House Beautiful 2012 Kitchen of the Year Finale

One of the most important considerations in any kitchen is storage and Mick De Giulio offered some beautiful solutions in his Kitchen of the Year for House Beautiful. Taking a look at the island from the living side, you can see how he divided the large mass.

Cleverly coordinated, the visually heavier wenge wood insert on top has open area below for the beautiful Hickory Chair Madigan stools, while the lighter Caeserstone Supremo counter handled the bulk of the closed white cabinetry. And De Giulio added a little surprise under the counter to further lighten the look, relating it as well to the stools’ nail head trim.

Behind the white doors were wenge wood storage drawers – I love the contrast of both the materials and the two different nickel pulls!

These concealed a fully functioning small home office with an adjustable laptop “desk”, including set up for a wireless connection, charging plugs and outlets. Other drawers were neatly filled with organizational supplies courtesy of The Container Store.

The wall behind the cooktop contained another of my very favorite features. De Giulio kept things elegant and simple by cladding the walls in the Caesarstone supremo. Yet behind the sheath of the stone he hid two spice storage areas, again trimmed with the polished stainless. He thoughtfully added a buffer area of stainless against the stone to prevent any caught fingers – again, it’s all in the details!!

Along the appliance wall, more storage areas were handsomely delineated with the wenge wood, elegant nickel pulls and the repetition of the polished stainless trim

One of the most distinctive pieces in the kitchen was the gorgeous De Giulio-designed Metal Boy available directly through de Giulio kitchen design. An alternative to the ubiquitous hanging rack, the slightly distressed stainless interior combined with the polished stainless and wenge wood gave it an industrial jewel like appearance.

A sculpture for pots and pans, it elicited oohs and aahs when the incredibly convenient lid drawer was opened, always a storage challenge.

Behind the kitchen, hid the charming butler’s pantry. Again, a marvelous melding of materials yielded a room full of visual interest. De Giulio indicated the segue from kitchen to pantry by changing the handsome walnut Shaw flooring from straight plank to herringbone, perfect for the smaller space. Hand-scraped and distressed, it added a wonderful warmth and texture to the crisp and clean design.

Glass fronted KraftMaid cabinetry with mirrored backs and an antiqued mirrored backsplash helped to keep the small space open and bright. Attention to detail, such as the stainless switch plate make all the difference.

De Giulio brought in the blue from the adjoining “La Mattina” with same handsome Jonathan Adler Annapolis navy in the Kohler iron-tones sink and repeated the stainless theme, this time with a hammered finish that glittered with all the light streaming in from the terrace.

The ceiling was a celestial surprise with blue Venetian plaster and Suzanne Kasler’s Apollo flush mount fixtures for Circa in gilded iron – a bit of a departure from the aesthetics in the rest of the kitchen.

A final feature to note was the variety of counter edges. De Giulio included some very clever details that could easily be overlooked but added to the subtle sense of a sculpted space. I loved the gentle curve of the Caesarstone overhang on the island. It added a lightness and softer feel to the shape as well as hid the power strip encased in the continuing theme of polished stainless borders.

The fireplace wall in the living area featured De Giulio’s elegant approach to balanced asymmetry. The muted horizontal linear ribbons of the Ann Sacks Palladium Noir were offset by simple geometric openings for the Napoleon fireplace, TV and logs. Notice how he created several layers within the space to avoid a flat mass of stone.

And floating in between is a thin mantle, with the repeat of the stainless piping and a beautiful gentle curve of carved walnut underneath. It is this thoughtful attention to details that illustrated the mastery of De Giulio’s design skills. Hope you’ve enjoyed our look at House Beautiful’s amazing kitchen of the year. Next up a fabulous showhouse in the Hamptons.