green to me!
Joseph
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